Years ago, acritical event occurred in my life that would change it forever. I met Kurt Kampmeir of Success Motivation Incorporation for breakfast. While we were1 , Kurt asked me, " John, what is your 2for personal growth?"

     Never at a loss for words, I tried to find things in my life that might3 for growth. I told him about the many activities in which I was4 . And I went into a 5about how hard I worked and the gains I was making. I must have talked for ten minutes. Kurt  6patiently, but then he 7 smiled and said, “You don't have a personal plan for growth, do you?”

    “No, I8.

   “You know,” Kurt said simply, “growth is not a(n)9 process.”

     And that's when it10me. I wasn't doing anything11 to make myself better. And at that moment, I made the 12 : I will develop and follow a personal growth plan for my 13.

    That night, I talked to my wife about my 14 with Kurt and what I had learned. I15her the workbook and tapes Kurt was selling. We16 that Kurt wasn't just trying to make a sale. He was offering a 17 for us to change our lives and achieve our dreams.

     Several important things happened that day. First, we decided to18 the resources. But more importantly, we made a commitment to19 together as a couple. From that day on, we learned together, traveled together, and sacrificed together. It was a  20 decision. While too many couples grow apart, we were growing together.

     “Now,” Mrs. Virginia White said, smiling, “we are going to discover our professions.” The class seemed to be greatly surprised. We were only 13 and 14 years old! The teacher must be1“Yes, you will all be searching for your future2 Each of you will have to3 someone in your field, plus an oral report.

    Finally, I picked print journalism. This4 I had to go to interview a newspaper reporter. I was extremely nervous. I sat down in front of him 5 able to speak. He looked at me and said, “Did you bring a pen and some paper?” I6my head.

    Finally, I thought he realized I was 7 and I got my first big tip as a8 “Never, never go anywhere without pen or paper. You never know what you'll run into.”9a few days, I gave my oral report totally from 10 in class. I got an A on the entire project.

    Years later, I was in college looking around for a new career, but with no success. Then I 11Virginia White and my dream at 13 to be a journalist. And I called my parents. They didn't 12me. They just reminded me how13the field was and how all my life I had run away from competition. This was true. But journalism did something to me; it was in my 14 For the past 12 years, I've had the most satisfying reporting career,15 stories from murders to airplane crashes and16 choosing my strongest area.17I went to pick up my phone one day, a wave of memories hit me and I realized that had it not been 18 Virginia White, I would not be sitting at that desk.

    I get 19all the time: “How did you pick journalism?”

     “Well, you see, there was this teacher...” I always start out. I just wish I could 20her.

I still remember my kindergarten teacher Mrs White, although I don't remember much about what we learned in her class. My mother once told me that we used to1a lot. And I would bring back what I wrote and she could see there were so many2. But no red corrections. And always a star. Sometimes3a "Good"，which would make my heart soar (高涨）with4, But it worried my mother, so one day when she met Mrs White, she asked her why she never5the wrong spellings of words.

Mrs White replied, "The children are just beginning to get6about using words, about forming sentences. I don't want to7that enthusiasm with red ink. Spelling and grammar can wait. The wonder of words won't…"Maybe she didn't say it8like that. It was long ago. But I did grow up learning to use words with loving9like that.

I10now and think Mrs Whites was a rather11teacher. She encouraged the joy,12and excitement of expression-however faultily-like that. I used to13"beautiful" a lot. Never could I quite remember that the "e"went 14the "a".15my teacher in high school very much.16eventually the e's and a's settled into their17places. I am glad I didn't 18on them though. "Pretty" is 19to spell but it doesn't hold as much as you mean sometimes. And thanks to Mrs White, I had no20about writing what I meant even if I couldn't quite spell it out. Because life isn't Pretty. It's Beautiful.

    My husband, Tom, has always been good with animals, but I was still amazed when he befriended a female grouse (松鸡). It's 1for a grouse to have any contact (接触)with people. In fact, they're hard to spot, 2they usually fly off when they hear humans approaching

    This grouse came into our lives in 3Tom was working out in the field when he 4her walking around at the edge of the field. She was 5unafraid and seemed to be 6about what he was doing,

    Tom saw the 7bird several times, and site got more comfortable around him. We quickly grew 8of the bird and decided to call her Mildred.

    One day, as Tom was working, Mildred came within a few feet of him to watch. Tom 9he didn't see her and kept working to see what she would do next.

    Apparently, she didn't like to be 10. She'd run up and peck (啄) at Tom's hands, then 11off to see what he would do. This went on for about 20 minutes, until Mildred became tired of the 12and left.

    As spring went and summer came, Mildred started to 13more and more often. 14Mildred felt comfortable enough to jump up on Tom's leg and stay long enough for me to get a 15of the two of them together. This friendly grouse soon felt 16no just with our family, but with anybody who walked or drove by.

    When hunting season opened, we put a 17at the end of our driveway asking 18not to shoot our pet grouse. My father, who lived down the road, 19warned people not to shoot her. 20, hunters would stop and take pictures, because they had never seen anything like her.

    Dad loves fishing very much. Fishing is as much a part of Dad's life as 1. Going fishing with him is a very 2 thing for me and my twin brother. Jumping into a 3 stream on a hot day, sleeping under the bright 4, fishing with Dad and eating freshly caught fish that has been fried over a 5 seems like the heaven to a couple of 10-year-old boys.

    One day, Dad drove us to Cottonwood Stream. An hour after we got there, he 6 some fish. He suggested that we take them back to our camp, 7 we stayed to watch Dad skillfully cast his 8 another time. We sat quietly until Dad's fishing pole 9 and he began winding the line on. Knowing this could be a very 10 fish, we jumped up and down and 11 for Dad to catch that fish. When he did, Dad's wide smile lit up his face like the sun. He 12 the hook, but an unexpected thing happened. The huge fish slipped out of Dad's hands and jumped back into the stream!

    We thought Dad would 13 , but he didn't. Although the sun was dropping 14 the mountains, my father sat down again and waited 15 . At last, the big fish took the bait once more. However, it slipped back into the 16 again as Dad tried to remove the hook. This time, Dad jumped into the stream, 17 for that fish again and again and 18 caught it, wrapping it in his shirt and walking back to the 19. Both my brother and I shouted wildly, cheering for his success.

What Dad did that day taught me a good lesson. I learn that we should never give up if we want to 20 something.

    A few weeks ago, my friend offered to sell some of our things for us. I thought it was a good opportunity to 1my 7-year-old son's room and 2some toys that were no longer suitable for him to play with. We 3 that all the money we got from selling the toys would be his money.

    The night before the 4 we loaded(装载)up the truck with toys and a little bike that was too 5for him. In the yard he   6 the bike for the last time and then happily put it onto the truck. This little bike had at least two previous (以前的) owners as far as we 7 .It was certainly not 8, but the tyres (轮胎)were 9 good.

    We put a price of $ 10 on it, but it didn't sell. So, after the sale was 10 , my friend put it on the sidewalk, with a sign that 11 "FREE BIKE". Within five minutes her doorbell rang. A little boy was 12 there. In poor English he asked whether the bike was 13 free. She said yes and that he could have it for 14He smiled, got on the bike and rode away.

    Later that evening when I told my son how much money he had made at the sale, he was very 15 , shouting happily. He asked about a few of his things, wondering 16they had been sold. When he asked about the bike, I told him about the little boy and that made him 17. He was much happier than when I told him how much he had 18 He was so happy to 19 that someone else would make good 20 of that little bike!