YOUR KIDS ARE AMAZING —especially compared with everybody else's (who seem to cry all the time). How do you show your love for your kids this holiday season? With toys that are smooth and colorful, interactive and exciting. And with ones that have educational value — because you are the boss.

FLAX ART HOSPITAL PUZZLE AND PLAY SET

    Here is a toy that doesn't need power, and the kids have to put it together themselves. This 50-piece-puzzle set is made of soft-edged hardwood and makes a complete hospital, with an X-ray room. It also includes eight patients, a car and a driver. $135.

TINY LOVE ACTIVITY BALL

    Sure, it's cool, but this colorful baby toy also develops problem solving and motor skills. It has a head and legs, a magnetic(磁铁) hand and a tail. Suitable for little ones from 6-36 months. $19.95; tiny-love.com.

ROBOSAPIEN

    This small, remote-control robot is really powerful. It performs 67 preprogrammed functions, including throwing, kicking, picking up and dancing. You can even program your own function — which, sadly, does not include doing windows. $99 robosapienonline.com.

MINI PEDAL CAR

    Want a mini Cooper but can't fit the family inside? Get one for the kids. They can jump into this mini car, which comes in hot orange with a single adjustable seat, and ride away. But it could spoil them for that used car they'll be driving when they turn 16. For ages 3 to 5. $189; minicar.com (click on “gear up” then “mini motoring gear”)

    Mark felt that it was time for him to take part in his community, so he went to the neighborhood meeting after work. The area city council (委员会) woman was leading a discussion about how the quality of life was decreasing. The neighborhood faced many problems. Mark looked at the charts taped to the walls. There were charts for parking problems, crime, and for problems in vacant buildings. Mark read from the charts, “Police patrols(巡逻) cut back, illegal parking up 20%”. People were supposed to suggest solutions to the councilwoman. It was too much for Mark. "The problems are too big," he thought. He turned to the man next to him and said, "I think this is a waste of my time. Nothing I could do would make a difference here."

    As he neared the bus stop on his way home, Mark saw a woman carrying a grocery bag and a baby. As Mark got closer, her other child, a little boy, suddenly dashed into the street. The woman tried to reach for him, but as she moved, her bag shifted (滑落), and groceries started to fall out. Mark ran to take the boy's arm and led him back to his mother. Then he picked up the groceries while the woman smiled in relief. "Thanks!" she said. "You've got great timing!" "Just being neighborly," Mark said. As he rode home, he glanced at the walls of the bus. On one of them was “Small acts of kindness add up.”, Mark smiled and thought, "Maybe that's a good place to start."

    We've all had cases where we've waited just a bit too long to pay an electric bill or speeding ticket. But one man, from California by reasonable assumption, who goes by “Dave”, recently took procrastination (拖延) one step further, by paying a parking ticket almost a half-century after it was given.

    In December 2018, the Minersville Police Department in Pennsylvania received a letter in the mail. Whoever wrote the letter decided it was best to keep his name somewhat unknown, so he put the return address as “Wayward Road, Anytown California” under the name “Feeling guilty”.

    When the officers opened the envelope, they found a brief letter, along with a $5 bill, and a parking ticket dating all the way back to 1974.The note read, “Dear PD, I've been carrying this ticket around for 40 plus years always intending to pay. Forgive me if I don't give you my info. With respect, Dave.”

    Even though the initial parking ticket was only for $2, “Dave” must have felt awfully guilty because he left 150 percent, or $3, in interest.

    Michael Combs, the Police Chief of the Minersville Police Department, stated in an interview that the same ticket would cost about $20 if it was given today. Combs went on to share that the original ticket from 1974 was given to a vehicle that had an Ohio license plate.

    Because there was no system for tracking tickets given to out-of-state cars back then, “Dave” could have gotten away with never paying the $2 fine. But apparently, guilt got the best of him, and he decided to finally cough up the money more than 40 years past its due date.

    Do you often feel that you aren't taking in as much of the joy around you as you could? I recently caught myself feeling this way, and based on a suggestion by John Horton, coauthor (合著者) of The Inner Game of Stress, I put myself on a 30-day life-appreciation course.

