One midnight, a little girl woke up to pass water. She by herself got up and down her bed, walked to the bedroom door and opened it. She looked outside and walked back, for it was so dark in the hall that she feared.
Her mother said, “Don't be afraid, honey. Take courage!”
“What's courage?” she asked, running to her mother's bed.
“Courage is the brave breath,” her mother answered.
“Mum, do you have courage?”
“Certainly.”
The girl held out her little hands, saying, “Mum, blow some of your breath of courage to me.”
After her mother blew out two mouthfuls of breath into her little cold hands, the little girl clenched her fists(握拳) nervously, afraid that the “breath of courage” would run away. Then with her fists clenched, she walked out of the bedroom towards the bathroom with nothing to fear.
Her mother said to herself, “It will be nice if someone can blow some kind of ‘breath' to me. Then I can hold it in my hands too when I feel terrified or lost.”
In fact, mostly, what we are terrified of is nothing but the fear in our mind. Who we should defeat(战胜) is nobody but ourselves.

Cordia Harrington owns three McDonald's restaurants in Illinois. Being a single mom, she is very successful. Now let's talk about her story.

C

    A young man once went into town and bought himself a pair of trousers. When he got home, he went to his bedroom and put them on. He found that they were about two inches too long. He went to the kitchen. His mother and sisters were washing up the tea things there. "The new trousers are too long," he said. "They need shortening by about two inches. Could one of you do it for me, please?" His mother and sisters were busy and none of them said anything.
    After his mother finished washing up, she went to her son's bedroom and shortened the trousers by two inches.

    Later on, after supper, the elder sister remembered her brother's trousers. She was a kind-hearted girl, so she went quickly to his brother's bedroom without saying anything to anyone, and shortened the trousers by two inches. The younger sister went to the cinema, but when she came home, she also remembered her brother's trousers. "I nearly forgot that." She thought. Then she shortened them by two inches.
    The younger sister went to the cinema，but when she came back，she，too，remembered what her brother had said．So she ran upstairs and took two inches off the legs of the new trousers．

    I was the typical“ I can't” child-whatever my mother told or asked me to do was immediately followed by my cry，“I can't．”As a result，very few tasks or goals that I set out to achieve were ever completed．

    One evening，my mother called me into the family room．“I want you to read this article，”Mother began．“It's about Marlo Thomas．She tells how a simple poem that she was forced to learn by her father changed her life • She went from saying 'I can't' to 'I can' •According to this article，she was able to reorganize her life and her career by learning the principles（原则）in the poem．”

    I took the small magazine from Mother and looked down at the pages．There was Marlo-my idol．Beside her photo was the poem my mother had spoken of，a simple poem entitled，“I Can”．

    “I want you to memorize that poem，”Mother said firmly．“Mama，”I belly-acheD． “I can't learn that poem．It's too long．”

“It's not too tong and you can learn it.1 want you to know it perfectly by this time tomorrow，”said my mother．Unwillingly，I went back to my bedroom with the magazine．With a heavy heart，Ithrew myself into the bed and began my task．

    “Can't is a word that is the enemy to ambition，”I began．I repeated the line．I repeated it again and again．“An enemy ambush to shatter your will…”I continued the process until I proudly recited the poem the following evening．It has now become my principle．Marlo 1 homas did not know me，but her story forever changed my life．

    Saying “I can”helped me to get through the worst moments of my life: Saying “I can” encouraged me to complete things I would have otherwise seen as out of my reach．A simple poem learned at seven is a poem that will support me to seventy-seven，maybe even longer．