A large cat arrived at a farm where many mice lived. None of them dared go outside for fear of being1by the cat.

    The mice decided to hold a 2to find a way of stopping themselves from being in 3One day, when the cat was out, mice of all ages4 into the meeting room.

     “Let's build a big trap,” one mouse5 When this idea was6 another said. “What about poisoning(毒死)her?” But7knew where to buy the poison. One young mouse, whose mother had become the cat's food, said 8.” Let's cut her teeth, so she can do no more harm.” But the meeting did not accept his 9.

    At last, one mouse,10than the rest, jumped onto a table. Waving a bell, he called for11 “Be quiet! We'll tie this bell to the cat's tail, so we'll always know12she is! We'll have13to escape, and the slower and weaker mice will hear her coming and be able to 14!” Hearing the words, everyone got15and they congratulated him on his good idea.

     “We'll tie it so tightly(紧紧地)that it will never16!”

     “She'll never be able to walk 17again! Why, the other day, she suddenly appeared right in front of me! Just imagine”.

    However, the wise mouse said, “We must18who is going to tic it on her tail.” There was not a sound in the room. Nobody was19enough to put the plan into action. The meeting ended without any decision being made.

It's often very easy to have bright ideas, but putting them into practice is more20matter.

    Once a wise man was walking from one town to another with a few of his students. While they were travelling, they happened to pass a lake. They  1 there and the wise man told one of his students, “ I am  2. Get me some water from the lake there.”

    The student  3 up to the lake. When he reached it, he  4 that some people were  5 clothes in the water, and, right at that moment, a cart (四轮车) started  6 the lake. As a result, the water became very  7. The student thought,“ How can I give this muddy water to my teacher to drink!” So he  8 and told the wise man, “ The water there is very muddy. I don't think it is  9 to drink.”

    After about half an hour, again the wise man asked the  10 student to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The student obediently (顺从的) went back to the lake. This time he found that the lake had absolutely 11 water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to drink. So he 12 some water in a pot and took it to his teacher.

The wise man looked at the water, and then he looked up at the student and said, “ See 13 you did to make the water clean. You let it be … and the mud 14 on its own — and you got clear water… Your mind is also like that. When it is15, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don't have to 16 any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.”

    What did the wise man 17 here? He said, “ It is effortless.” 18 peace of mind is effortless process. When there is peace inside you, that 19 permeates (蔓延) to the outside. It20around you and in the environment, so that people around start feeling that peace and grace.

    I learned this lesson a couple of years ago. That day, I took a 1 to Grand Central Station. We were driving in the 2 lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right 3 us. My taxi driver slammed (猛踩) on his brakes and almost 4 the car's back end by just ten 5!

    The driver of the other car, who almost caused a big accident,6 his car and started yelling bad 7 at us. The taxi driver just smiled and 8 at the guy. And I mean he was 9. So, I said, “Why did you just do that? This guy almost 10 your car and sent us to 11!” And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call “the law of the garbage truck.”

    Many people are like garbage trucks. They 12 around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of 13, and full of disappointment. As their garbage 14 up, they need a place to dump it, and if you agree, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump their 15 on you, don't take it 16. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and 17. You'll be happy at what you do.

    I started thinking, how often do I let garbage trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and 18 it to other people? That day I said, “I'm not going to do that anymore.”

    What about you? What will happen in your life if you let more garbage 19 pass you by? Life is too short to wake up in the morning with 20.

Happy Maggie

    During my childhood I experienced greater hardships than most people go through in a lifetime. In my short 17 years of life, I have been1five divorces of my parents. Having a new stepmother or stepfather every few years was2, but the constant moving was worse. My father's cancer diagnosis3 me apart, and his two heart attacks and4 with diabetes put a huge pressure on the family. By age 13, I was5and emotionally scarred. I felt like I had no one to6and that nothing would ever get better. Then I met Maggie, and my attitude towards life changed.

    For many summers, I 7 at a horse-riding camp for people with special needs. We taught children and adults specialized skills8their abilities. For example, we would teach a child with autism(自闭症)9skills, or a child with cerebral palsy(脑瘫) strength-building exercise. Each volunteer was10a specific child during eight weeks. A few weeks later, I was asked to11 another volunteer who was sick. That was the day my12 on life changed forever.

    As I began to work with her, I looked through her file to get more information, which was 13. She had been physically abused as a newborn and throughout her infancy. Her birth parents14her so badly that they caused her a serious brain injury by the age of two. Her skull had been broken, however, the amazing thing about Maggie was her15attitude.

    When I met Maggie, she was 12, and she would say16but "I'm happy!" If you asked her" How old are you?", "I'm happy" she replied each time. Everyone at the camp17her "Happy Maggie".

    My life growing up was a huge struggle, 18Maggie taught me not to get in the way of happiness. Nothing bad in life should be enough to change19I am. She gave me20. If I learned anything from Maggie, it would be, no matter what, be happy.

    It's not easy for me to forget the guy, whom I call Bean. For the past year and a half, I1Bean almost every workday morning. In the beginning I2Bean. After all, he's just a beggar on the freeway off-ramp (匝道) who3people at a stoplight that seems to always be red.

    Over time a few things dawned on me. The first was that it was always the4guy at this off-ramp. The next was that he never actually5anything. He just danced and waved at everyone. Then6, and perhaps the most important, was that he was ALWAYS7. Some days he was dancing and playing a guitar. Most days he'd wave a cardboard at cars, smiling.

    Bean slowly became part of my8routine(常规). I noticed this one day, only because he wasn't there and9danced and waved at me. I10him. I worried something had happened to him. I11to look for him every morning as I came down the ramp to that red light.

    One morning, after one of these12, I was so relieved to see him that it was like the sun had come out after a week-long storm. I sat at the red light, watching his morning13. I realized that I, too, was smiling and14myself waving back. Wow, something as15as a wave brought16to my whole day. I finished the drive to work that morning, feeling lighter and happier.

    I17you now. Look around you. Look at your life, your surroundings, and18just your grocery store with eyes that truly see. What19lies in front of you. Do you have a Bean in your life you haven't noticed yet? Watch for them. They will20your life in ways you can't even dream.

When I was a kid, my family didn't live a rich life. As a result, we couldn't 1 to eat out in a restaurant. My mother 2 cooked in the evening after she returned home from work.

One day, my mother had a very3 day in the office and was exhausted. After work, she went into the kitchen and started preparing supper for us. When she was frying some eggs, she 4 to concentrate on her cooking and the eggs burned. She wanted to throw them away, but eggs were 5 for a family like mine back then. So she placed them in a plate and6to eat them herself.

After the eggs were put on the table, my father looked at them for a while. But he said 7. He just smiled at my mom and then asked me how my 8 was at school. Then he started eating the eggs. He finished them 9 so that my mother and I wouldn't have to eat them.

Later that night, I heard my mom 10 to my dad for burning the eggs. And I'll never 11 what he said, "Honey, I love burned eggs."

The next day, I asked Dad 12 he really liked burned eggs. He held me in his arms and said, "Your mom had a 13 day at work yesterday and she was really tired. I didn't want to 14 her. Besides, a little bit burned egg won't hurt anyone."

My father was a very 15 man, and I learned to be such a man from him.