It seems the more time we have, the longer we put off living the life we see in our heads, because we feel like we've got some time to kill.

I know where you think I'm going with this, and I also know you've heard it all before: seize the day, make the most of it, live life to its fullest, and so on. But that's the problem. You've heard it all before. These ideas have their impact and have become a cliché. Luckily, that's not my thing.

The real answers wake something up inside you. They make you think. That's what I want to give you today, the story of Bobby Darin, which wakes you up to the truth.

If you haven't heard of the man, I know you've heard his songs. Among his many hits are Mack the Knife, Beyond the Sea, Dream Lover, and Splish Splash.

    If seven years, Darin had several top ten hit songs, was nominated(提名) for four Grammy Awards (winning two), nominated for four Golden Globes (winning one), and even nominated for an Oscar.

    So what was his secret?

All his life, Darin had a heart condition that developed from a childhood illness. The doctors at the time said he would be lucky to live to 16. In other words, his time was limited. And this was secret. He knew the truth. He knew that we all have such a hard time accepting: Life is short. You can't just say it; you can't just hear it. You have to know it, believe it, and feel it. Because Darin knew his time was limited, he packed as much life as he could into the time he had. But he had an unfair advantage. He knew, without a doubt, his time was limited.

    There was no fooling himself, no putting it off. It was now or never.

    People are seeking for opportunities that will assist them in reaching their goals. Marketing yourself can be a good choice, which can help you achieve your goals. Though when people talk about marketing, they usually think that this is about producing a sale, it does not necessarily have to be.

    If you are an employee then you want your boss to take your ideas, and if you are on a job hunting then you want to find a good position. So in reality, marketing really leads to sale. So marketing yourself means you are simply “selling” yourself!

    The common problem in marketing yourself is that most people think that it is unpleasant to market themselves. They think that marketing concerns only to a business. Of course, this is absolutely not true. People who want to attain the success they desire must promote themselves.

    Marketing yourself is a useful tool. The better you market yourself, the more opportunities you will have. Marketing yourself does not really mean telling every person how beautiful and wonderful you are. It means letting your prospective employer know that you exist or you can do something better.

    There are actually several different ways of marketing yourself. But there are only two primary ways that you carry out. The first is to find ways to reach out to others and the second is to construct ways in order for the people to find you and make connection with you.

    To reach out and touch the lives of others, you have to be a good person and a good employee. In that way your good reputation will follow naturally. Have a brief and concise message that you can share with others. When you market yourself, you tell people who you are and what you can do for others. Plan well and practice your message.

    In constructing ways for the people to notice and make connection with you, you must be open to them. Communication is a great opportunity to make an impact especially when you market yourself. You also communicate by what you are wearing. Know the appropriate dress code and have plenty of time to decide what you will wear. Just remember to make a great first impression!

    Dutch beachcomber (海滩拾荒者) Wim Kruiswijk has accumulated a collection of 1,200 messages-in-bottles over the course of nearly 4 decades and has responded to almost all of them,

    68-year-old Kruiswijk says that his unusual hobby began in 1983 when he found three drift bottles (漂流瓶) on his local beach, each containing letters and return addresses. He wrote to all three addresses and was surprised to receive responses from each one. It was this experience that aroused his interest in hunting and collecting messages in bottles, and he hasn't stopped looking for them since.

"I find my messages in bottles on the beach of Zandvoort, where I live, and on the Dutch Islands," Kruiswijk recently told Great Big Story. "Messages in bottles is slow mail. It takes you days, or weeks, or months to find a bottle. "

In the early years, Kruiswijk would find as many as 50 bottles a year, but since 2000 that has slowed to around 20-30 finds, mainly due to beach cleaning efforts. He believes that the rise of the Internet has also played a role in the diminishing number of messages in bottles, telling Dutch newssite PZC, "I used to get a response at half the bottle messages that I answered. Now that's less; many people want 'instant satisfaction'."

    Throwing a message in a bottle out into the sea is a longstanding human tradition dating back to the time of the Greek philosopher Theophrastus, about 310 BC，who used the bottles to study water currents. Scientists still apply the method to this day, as a means to help researchers develop ocean circulation maps, and to crowdsource scientific studies of ocean currents.

    In the past bottles have also been used to send distress messages from sailors in trouble. They also have been used for memorial tributes, or to send loved ones' ashes on a final journey. One of the more common uses though is just to send invitations out to prospective pen pals, a quaint notion in these modern times, but, as Kruiswijk so clearly shows, an effective one.

