Blind imitation is self-destruction. To those who do not recognize their unique worth, imitation appears attractive: to those who know their strength, imitation is unacceptable.

In the early stages of skill or character development, imitation is helpful. When I first learned to cook, I used recipes and turned out some tasty dishes. But soon I grew bored. Why follow someone else's way of cooking when I could create my own? Imitating role models is like using training wheels on a child's bicycle; they help you get going, but once you find your own balance, you fly faster and farther without relying on them.

    In daily life, imitation can hurt us if we subconsciously(下意识地) hold poor role models. If, as a child, you observed people whose lives were bad, you may have accepted their fear and pain as normal and gone on to follow what they did. If you do not make strong choices for yourself, you will get the results of the weak choices of others.

    In the field of entertainment, our culture glorifies celebrities. Those stars look great on screen. But when they step off screen, their personal lives may be disastrous. If you are going to follow someone, focus on their talent, not their bad character or unacceptable behaviors.

    Blessed is the person willing to act on their sudden desire to create something unique. Think of the movies, books, teachers, and friends that have affected you most deeply. They touched you because their creations were motivated by inspiration, not desperation. The world is changed not by those who do what has been done before them, but by those who do what has been done inside them. Creative people have an endless resource of ideas. The problem a creator faces is not running out of material; it is what to do with the material knocking at the door of imagination.

Study your role models, accept the gifts they have given, and leave behind what does not server. Then you can say, "I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors' tragedies and stories, and know that they are cheering me on."

    It was New Year's Eve. Everyone in the city was getting ready for the three-day celebration, including the gardener of the king's garden.

    There was a large group of monkeys living in the garden. They always followed the advice of their leader, the monkey king.

    The gardener wanted to celebrate the New Year's holiday, just like everybody else, so he decided to hand over his duties to the monkeys.

    He went to the monkey king and said, "My honorable friend, would you do a little favor for me? New Year is coming. I wish to celebrate it. So I must be away for three days. Here in this lovely garden. There are plenty of fruits and berries and nuts to eat. You and your subjects may come and eat as much as you wish. In return, please water the young trees and plants while I'm gone."

The monkey king replied, "Don't worry, my friend! We will do a terrific job! Have a good time!"

    The gardener showed the monkeys where the buckets were kept. Feeling confident, he left to celebrate the holiday. The monkeys called after him, "Happy New Year!"

    The next day, the monkeys filled up the buckets, and began watering the young trees and plants. Then the king of the monkeys addressed them,"It is not good to waste water. Therefore, pull up each young tree or plant before watering. Inspect（检查）it to see how long the roots（根）are. Then give more water to the ones with long roots, and less water to the ones with short roots. That way we will not waste water, and the gardener will be pleased!"

    Without a second thought, the other monkeys followed their king's orders.

    Meanwhile, a wise man was walking by the garden. He saw the monkeys pulling up all the lovely young trees and plants, measuring their roots, and carefully pouring water into the holes in the ground. He said, "Oh foolish monkeys, what do you think you're doing to the king's beautiful garden?"

    They answered, "We are watering the trees and plants, without wasting water! We were commanded to do so by our king."

    The man said, "If this is the wisdom of the wisest among you — the king — what are the rest of you like? Intending to do a worthwhile deed, your foolishness turns it into disaster!"

    Experts generally consider BMI for kids to be a good measure of body fat, at least among heavier children. But in some cases it might be misleading. Athletic kids, in particular, may fall into the overweight category when they are actually muscular.

    Your child's BMI is important, but it is only a piece of the picture. If a BMI percentile (体重指数) indicates that your child is not within the healthy range, she needs a complete weight and lifestyle evaluation with a doctor.

    Experts recommend that kids of all ages and all weight categories follow these healthy guidelines to keep weight in control. It's easy to remember them as “5 — 2 — 1 — 0” every day.

    5 > Everyone in your family needs five servings of vegetables and fruit. Keep serving them even if kids don't eat them. If they see a food over and over, they're more likely to try it in the end.

    2 > Limit TV-watching to no more than 2 hours a day. Family members who use other “screens”—video games or computers, for instance, get less TV time. And kick the TV out of all bedrooms.

    1 > Get 1 hour of physical activity. Add up the minutes each family member is moving —it should be 60 minutes or more for each person. Start small and keep adding if necessary.

    0 > That's how many sugar-sweetened beverages you should have a day. Juice drinks such as lemonade and fruit punch, sodas, tea, and coffee can all have added sugar. Stick to water and reduced-fat milk instead.

