A family of Iraqis live in my neighborhood. The 1 of the family, Ali, served as a(n) 2 for the American Forces for ten years.

    3 the Americans were withdrawing they gave my friend's family visas to come to  4. They didn't give them 5 else. Ali came to the USA. He was able to get two of his sons out of Iraq and they got jobs at Walmart and ATT. They have 6 English skills and are college educated.

    My friend Ali is in his 7 and had worked as an English interpreter much of his life. He had worked for some very important international companies 8 business in the Middle East. But here in America he is just an old Muslim man 9 to get a job.

    We became friends when my dog got 10 from the dog park and 11 a cat into his yard. I tried to help him get a job by making phone calls for him and help him 12 some of the American culture. A year later, he finally got a job as a security 13 for a shopping center.

    I am very 14 of his wife and daughters-in-law. I haven't done much for them except try to be a good 15. When his second American grandson was 16 I took a box of oranges and my smile to 17 the new baby.

    I've tried to be empathetic(有同感) to a family in a place completely different from 18they knew as home. They are 19 to be here and to live in safety and comfort. I am happy that they are 20 in a world where so many are not.

    Sitting in my favorite restaurant one day I noticed a man come in. He looked 1 and mad with the world, a look I had 2 many times before. I gave him my happy "good morning"3 but his response was still less than 4. He looked at me, sat down and 5 his head in the menu.

    I was not 6 by his response but I wondered if he would 7 and give just a small hello or smile. Over an hour passed and every time he looked my way, he looked meaner (低劣的) and meaner. Finally he called the 8 over to 9 his bill. I turned my head away for just a 10 and he was gone quickly. 

    I looked down at his 11 and there was a beautiful rolled up $ 100 bill on it. I was in shock. I 12 got up to get the cash. In my head Right and Wrong were fighting it out. Before I knew it, I was 13 behind the man to offer this 14 back to him. Out of breath, I said, "Sir, did you 15 this?" He looked shocked. His face turned 16 and a big lump (块) that could 17 an elephant came in his throat. He looked at the ground and finally said "yes", and then he slowly said "thank you".

    Without 18 looking at me, he turned around, got in his car and 19 away. I said "thank you" to God for letting me change one person's 20 towards friendly strangers.

    Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they are meant to be there.

    They serve some sort of 1 in order to teach a lesson or help 2 who you are or who you want to become. You never know 3 these people may be — your roommate, neighbor, professor, long-lost friend, lover or even a complete 4, but when you keep an eye on them, you know at that very moment that they will 5 your life in some great way.

    And sometimes things happen to you and they may seem 6, horrible and unfair at the time, but 7 solving those problems, you would never have realized your potential, strength, willpower or heart. Everything happens for a(n) 8. Nothing happens by 9 or by means of good or bad luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness and stupidity—all occur to 10 the limits of your soul. Without these small tests life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere, safe and comfortable but dull and 11.

    The people you meet who affect your life and the successes and 12 you experience — they are the ones that create who you are. Even the 13 experiences can be learned from.

    If someone hurts you, betrays you or breaks your heart, 14 them, for they have helped you learn about 15 and the importance of being 16 about whom you open your heart to. If someone loves you, love them back 17, not only because they love you, but because they are teaching you to love and open your heart and eyes to things you would without them.

    18 have seen or felt Make every day 19. Appreciate every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can, for you may never be able to experience it again.

    "People are like tea bags — you have to put them in hot water before you know how 20 they are."

    By the end of last year, my husband and I had settled in a house with an ocean view in New Zealand. We love it here and feel like we have 1 our life goals-well, one of them.

    The ocher goal is to 2 what we have now.

    Life isn't always like this. I 3 when I was growing up I always felt as though I was going through life for the only purpose of 4 my parents. The only 5 with this was that I was the only person who knew about that 6.

    Things did it really 7 when I went to boarding school. I was 8 sorry I would let my parents down. I was 12 years old then and 9 80 kg—not good for a 12-year-old girl. I hated myself. I did not 10 sports activities because I didn't know what to do. My self-esteem (自尊) was below the horizon and I felt a total 11, as if I was not good enough for 12.

    In my second year I thought I had turned things 13 when I came top of the class. It was only later that I learned 14 is not about people-pleasing and seeking 15 from others is not the way to long-term happiness—this is something that needs to come from within, from feeling complete, feeling 16, loved, successful and worthy. This is how I am today.

    I had been a victim (受害者) in life, feeling like everyone was 17 me, like I was never going to be 18 enough and so on. Then one day I discovered life coaching. Coaching was the life blood of my very being. I discovered I had a 19 in life. I will always have a choice, 20 that every decision I make is my decision. How powerful it is!

    Being jobless for the last three months, I am upset nowadays. My son has lost his 1 from a good school and he might have to go to a less qualified school. I have moved from a spacious (宽敞的) apartment to a small one in order to 2 my living expenses. My wife has built extra stress. On top of that, my father in-law 3 a week ago, which has added fuel to fire, 4 our family into a more terrible state.

    In these circumstances I have two mental 5: either to feel upset and keep losing my peace of mind, or 6 my negative thoughts with super mental powers about self-confidence and consistency, and 7 applying for new jobs with positive attitude.

    I choose the second option because I believe that the pain I am 8 today will build up my 9 . My strengths will then increases my confidence and make me a good times make me a 10 man one day. I understand that good and bad stages are part of 11 . While good times make me happy, bad times 12 the 'inner' me.

    Two months later, 13 , I have finally landed on a job which is very exciting and offers a nice salary. Time has healed my wife's mental stress 14 the death of her father. My son has already been accepted by another good school because the admissions for new academic year were still 15 !

    As I am back on the track of normal life, I can 16 say that the most important things that helped me 17 the crisis (危机) were my consistent character of patience, and 18 attitude towards life. So, while I wish you all the best life can 19 you, I would highly recommend taking the same attitude towards life 20 you are trapped in any of such situations.

Sandra was a businesswoman in Orlando. Approaching her 50th birthday, she decided to1 her love of cats and her work experience to start the Orlando Cat Cafe.

As a lifelong cat fan, Sandra's main goal in opening the cafe was to help 2 cats up for adoption with proper pet parents. What she didn't 3at the time was that her café would help human visitors as much as the cats!

"The most4thing in the cafe is that they always have new cats and cats need socialization, so both sides 5!" says Laurie, who is one6guest. She, like many other cat lovers, who 7have pets at home because of allergies (过敏反应) in the family, often comes to the cafe to experience the benefits of 8with cute animals whenever she likes.

Plus, Sandra's cat-adoption 9aren't the only charitable initiative happening at the cafe! The coffee and food10for visitors are made by Axum Coffee, a company that was also started to11others. Axum is a city in Ethiopia where fresh water is 12and even poverty is widely visible. In fact, the coffee and food are sold at a low price at the cafe, some of whose13go to the people of Axum, Ethiopia, to help improve their14 of life.

"My cafe and Axum Coffee have a(n)15 mission to reach out to others. We hit it off and became partners," says Sandra.

Maybe the next time you visit Orlando, you'll16Sandra's cafe, and hit it off with one of the cats up for17 ! Adoption specialists are always on-site to help match the personalities of potential 18 with those of the cats in the play area. And it 19 ! More than 80 cats have been adopted since Sandra20 her business in 2016.