The associates I hired in my bicycle and lawn mower shop like myself were never perfect; however, they were excellent. Working with them as they improved taught me new ways to show forgiveness, understanding, and patience.

    One day the placement officer asked me to interview a young man who was having trouble finding a job. He told me that David was a little shy, did not talk much and was afraid to go on with interviews. He requested that I give David an interview just for practice. He plainly told David that I had no positions open at the time and the interview was just for practice.

    When David came in for the interview, he hardly said a word. I told him what we did at the bicycle shop and showed him around. I told David to keep showing up because the number one thing an employer wanted in an associate was dependability.

    David was very quiet (he was evaluated as a slow learner in school). Every ten days or so, for weeks after the interview, David walked into the bicycle shop and stood by the front door. He never said a word, just stood by the door.

    One day, shortly before Christmas, a large truck came to the shop, packed with 250 new bicycles. It had to be unloaded right away or the driver would leave.

    It was raining. Some of my workers (without physical limitations) chose not to brave the weather to get into work, so I was short-handed. It seemed everything was going wrong and on top of it, David came in the front door and just stood there. I looked at him and shouted, “Well, all right! Fill out a time card and help me unload this truck!”

    David worked for my bicycle shop for eighteen years. He came to work every day thirty minutes early. He could talk; however, he rarely chose to. He drove my truck and made deliveries. The customers would praise David, saying, “He doesn't talk, but he really shows you how to operate a lawn mower!”

    “Our aim is to take our art to the world and make people understand what it is to move,” said David Belle, the founder of parkour(跑酷).

    Do you love running? It is a good exercise, yet many people find it boring. But what if making your morning jog a creative one? Like jumping from walls and over gaps, and ground rolls? Just like the James Bond in the movie Casino Royale? Bond jumps down from a roof to a windowsill and then runs several blocks over obstacles on the way. It is just because of Bond's wonderful performances that the sport has become popular worldwide.

    Yes, that's parkour, an extreme street sport aimed at moving from one point to another as quickly as possible, getting over all the obstacles in the path using only the abilities of the human body. Parkour is considered an extreme sport. As its participants(参与者) dash around a city, they may jump over fences, run up walls and even move from roof top to roof top.

    Parkour can be just as exciting and charming as it sounds, but its participants see parkour much more than that.

    Overcoming all the obstacles on the course and in life is part of the philosophy(理念) behind parkour. This is the same as life. You must determine your destination, go straight, jump over all the barriers as if in parkour and never fall back from them in your life to reach the destination successfully. A parkour lover said, “I love parkour because its philosophy has become my life, my way to do everything.”

    Another philosophy we've learnt from parkour is freedom. It can be done by anyone, at any time, anywhere in the world. It is a kind of expression of trust in yourself. It is only a state of mind. It is when you trust yourself that you earn energy.

    One of the most important things in the world is friendship. In order to have friends, you have to be a friend. But how can you be a good friend at school？

Listen﹣Listen when they are talking. Don't say anything unless they ask you a question. Sometimes it's not necessary for you to have anything to say; they just need someone to talk to about their feelings.

    Help them﹣If your friend is ever in need of something, be there to help them. You should try to put them first, but make sure you don't do everything they want you to do. Try to take an extra pencil or pen with you to classes in case they forget one. Have a little extra money in your pocket in case they forget something they need.

    Be there for them﹣Be there for your friends to help make them feel better in hard times. Marilyn Monroe, a famous U.S. actor, once said, "I often make mistakes. Sometimes I am out of control, but if you can't stay with me at my worst, you are sure not to deserve to be with me at my best." Always remember this! If you don't want to stay with your friends when they're in hard times, then you don't deserve to be with them when they're having a good time!

    Make plans﹣Try to make plans with your friends. Go shopping, go for ice cream, have a party, go to a movie and so on. Take time to know each other even better by doing something you both enjoy. By planning things together, you both can have a good time. And you'll remember these things when you're all old!

    There's a word of wellness I've loved for years. It's HALT: the idea that if you want to be calm and content, never let yourself get too hungry, angry, lonely or tired. Researchers are increasingly looking more closely at the "L" in "HALT", with one report presented to the American Psychological Association finding that long-term loneliness might be a greater public health risk than obesity.

