A group of graduates got together to visit their old university professor.

The conversation soon turned into complaints about 1 in work and life. To offer his 2 coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and 3 with a large pot of coffee and a 4 of cups—plastic, glass, metal, porcelain (陶瓷), crystal, some plain-looking, some beautiful. The professor told his students to 5 themselves to hot coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said, “lf you have 6, all the nice-looking expensive cups have been 7, leaving behind the plain and 8 ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the 9 of your problems and stress.”

    The professor continued, “Believe that the cup itself adds no 10 to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases it even 11 what we drink. What all of you 12 wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went 13 the best cups.”

    Now 14 this: life is the coffee; the jobs, money, and 15 in society are the cups. 16 are just tools to hold and contain life, and the different types of cups we have don't decide, nor 17 the quality of life. If we concentrate only on the cups, we will 18 to enjoy the coffee in it. So don't let the cups 19 you enjoy the coffee instead." At these words, the graduates looked at each other in 20 embarrassment.

A friend of mine opened his wife's underwear drawer and picked up a silk paper wrapped package: "This," he said, "isn't any1package." He unwrapped the box and2both the silk paper and the box .

"She got it 3 we went to New York 8 or 9 years ago. She has 4put it on. And she was5 it for a special occasion(场合)", he told me.

    He got near the bed and placed the gift box next to the other6 he was taking to the funeral home(殡仪馆); his wife had just died. Then he turned to me and 7:

"Never save something for a special occasion. Every day in your life is a8occasion".

    I still think those words 9my life.

Now I spend more time with my10, and less at work. I"ll wear 11clothes to go to the supermarket, if I feel like my new clothes. I don't save my special perfume(香水)for special occasions; I use it 12I want to. The words "Some day ..." and "One day ..."13 gradually from my dictionary. If it's worth seeing, listening or doing , I want to see, listen or do it now.

    I don't know what my friend's wife would have14if she knew she wouldn't be there the next morning, and this 15can tell. I think she might16her relatives and closest friends. She might call old friends to make peace over past17. She might go out for a Chinese, maybe her18food. It's these small things that I would regret(后悔) not doing, if I knew my19had come. I would regret it because I would no longer see the relatives and the friends, even the delicious food.

    Now, I try not to20anything that could bring laughter and joy into my life. And on each morning, I say to myself that this could be a special day. Each day, each hour, each minute, is special.

    My name is Timothy. I'm 21 years old and I've been diagnosed with autism(自闭症) since the age of 2. I'd like to 1 my story with you about my life with autism.

    Firstly, autism makes me a loner. I can't easily2too much human-to-human communication at the same time. I find it difficult to process all that spoken and unspoken information. I also3some other stuff that has been a rocky roadblock during my life. It's very4to live through the times that I put up with during my life5 teasing, struggling to adapt to new6like schools, on and off depression.7seeing my relative's death and the struggles with my disability. Well,8all of those horrible barriers that tried to cut me down, I have overcome them.

    Those things I mentioned are just a(n)9part of my life.10 there are good things in my life. Currently, I work at a local library to get some11. Outside of that, I'm a writer and motivational speaker to reach people and12their spirits. Now, I'm writing a book titled Through My Eyes: Tim and his Poetry, which is about my life and the 5013I've written.

    Every day, there will be14challenges that are going to fall on me, but I will get stronger as I conquer them. Now, autism can still15me and I go back into my own little16for a short time, then I bring myself back by trying to be as17as I can. I have a few18to be sociable with people. The first one is to ask others about how their day is going19the reply, and then try to talk about something we have in20

    Mum said they might not be back until after eleven. My brother Greg and I 1 to play hide -and- seek (捉迷藏). But there was not much 2 except in the front room. The3 was that we were not allowed in there by ourselves.4, we just took the risk.

    Once there, both of us were cautious and moved about 5 for some while. Then, when I hid behind a tapestry(壁毯), 6 by my brother, I jumped out. With a sense of 7, I felt my right elbow (手肘) striking (撞击) something hard. We heard a crash. Even 8 we dared to look, we knew that the vase lay broken.

    When Mum and Dad came home and viewed the pieces, we knew any 9 would only serve to fuel their anger. Mum ordered us to sit on the bare floor, beside the ruin. She cried, “How 10 the two of you have done this?” Greg and I, too 11 to cry, could voice no answer. After a while, she 12 us and stayed there alone by herself, much like a statue.

    Greg and I 13 throughout that night, struggling to decide what we might do to 14for it. We hoped with the money we had saved we might just have 15 to buy a vase. The next day, we set off to search 16 every local shop until we found a good copy.

    When we 17 home in silence, we 18 Mum and Dad with what we'd bought. Dad 19 out, took it from Greg and then passed it to Mum. She sighed, “You broke our Ming vase.” But we believed they knew we were 20.

I often wondered what it would be like to have cancer.

I didn't expect to find out, though, at last not for decades. I have always been healthy and strong; I regularly do hot yoga and swim two kilometers in a bay near my home in Sydney.

But now I know: it felt as if I was carrying a baby. Tumors (肿瘤) that silently grew inside me suddenly became bigger one weekend.

Then, one Saturday in June, I was struck with sharp pain and ended up in the hospital.

My doctor said it might be very serious. I spent two weeks waiting for the operation, not knowing if I'd live to the end of the year.

In the days before the operation, I turned off my phone and computer. I prayed so hard that I grew unnaturally calm.

The operation lasted five hours. The mass was fully removed, but it was unexpectedly complicated. I was in special care for eight days, in the wires, machines, with pipes in my lungs and liver.

Luckily, the operation was very successful and I am slowly growing stronger. I am walking upright again and waking without great pain. I can now drive, and am preparing to return to work. My prognosis (预后) is good, but I will need to live with the fear of return.

Everyone suddenly seems consumed with foolish worries. I have a different idea about the complaints posted by some Internet users who had the flu, were upset by the upcoming exams or burdened by work. I want to scream: BUT YOU ARE ALIVE! Alive! Each day is a gift, especially if you are upright and able to move with ease, without pain.

I'm still struggling with what all of this means. But in this short time, a truth became even clearer to me.

We should not have to move to the woods like Henry David Thoreau to "live meaningfully". It would be impossible and frankly tiring to live each day as if it were your last. My doctor asked me a few days ago how I became so calm before the operation. I told her: I prayed; I locked out negativity and drew my family and friends near; I tried to live meaningfully.

She said, "Actually you should do that for the rest of your life."

I spent two weeks in Kenya as a volunteer in a natural reserve. Our 1 was aimed at protecting wildlife. And we also did other 2 work, helping the local people to improve their living conditions.

I 3 the woods with slow heavy steps, picked up a few traps left by 4 hunters and helped monitor the population of giraffes, which was at risk to illegal hunting. We also 5 sporting equipment to local schools, where you could see their textbooks and classrooms were in 6 condition. We made changes, but sometimes they seemed useless. There are so many problems that need to be 7 such as environmental damage, illegal hunting, and lack of 8 to education. What can one group of volunteers accomplish? These are problems that maybe need to 9 many years to address.

So why choose to be a volunteer? After all, it is unpaid and often very hard work. Even though it is easy to get 10 , most of the time what we are in search of is life's meaning—to spend our 11 well and for a good cause.

These are moments I will 12 for a long time—the salty air, dozens of zebras eating grass, the sunset over the hills. And also the smiles, the waves of local children, the13 sound of laughter among strangers have been 14 impressed in my mind. These are the moments that remind me of how proud I am to have been a volunteer. These are the 15 that will stay with me forever and remind me of a time, a place and a certain destination.