    Customers who come into the Waffle House recognize server Evoni Williams, a soft-spoken 18-year-old from Texas City. It all started with a Facebook post. On the morning of March 3, Laura Wolf was eating breakfast at the Waffle House in La Marque when she overheard an older man, who reminded her of her late father, tell Williams he had trouble with his hands. The man, later identified as regular customer Adrien Charpentier, had an oxygen tank nearby and needed help cutting up his food. “Without hesitation,” Wolf wrote, Williams “took his plate and began cutting up his ham.”

    Impressed, Wolf posted the moment on her Facebook page to share the warmth and kindness with all. The following day, Williams's Facebook notification（关注）began to light up. Her friends saw Wolf's post and tracked her in it.

    Williams had no idea that someone took a photo that morning. The diner was so busy that a line extended outside the door. She said helping Charpentier was reflexive. She has been working at Waffle House since last June to save for college, and this, she figured, was just the right thing to do. “I would want someone to help my grandmother or grandfather,” Williams said.

    The post began to make its rounds in La Marque and eventually landed in front of the city's mayor, Bobby Hocking. He decided to declare March 8 as Williams's day, and also received an email from Texas Southern University President Austin A.Lane, asking if the school could present Williams with a scholarship.

    Williams still works at Waffle House five days a week and plans to do so until she starts classes in the fall at Houston-based Texas Southern. Wolf said Williams does not have a car to get to classes, but some people have offered to start a GoFundMe page for her, proving that a moment of a kindness can change a life.

    When emergency workers arrive at an old firehouse in New York City, the way they greet each other is not what you might expect. These first responders say," Ni Hao!" "Ni Hao" means "hello" in Mandarin Chinese.

    First responders are the first emergency workers to arrive at a fire, traffic accident or other emergency. Some first responders are fire fighters, while others can be Emergency Medical Technicians.

    In Brooklyn, New York, over 20 first responders are studying Mandarin Chinese for about two hours a week. The class is the first of its kind. It is offered by the New York City Fire Department Foundation.

    The U. S. Census Bureau recently reported that some New York neighborhoods are made up mostly of immigrants. Some people have predicted that the Chinese community is likely to become New York's largest immigrant group. They think the city will have' the largest Chinese community outside of Asia.

    The Census Bureau also found that almost 200 languages are spoken in the city. So, knowing different languages is important, especially if you are a first responder.

    Lieutenant(中尉,少尉) Steve Lee is president of the Fire Department's Phoenix Society. He says that first responders must be able to communicate quickly and effectively when an emergency happens. He explains that first responders enter neighborhoods and communities to assist regardless of where they are from. Many times first responders do not speak the same language as the people they are called to help. He adds that it is vital, or very important, that first responders are able to communicate with the people calling for help.

    Without help from homeowners and others, Lee adds, discovering exactly where a fire is burning can be a real problem. First responders need to ask questions such as "What building? What address? What apartment?" And the most important question," Is there anybody left in the building and where?"

    Next time you make yourself a hot cup of tea or coffee, you might want to let it cool down a bit before drinking.

    Researchers say letting your hot drinks cool off could help you avoid some kinds of cancer. Researchers at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) found evidence that drinks at temperatures above 65℃, when swallowed, can cause cancer of the esophagus (食道). The researchers examined findings from other studies where tea and coffee were often served at 70℃ or above. Those studies were completed in Iran, China and South America.

    In developed countries, health experts have linked esophageal cancer to smoking and alcoholic（酒精）drinks. However, this form of cancer is more common in areas where people drink beverages（饮料；酒水）at very high temperatures.

    In Europe and the United States, many people drink coffee and tea at temperatures around 60℃.And they often add milk which lowers the temperature greatly. However, tea-drinkers in Iran and mate-drinkers in South America often enjoy their beverages at closer to 70℃.

    The researchers find that South Americans not only drink their mate very hot, they also drink it through a metal straw(吸管). This sends the scalding liquid directly into the throat.

    The findings, however, are good news for coffee drinkers. In 1991, the World Health Organization listed coffee as possibly carcinogenic (致癌的).” The WHO officials have since changed their position on that listing. They now suggest that the temperature of your hot drink is a greater risk factor than the actual drink itself.

    The results suggest that drinking very hot beverages is one probable cause of esophageal cancer and that it is the temperature, rather than the drinks themselves, that appears to be responsible.