OUR PRODUCT RANGE

    WELCOME TO  NELSON HONEY & MARKETING

    For over 100 years the Cropp family have worked with nature, extracting the honey delicately, to bring you the finest quality New Zealand Honey. In 1973 third generation beekeeper Philip Cropp set up Nelson Honey & Marketing. His passion for bees, the many wonderful products they produce, have seen Nelson Honey grow from humble beginnings to a hugely successful company with a growing range of honey products sought after worldwide.

    Philip's “Honey will fix it” approach is legendary among friends, neighbors and customers and has been the driver behind some of the revolutionary products he developed over the years like Nectar Ease and Royal Nectar.

    Nutrition is all about our honeys. Manuka Honey, sourced from the Marlborough Sounds, Kahurangi National Park and throughout the top of New Zealand's South Island; West Coast Honey, a delicious multi-floral honey also described as the fruit bowl of honeys comes from the pristine (原始状态的) West Coast of the South Island; and finally Honeydew Honey which comes from the Beech forests of the Nelson Lakes areas. All our honeys are great as a food and may offer added benefits.

    Health covers a range of different products, aimed at helping you feel great and stay healthy. Nectar Ease is our sought after Manuka Honey with added Bee Venom range. In this range you'll also find Propolis, Pollen, Manuka Oil and Apple Cider Vinegar with added Manuka Honey.

    Finally our Skincare range is where you will find a range of Manuka Honey soaps as well as our world-famous Royal Nectar products; anything from the Original Face Mask to the new gift packs.

    To read more about how it all started, check out the About Us section, or go straight to Products to order your own goodies.

My First Marathon

    A month before my first marathon, one of my ankles was injured and this meant not running for two weeks, leaving me only two weeks to train. Yet, I was determined to go ahead.

    I remember back to my 7^th year in school. In my first P.E class, the teacher required us to run laps and then hit a softball. I didn't do either well. He later told me that I was "not athletic".

    The idea that I was "not athletic" stuck with me for years. When I started running in my 30s, I realized running was a battle against myself, not about competition or whether or not athletic. It was all about the battle against my own body and mind. A test of wills!

    The night before the marathon, I dreamt that I couldn't even find the finish line. I woke up sweating and nervous, but ready to prove something to myself.

    Shortly after crossing the start line, my shoe laces became loose. So I stopped to readjust(调整). Not the start I wanted!

    At mile 3, I passed a sign: "GO FOR IT, RUNNERS!"

    By mile 17, I became out of breath and the once injured ankle hurt badly. Despite the pain, I stayed the course walking a bit and then running again.

    By mile 21, I was hungry!

    As I approached mile 23, I could see my wife waving a sign. She is my biggest fan. She never minded the alarm clock sounding at 4 a.m. or questioned my expenses on running.

    I was one of the final runners to finish. But I finished! And I got a medal. In fact, I got the same medal as the one that the guy who came in first place had.

    Determined to be myself, move forward, free of shame and worldly labels(世俗标签), I can now call myself a "marathon winner".

    Despite what so many people would love to believe, NASA hasn't discovered any evidence of past or present intelligent life on Mars. Therefore, when the Curiosity rover (好奇号探测器) found something suspicious on the Red Planet's surface, they were not only surprised but also a little bit worried.

    The thin fragment(碎片) was suspicious enough to guarantee its own name, with NASA's Curiosity rover team calling it the "Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris", named for where it was discovered. With no idea what it was or where it came from, the rover's handlers began to worry that it might actually be a piece of the rover itself, suggesting some unseen damage or other issue with the robot. Thankfully, those concerns seem to have been unfound.

    In a new update from NASA the object has now been identified as a natural piece of rock rather than a piece of any man-made craft or vehicle. The team analyzed the unusual object with a tool called the Chem Cam RMI. The instrument uses a laser (激光器)to sniff out the makeup of anything that is pointed at, and the results for this particular piece of debris revealed that it's actually just a very thin piece of rock.

    NASA describes the inspection: The planning day began with an interesting result from the previous plan's Chem Cam RMI analysis of a target that was referred to as "Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris"(PPFOD)，and supposed to be a piece of spacecraft debris fact. In fact it was found to be a very thin slice of rock, so we can all rest easy tonight. Curiosity has not begun to shed its skin!

    How this particularly thin sliver of rock got to where it is—and why it seems to be a different colour than the surrounding sand and debris—remains unexplained, but at least the rover isn't falling apart.