    Loneliness is a problem with many faces. Some people are alone most of the time—data collected by the United Kingdom found that 200, 000 people over the age of 75 had not had a conversation with a friend or a relative in more than a month. But some people feel lonely even in a crowded room, disconnected from meaningful relationships even though their days are filled with people.

    To me, walking a positive path means walking alongside others—people who lift our spirits, share our values, challenge us to grow and learn and bring us joy. But social satisfaction doesn't come automatically or even easily to too many people. And in our age of individualized electronic devices, social media and text-based communication, it can be harder than ever to feel truly connected to others.

    I was so heartened to read that recently the British Parliament (议会) has created a "Minister for Loneliness" position to promote research, education and principles so as to cure what some researchers call "the loneliness disease". More and more doctors in America are also screening adult patients for loneliness at annual physical examinations, which is another promising sign.

    With proper social support and community participation, loneliness can be prevented from happening. If you are feeling lonely, make a list of your daily routines and ask yourself how you could add more social interactions to each day. Try reaching out for volunteer opportunities, clubs and organizations to join and old friendships to renew. If you are struggling, ask a consultant to help you identify your social obstacles and overcome them.

    Facebook was running my life.

    But what killed Facebook for me was when I posted a photo, and five minutes later my son asked me how many "likes" it had got. His question was a wake-up call.

    "Likes" are signs of acceptance and approval(赞同). I had forgotten that acceptance and approval need to come from within and had unknowingly set him a bad example.

    Before absorbed in Facebook, I spent a lot more time reading books and magazines. I checked in with friends through texts, emails and phone calls.

    To set a healthier example to my son, I deactivated my Facebook account.

    I'd been in the habit of checking Facebook many times a day, so I had to come up with some new habits. I carried a novel and a crossword puzzle book around with me. I rediscovered knitting. I started taking yoga classes.

    I started to remember a few things. My body is fine just the way it is. I have friends who will help me out when I'm in trouble, and I will help them out. I do my best to be a good mother, and our son is happy and healthy. We are very lucky to be able to afford two vacations a year.

    I stopped looking at the world through my cellphone. I felt completely present in the moment. The break left me feeling better about myself, my family, my home and my life.

    After a few weeks, I returned to Facebook. Now I look at the photos of my friends' kids growing up and treasure how social media allows me to keep in touch with family. I no longer have the desire to post updates often.

    It is not an addiction(上瘾) any more.

Reading a book and watching a film are two very different experiences, but expectations can be high when a film of a favourite book is made. There are very many times I have been disappointed by a film of a book I love. So maybe highly regarded books do not always make good films. It is safe to say that great movies may be made from not particularly good books.

The source material may be anything from classic novels, short stones, comic books and stage plays, as well as non­fiction such as biography and autobiography, even those written by ghostwriters. All can work well, but why do many adaptations and indeed remakes fail with both cinema audiences and critics?

A key question is obviously how close to the original the film is. Since a typical film is only around two hours long, it becomes a question of what to leave out, and how to script the dialogue. Sometimes there may be changes to the plot, additions and even different endings to please producers, directors and test audiences. I, like many people, have often left the cinema feeling "the film is not like the book".

Another problem area is the cast. Whether suitable actors are found or not can mean the difference between success and failure. Readers of the book use their imaginations to visualize characters and have very definite ideas about how characters look and sound. This is where I think many film adaptations fall down.

Some books are just too difficult to film for technical reasons, although movies like The Life of Pi are changing this perception. The impact of CGI technology has had a huge impact on the movie industry and allowed the previously unfilmable to become a reality.

 Sometimes authors are very involved in the process and many may even be the screenwriters. This can actually be a bad thing because they may be too close to the material and find it difficult to adapt. At other times they are not the screenwriters, and there are instances where writers have been very unhappy with the film versions of their work. Roald Dahl and Stephen King are examples of this. Even more extreme was novelist J. D. Salinger who made sure no film versions of his popular novels could ever be made. In this situation, it is clear viewers will not be disappointed.