Gratitude: Gifts from the heart

    According to legend（传说）,a young man while travelling through the desert came across a spring of delicious water.The water was so sweet that he1his leather container so he could bring some back to a tribal elder who had been his teacher.After a four-day journey he2the water to the old man who took a(n) 3drink,smiled warmly and thanked his student for the sweet water.The young man4to his village with a happy heart.

    5,the teacher let another student taste the water.He spat（吐）it out,6it was terrible.It7had become stale（不新鲜）8the old leather container.The student9his teacher, "Master,the water was stale.Why did you10to like it?"

The teacher replied, "You11tasted the water.I tasted the12.The water was simply the container for a(n) 13of loving-kindness and14could be sweeter.Heartfelt gifts deserve the15gift of gratitude.

    I think we16this lesson best when we receive innocent gift of love from young children.Whatever they are, the natural and proper17is appreciation and expressed thankfulness because we love the idea18 the gift.

    Gratitude doesn't always come19.Unfortunately,most children and many adults value only the thing given 20the feeling hidden in it.We should remind ourselves and teach our children about the beauty and purity of feelings and expressions of gratitude.

    I remember the first day when I saw Sally playing basketball. I watched in wonder as she struggled her way through the crowd of boys on the playground. She seemed so 1, but she managed to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the net. The boys always tried to stop her 2 nobody could.

    I began to notice Sally at other times, basketball in hand, playing 3. She practiced dribbling（运球）and 4 over and over.

    One day I asked Sally why she 5 so much. Without a moment of hesitation she said, “I want to go to college. The only way I can go is to get a 6. I'm going to play college basketball and I want to be the best one. I believe that if I am 7 enough, I will get one. My father has told me that if the dream is big enough, the facts don't 8.”

    I 9 her through those junior high years and into high school. Every week, she led her team to 10. One day in her senior year, I saw her siting on the grass, her head 11 in her arms. Slowly and quietly, I 12 and sat down beside her. “What's wrong?” I asked. “Oh nothing,” came a soft reply, “I am just too short” The 13 told her that at 165cm she would probably never play for a top team－still less she would be14 a scholarship-so she should stop dreaming about college.

    I felt she was extremely 15. I asked her if she had talked her dad about it yet. She told me that her father said those coaches were 16. They didn't understand the 17 of a dream.

    The next year, Sally was seen by a college basketball coach after a big game. She was 18 offered a scholarship and 19 to the college team. She was going to get the college education that she had 20 and worked toward for all those years.

    It's true if the dream is big enough, the facts don't count.

    On my way back home I was stopped at a traffic light by some people who asked for help. A woman1to give way to an ambulance, but drove her car over stony obstacles（障碍）that 2 the bike line from the street, and her car 3 as a result. She couldn't move the car in any direction without 4 it. A couple of people tried to lift the car back but the obstacles were too 5. Seeing that they couldn't do much about it, they 6 and the woman in the car tried to call for some 7.

    While watching the other people leave, I 8the woman would be on her own and I imagined how 9 that would be if I were in her shoes. After some talking, she 10 me to sit inside her car. She called for help and was 11 that it would take about 45 minutes for someone to get there.

    I tried to comfort the woman who seemed to feel 12 about causing others trouble, But 13 it wasn't too much trouble since they could 14 pass, and also there wasn't anything she could do about it anyway. We laughed and joked that all we 15 was some tea for our chat.

    Finally 16 came and helped her back on the street. She thanked me and 17 my phone number so she could return the 18, but I told her it was okay. She seemed to feel much 19when we said our goodbyes. I believe that not having to face a difficult 20 alone can make a lot of difference.

    Last summer, we went to Hawaii for holiday. During my1 trip with my husband, we spent most of our time2 during the day in the sea, and then enjoying walks along the beach in the evenings.

    We didn't take any3because we had enough. We had visited the island many times 4. On our way to the 5 we joked that other than our sunburnt skin, we had no way to show that we had 6 there!

    As we stood in line at the check-in, we noticed the 7 who had been on our plane the week before. 8, they all had tear-filled eyes this day. On the plane, we sat directly behind them: a mother and her four children without Dad's 9. We learned that the father had been 10 in a jet-skiing accident that week, and his wife and children had to 11 make their way home without him.

    We watched the children become 12while they were playing cards. But the mother stared at her knees, 13 to believe her husband's death. We could 14 feel her pain as we realized that this could have happened to any of us. 15 we were laughing and playing in the water, this poor family had been 16 the sufferings. The vacation they had dreamed about had17the terrible dream they would never forget.

    I suddenly 18 that we had no pictures for this vacation together. I closed my eyes, 19 that my mind had recorded all the wonderful moments that I had 20 with my husband that week. What a trip!

    The year I went to college was a very difficult transition(过渡期)for me.  1is probably true with many people, I got quite homesick and2thought about going home.

    Although the3time for many students is getting4from home, my mailbox was frequently 5. One day when I went to the mailbox, there was a postcard6out at me. I sat down to read it, 7a note from someone back home. 8I became increasingly puzzled as9postcards were like this：It was a full news report about a woman named Mabel and her newborn baby. I took the card back to my room and10about it.

    Several days later I11another postcard, this one12news about Maybelline, Mabel's cousin. Soon after, another card arrived and then another, 13full of news of different people. I began to 14 look forward to the next one, 15to see what this author would come up with16. I was never17.

    Finally, the cards18coming, right about the time I had begun to feel19about college life. They had been such a happy distraction(调剂)that I have20all the postcards and still bring them out to read whenever I need a lift.

    I feel that I was blessed by an Angel not long ago  I was out in town with my husband. We live in a 1 town. Because of the cold, my 2 shrunk, causing my anniversary ring to 3. I didn't notice this until we got home. I became 4 ill ached all over. I thought my husband was going to have a heart attack.

    Although it is a material item, it is yet very 5. He went out and retraced our 6 to where we came back. I called the stores we were in and no one 7 it in. I thought it was 8 for sure.

    Well, at around midnight last night, our dogs went mad. We have a sunroom 9 to our home. The door to that is usually 10. But that night, we left it unlocked. My all-terrain motor scooter (小型摩托车) was 11 out there. In its basket was a ring box…holding my ring! Along with the ring was a diamond circle.

    There was also a 12 that told the story of this stranger 13 the ring and recognizing the work, as it is a piece made particularly. The person then went to the jeweler and 14 about finding the ring. The jeweler is a friend of mine so she gave her my 15 and the town is so small, we are 16 to find. The stranger who found the ring 17 the ribbon (丝线) in the store in order to keep the ring around the finger when it is 18 out. And then also left a gift card for us to take our family out to the movies as a Christmas gift. The note was 19 "Santa's Elf (小精灵)". My friend is keeping her lips 20 about whom it was.