Like most people, I was brought up to look upon life as a process of getting. It was not until in my late thirties that I made this important discovery: giving away makes life much more exciting. You need not worry if you lack money.

    This is how I experimented with giving away. If an idea for improving the window display of a neighborhood store flashes to me, I step in and make the suggestion to the storekeeper. One discovery I made about giving away is that it is almost impossible to give away anything in this world without getting something back, though the return often comes in an unexpected form.

    One Sunday morning, the local post office delivered an important special delivery letter to my home, though it was addressed to me at my office. I wrote the postmaster a note of appreciation. More than a year later I needed a post office box for a new business I was starting. I was told at the window that there were no boxes left, and that my name would have to go on a long waiting list. As I was about to leave, the postmaster appeared in the doorway. He had overheard(无意中听到) our conversation. “Wasn't it you that wrote us that letter a year ago about delivering a special delivery to your home？” I said yes. “Well, you certainly are going to have a box in this post office if we have to make one for you. You don't know what a letter like that means to us. We usually get nothing but complaints.”

It seems the more time we have, the longer we put off living the life we see in our heads, because we feel like we've got some time to kill.

I know where you think I'm going with this, and I also know you've heard it all before: seize the day, make the most of it, live life to its fullest, and so on. But that's the problem. You've heard it all before. These ideas have their impact and have become a cliché. Luckily, that's not my thing.

The real answers wake something up inside you. They make you think. That's what I want to give you today, the story of Bobby Darin, which wakes you up to the truth.

If you haven't heard of the man, I know you've heard his songs. Among his many hits are Mack the Knife, Beyond the Sea, Dream Lover, and Splish Splash.

    If seven years, Darin had several top ten hit songs, was nominated(提名) for four Grammy Awards (winning two), nominated for four Golden Globes (winning one), and even nominated for an Oscar.

    So what was his secret?

All his life, Darin had a heart condition that developed from a childhood illness. The doctors at the time said he would be lucky to live to 16. In other words, his time was limited. And this was secret. He knew the truth. He knew that we all have such a hard time accepting: Life is short. You can't just say it; you can't just hear it. You have to know it, believe it, and feel it. Because Darin knew his time was limited, he packed as much life as he could into the time he had. But he had an unfair advantage. He knew, without a doubt, his time was limited.

    There was no fooling himself, no putting it off. It was now or never.

    It was not yet eleven o'clock when a boat crossed the river with a single passenger who was lucky to be able to cross the river at that unusual hour by promising to pay some extra money. While the youth stood in the light place searching his pockets for money, the boatman lifted a lamp, with the help of which, together with the newly risen moon, he took a careful look at the stranger. He was a young man of about eighteen years, clearly country brought up, and was, as it seemed, on his first visit to town. He was wearing a rough grey coat, which was in good shape, and which had seen many winters before this one. The jacket under his coat was made of leather and trousers fitted tightly to a pair of strong legs; his stockings of blue yarn(毛绒) must have been the work of a mother or sister, and on his head was a hat, which in its better days had perhaps protected the grayer head of the young man's father. In his left hand was a walking stick, and on his strong shoulders hung a leather bag. Brown hair, well-shaped features, bright, cheerful eyes were nature's gifts. The youth, whose name was Robin, paid the boatman, and then walked forward into the town with a light step, as if he had not already traveled more than thirty miles that day. As he walked, he looked around as eagerly as if he were entering London or New York instead of the little city in New England.

    On January 13, 2016, France became the first country in the world to pass a law requiring supermarkets to donate food that is approaching its expiration date (保质期) instead of throwing it away. The regulation that applies to supermarkets over 4,000 square feet requires stores to sign official donation agreements with local food banks.

    The law also makes it illegal for stores to pour water over nearly-expired food, or store it inside locked warehouses until it is picked up by the garbage trucks. These measures are often undertaken by supermarkets to prevent the hungry from searching for food through the dustbins.

    Though that may appear cruel, the stores claim they do it to avoid potential food poisoning that could occur if the product is on its way past its expiry. Those who do not obey the new law face the risk of heavy fines.

    Also, excess goods like yogurt or milk that are likely to go bad quickly are now allowed to be donated directly to the food banks. Though this has always been possible, the current process is long and complex, making it difficult for producers to give away the food in a timely manner.

    France's food banks are of course thrilled about the possibility of receiving extra food. Jacques Bailet, who heads a network of French food banks called the Banques Alimentaires, says that of the 110,000 tons of goods received annually, only 36,000 tons comes from supermarkets. Bailet estimates (估计) that just a 15% increase in supermarket donations would translate to over 10 million additional meals to feed the hungry each year.

    Though this is a great first step, Arash Dermabarsh, the activist responsible for the grassroots movement that led to the ban, is not done. He now wants to extend the law to other places like restaurants and also try to convince other countries in the European Union to pass similar regulations. These steps are necessary because of the over 9 million tons of food wasted in France; an astonishing 67% is thrown away by consumers, with supermarkets and restaurants making up the rest.

Three Japanese tourists taking a holiday in Australia got stuck when their GPS told them they could drive from the mainland to an island, failing to mention the 15 kilometres of water and mud in between.

As they drove their hired car from Moreton Bay to nearby North Stradbroke Island, they started to notice the firm surface they were driving on giving way to the well­known bay mud. However, being confident that their GPS would direct them to a road soon, they decided to drive on, managing to travel around 500 metres before their car was up to its tires in mud. To make matters worse, the tide (潮汐) started to come in and soon forced them to seek help and abandon the vehicle. Just four hours later the car was trapped in two metres of water—to the great amusement of onlookers on the shore and passengers on passing boats and ferries.

Yuzu Noda, 21, said she was listening to the GPS and "it told us we could drive down there. It kept saying it would navigate (导航) US to a road. But we got stuck… there's lots of mud". She and her travel companions Tomonari Saeki, 22, and Keita Osada, 21, instead had to give up their plans for a day trip to the island and headed back to the Gold Coast of a lift from the RACQ tow truck (吊车) driver who was called to the trapped car. No such luck for the hired car, though—after assessing the situation, no attempt was made to recover it. The students from Tokyo, who are due to return home tomorrow, said the experience would not put them off returning to Australia for another visit. Mr Tomonari said, "It has rained every day on our six day holiday. Hopefully next time we come back it will be sunny. "

The car was covered by insurance, but the tourists will have to pay up to about $1,500 in extra charges.