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.

    Several decades of years ago, I ran a service station and roadhouse on the main road between Melbourne and Adelaide. One very cold, wet night at about 3∶30 a.m., there was a 1on the front door of our house. A young man, wet from2 to toe, explained that he had3 out of petrol about 30 km up the road. He had left his pregnant wife and his two children 4 at the car and said that he would hitchhike(搭便车) back.

    Once I had 5 a can with petrol, I took him back to his car where his two-year-old and four-year-old children were both6  , saying that they were cold. Once the car had started, I suggested that he  7 me back.

Before leaving, I had turned the heater 8in the roadhouse, so that when we went in, it was nice and9.While the little ones played and ran 10 , I prepared bread and butter for the children, and hot chocolate for the _11_ .

    It was about 5 a.m. before they  12.The young fellow asked me how much he  13 me and I told him that the petrol pump(加油泵)had  14 $15.He offered to pay “call-out fee”, but I wouldn't accept it.

    About a month later, I received a  15from Interstate, a large bus company that we had been trying to 16 to stop off at our roadhouse for a long time. It  17 out that the young fellow I had helped was its general manager, the most  _18 person in the company.

    In his letter, he thanked me again and 19me that, from then on, all their buses would stop at my service station. In this  20 , a little bit of kindness was rewarded with a huge amount of benefits.

    Six years ago, I walked into a local animal shelter on a cold, rainy day.1my house was already full of cats and dogs, I still couldn't 2an occasional visit to the shelter. This time as I was walking down the row of pens(畜栏) full of barking dogs, I3a small boy looking into one of them.

    He had a malnourished（营养不良的）looking body and a4face with a big nose5out of the middle of it. He was looking at a small golden dog. Its ribs（肋骨）were showing and its thin tail was folded between its legs. It wasn't begging for6like the other puppies7was hiding in the corner instead. The boy looked up at me with8eyes and asked what was wrong with it. “It was probably abused and9 ” I said. “That is why it is so 10 ”

    The boy 11turned to an old lady and said, “ Grandma, I want this one.” The old woman smiled and walked to the front desk to fill out the 12forms. I followed her and asked 13the boy. She told me that he'd had a 14start in life, too. She had just gotten custody(监护权) of him15the state had taken him from his parents. She hoped getting a dog would make his life 16for him. I looked back at him, holding his scared puppy, and said a prayer for them both.

    It was yesterday that I was driving down the road enjoying a gloriously sunny, spring day. Then in a green front yard I saw the boy. His 17body was tall and strong. His nose no longer 18big but fit well into his smiling face. He was throwing a ball to a healthy, happy dog shining golden hair. His little act of love and 19had indeed gone a long way. It had saved a dog's life, 20his own heart, and given this middle-aged man fresh hope for the whole world.

    Last weekend, I was blessed with an opportunity to serve as a volunteer in Maryland. I don't have a car and the closest Amtrak station is about 30 minutes away from the actual site so I wasn't sure1I would get there. I started thinking that maybe it wouldn't be2and after a really long week, I thought that maybe I shouldn't3at all. But I went ahead and posted a request for a4on the ride-share board.

    A few days later, an individual I had never met5that he would be able to pick me up and6me off at the station. He was also planning on serving but said he would wait7my train arrived before driving out there. How kind8this person whom I've never even met, I thought to myself. My heart9, and the stress I had been feeling from my week10away.

    When my new friend drove me to the train station, he11that it was in a deserted kind of area. There was no one12around. It was cold outside, and I still had 30 minutes to wait. So he13his car and said, “We will wait for the train to come together.”

    I couldn't believe his compassion and14. I knew that he had to be at work the next day15me, and that his wife and son were waiting for his return. But he just waited there with me so16, generously serving with his time.

    With five minutes17before the train arrived, he shared with me stories from his childhood. As a young boy, he18sit near the edge of the train tracks, excitedly waiting for the trains to rush by with all their force. That night, before returning home to his family, he waited with me as my train19. It didn't rush by at full force but I left that station20the full force of his compassion and generosity.

    I was shopping in a supermarket last night when I saw a homeless woman with a trolley(手推车)full of all her things. She was sitting inside to keep1 . I went up to her and tried to give her 2for something to eat. She wouldn't 3 it. I said I wanted to help her4 she said that if enough money was given to her that day and she had money was given to her that day and she had money on her, other homeless people would 5 it from her while she slept.

    I 6 that I wanted to help her and asked if I could buy her something warm.7, she said no. She thanked me and said how 8she was that I had spoken to her and offered 9 . We introduced ourselves and she said that when I saw her the next time, she would 10 accept help.

    I walked out into the cold winter 11 and gave the money to a homeless man who was freezing. I asked him his name,12 I always want to know, and I told him mine. H appeared to have had a drinking or drug problem, but I was 13 that he accepted my help.

    I had this 14 that stayed with me. I felt that I had been in the presence of someone really special earlier. I always 15 what it would be like to be in a homeless person's shoes, I know how16 I am and how grateful I am for what I 17in my life.

    I learned a valuable 18 from the lady I met: Not all 19 people will take money or help if they feel enough has been given to them that day. She was grateful for the day. I will make sure I 20 her again.

The famous composer, Rob Stewart, didn't have a good start in this career. However, he achieved a great deal of success as a result of a1. Stewart's parents died when he was eight and he went to live with his2. As a little boy, he fell in love with music and3himself about it by reading through the family collection that his mother kept,4which there were a lot of related books.

Three years later, Stewart's grandfather died, and his mother's sister decided to5him. Her husband was a kind man and6for young Stewart's music lessons. One summer vacation at a Belgian seaside added a second7to his life——the sea. Then he studied to be a naval cadet, but still took time to study8.

In the French Navy, he and two friends found time to9a band, playing the works of Beethoven and other10. Stewart also began composing. On Christmas Day 1892, he had his first chance to11as a composer, which turned out to be a success.

That success12Stewart to write a wedding march, and one of his navy friends13to show it to the famous conductor, Edouard Colonne. When Stewart's friend14with the manuscript, he reported that Colonne had advised Stewart to15his naval career and devote his life to music.

Not long16he was 25, Stewart decided to17Edouard Colonne's advice. He gave his heart and soul to his composing and18a major force in the twentieth century's French music. Because of Edouard Colonne's inspiring19, Stewart devoted his life to music, but Stewart's20friend later admitted that he had made it up. He said he had never ever shown Stewart's manuscript to the famous conductor.