    The only assignment each day was to go outside and appreciate life.

    So I started by taking in the beauty around me. During the first few days, I was able to appreciate my surroundings, although it was an intellectual appreciation, not an emotional one.

    After the first week, it was more uncomfortable to lie in bed and think about things than it was to get up and see them for myself.

    If you often wake up feeling anxious or depressed, or if you don't look forward to each day, then you need to try this course for yourself.

    It's an inner workout that you can do anywhere. It may not change your life, but it will adjust your attitude, and that's pretty helpful in this crazy world.

    I have always believed in ending the day on a positive note by writing a word or two in a gratitude journal and saying something sweet to my wife about the day we shared.

    Now, I have a new morning habit. It hasn't changed my routine one bit, but it has changed the way I look at the world.

    Creating a new habit isn't about perfection – it's about getting what you want by creating a change in your behavior and thinking.

    So now, while I'm making my coffee in the morning, I'm also appreciating what I have.

    It's quick, fulfilling, and a much better way to start my day than looking at my phone or computer.

    And because of this, my attitude is better, as I've already begun my morning on a positive note rather than a problematic one.

    The idea here is that if you can appreciate your life, it actually changes the way you feel about it.

    Appreciation will give you more energy to live the way you would like to live.

    As a means of improving our mood, it's highly underrated (被低估的). The easy task of appreciating what we have simply makes life better.

    In March 2008, I told my friends: I was going to shut down my law practice and travel around the world in a year. What's more, I'd do it without taking any flights or making a single advance (预先的) reservation. Some friends offered support and encouragement, while others were doubtful. Once I'd said the words, there was no turning back. It took months to shut down my law practice and get things in order.

    There really wasn't any great reason why I wanted to circle the world. I simply wanted to do something fun and different. When I had this plan, I didn't plan for it to lead to a life on the road forever. I was planning to come back, open a new law practice and write a hugely successful book about my travels. Before I left, I started a travel blog, which served as a way to take notes for the book.

    Once I set off on my trip in December 2008, I found that travelling without using planes was not easy. It took seven days and nights on trains to get from Moscow to Beijing. Sometimes, I wouldn't see a village or a human being for 10 hours. I had a whole cabin to myself from the second day of that journey.

    It turned out that travelling with no reservations was far less difficult than I had imagined. Pulling into a city on a bus with a bag, looking in a guidebook for a few suggestions of accommodations (住宿), and then finding an empty room was never a problem.

    Soon after I started this adventure, I realised that my return to the US would be temporary (暂时的). About three months into my journey, I realised that I didn't want to go back to my old life. The world is so wonderful and I wanted to see as much of it as I could.

Is forgiveness against our human nature? To answer our question, we need to ask a further question: What is the essence of our humanity? For the sake of simplicity, people consider two distinctly different views of humanity. The first view involves dominance and power. In an early paper on the psychology of forgiveness, Droll (1984) made the interesting claim that humans' essential nature is more aggressive than forgiving allows. Those who forgive are against their basic nature, much to their harm. In his opinion, forgivers are compromising their well-being as they offer mercy to others, who might then take advantage of them.

The second view involves the theme of cooperation, mutual respect, and even love as the basis of who we are as humans. Researchers find that to fully grow as human beings, we need both to receive love from and offer love to others. Without love, our connections with a wide range of individuals in our lives can fall apart. Even common sense strongly suggests that the will to power over others does not make for harmonious interactions. For example, how well has slavery worked as a mode of social harmony?

From this second viewpoint of who we are as humans, forgiveness plays a key role in the biological and psychological integrity of both individuals and communities because one of the outcomes of forgiveness, shown through scientific studies, is the decreasing of hatred and the restoration of harmony. Forgiveness can break the cycle of anger. At least to the extent the people from whom you are estranged accept your love and forgiveness and are prepared to make the required adjustments. Forgiveness can heal relationships and reconnect people.

As an important note, when we take a Classical philosophical perspective, that of Aristotle, we see the distinction between potentiality and actuality. We are not necessarily born with the capacity to forgive, but instead with the potential to learn about it and to grow in our ability to forgive. The actuality of forgiving, its actual appropriation in conflict situations, develops with practice.