Jack is a twenty-year-old young man. Two years ago, when he finished middle school, he found work in a shop. Usually he works until ten o'clock in the evening. He is very tired when he gets home. After a quick supper he goes to bed and soon falls asleep. His grandma who lives downstairs is satisfied with (满意) him.

    One day, on his way home, he met Mary. They were both happy. He asked the girl to his house, she agreed happily. He bought some fruit and drinks for her. And they talked about their school, teachers, classmates and their future (未来). They talked for a long time.

    "Have a look at your watch, please," said the girl. "What time is it now?" "Sorry, something is wrong with my watch," said Jack. "Where's yours?" "I left it at home."

    Jack thought for a moment and found a way. He began to stamp his foot on the floor, "Bang! Bang! Bang!" The sound woke his grandma up. The old woman shouted downstairs, "It's twelve o'clock in the night, Jack. Why are you still jumping upstairs?"

    Tommy is from a poor family. His father is a worker and he is often ill. Tommy hopes to be an artist, but everybody says it is not possible for him to be an artist and makes fun of his family and his dream. But Tommy never gives up.

    One day, he heard there was a drawing competition the following week, and anyone aged 13 and up was welcome. The winner would get 10,000 dollars and some art equipment(设备). He thought for a minute and decided to take part in the competition.

    That week seemed like the longest week in his life. Every day when he got home from school, a pencil and a piece of paper were the first things in his hands. He practiced drawing for a long time. Then, the day of the competition came. He finished his drawing quickly.

    After two weeks, Tommy got a letter. Tommy was too afraid to open the letter. At last he opened it slowly. Just as he read the first sentence, he began crying. However, they were not tears(眼泪) of sadness. They were tears of happiness.

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    Long long ago, there was a blacksmith(铁匠). He was always unhappy with his life. "I'm always hot as a blacksmith. I want to be a stone on the mountain. There it must be cool." A wise man could change everything. The blacksmith went to the wise man. The wise man said, "Be a stone!" The blacksmith became a stone. A moment later, a stonemason(石匠) came and saw the stone. "It's what I want," he said and began to cut it. The stone cried, "Ouch! I don't want to be a stone. I want to be the sun. That would be great." The wise man said, "Be the sun!" And he became the sun. But the sun was much hotter, so he said, "I don't like this. I'd like to be the moon. It looks cool!" The wise man said again, "Be the moon!" And he became the moon. "This is hotter than being the sun, because the light from the sun shines（照射）on me" he said, "I don't want to be the moon. I want to be a blacksmith again. That's the best life."

    But the wise man said, "I'm tired of your changing. You want to be the moon, now you are the moon, and you'll be the moon in the future."

    While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland, Oregon, I had an experience which happened only two feet away from me.

    Trying to locate my friend among the passengers coming through the jet way, I noticed a man walking toward me carrying two light bags. He stopped right next to me to greet his family.

    First he kissed his three children one by one and said, "It's nice to see you. I missed you so much!" Then he hugged his wife, "I've saved the best for last!" giving her the longest, most passionate (狂热的) kiss I ever remember seeing. They stared at each other's eyes, smiling at one another, while holding both hands. For an instant they reminded me of newlyweds (新婚夫妇), but I knew by the age of their kids that they couldn't possibly be.

    Full of admiration, I asked, "Wow! How long have you two been married?" "Being together for fourteen years total, married twelve of those." He replied, without breaking his gaze from his lovely wife's face. "Well, then, how long have you been away?" I asked. "Two whole days!" "Two days?" I was astonished. By the intensity (热烈) of the greeting, I had thought he'd been gone for at least several weeks —if not months. I knew my expression betrayed me, so I turned away my eyes and said quietly, "I hope my marriage is still that passionate after so long!"

    The man suddenly stopped smiling and looked me straight in the eye. With forcefulness he told me something that left me a different person. "Don't hope, friend. Decide!" Then he smiled again, shook my hand and said, "God bless!"

    With that, he and his family turned and walked away together.

    I was still watching that man and his special family walk just out of sight when my friend came up to me and asked, "What are you looking at?" Without hesitation, and with a curious sense of certainty, I replied, "My future!"

    Once there was a man traveling in a faraway village. As he was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped. He found that these huge elephants were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains(锁链), no cages. It was clear that the elephants could, at any time, break away from their ropes but for some reason, they did not.

    He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and didn't try to get away." Well,' the trainer said," when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they still believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can hold them, so they never try to break free."

    How could it be? These animals could at any time break free from their ropes. But because they were always stuck right where they were, they believed they couldn't.

    Just like the elephants, how many of us go through life believing that we cannot do something, just because we failed at it once before?

           We should never give up the struggle(斗争) in life.