At my heaviest I weighed 370 pounds. I had a very poor relationship with food: I used it to 1bad feelings, to make myself feel better, and to celebrate. Worried about my health, I tried many different kinds of 2 but nothing worked. I came to believe that I could do nothing about my 3.

    When I was 50, my weight problem began to affect me 4 . I didn't want to live the rest of my life with this 5 weight any more.

    That year, I6 a seminar where we were asked to create a project that would touch the world. A seminar leader shared her 7story —she had not only 125 pounds, but also raised $25,000 for homeless children.

   8 by her story, I created the As We Heal(痊愈), the World Heals 9. My goal was to lose 150 pounds in one year and raise $50,00010 a movement founded 30 years ago to end hunger. This combination of healing myself and healing the world11 me as the perfect solution.

    12I began my own personal weight program, I was filled with the fear that I would 13 the same difficulties that beat me before. While the 14 hung over my head, there were also signs that I was headed down the right 15. I sent letters to everyone I knew, telling them about my project. It worked perfectly. Donations began 16in from hundreds of people.

    Of course, I also took some practical steps to lose weight. I consulted with a physician（内科医生）, I hired a fitness coach, and I began to eat small and 17meals. My fund-raising focus also gave me new motivation to exercise 18.

    A year later, I19my goal: I lost 150 pounds and raised $50,000! I feel that I've been given a second life to devote to something that is 20 and enormous.

    As a child, I was told that a wise person is the one who learns from everyone. It is a great way to live by this 1 — One begins to look at people very 2 and he no longer puts others 3 in order to feel good about himself.

    Living in China 4 me with many wonderful opportunities to put this principle into practice. China is quite5 and as a Westerner, it's easy for me to consider many of the local habits as “strange” and even “rude”. However, slowly I began to  6 a lot about the culture and about where many of their 7 came from. I decided to make an effort to meet people and 8from them.

    I am living in Harbin now, a city in the Northern part of China, near Russia. Yesterday I 9to get money from the ATM and have a good cup of coffee after lunch. But I can't speak Chinese yet and there are no signs in English 10 the nearest supermarket or coffee shop. There are signs in Russian. 11 “espaciba” which means thanks, I don't know much else. 12 I decided to smile at my every attempt to13and ask for information that would 14 me to an ATM and a coffee shop. It turned out that my efforts and my 15 were met with more smiles. I learned that16is to be found everywhere even 17I cannot communicate, and that people will 18depending on what I give.

    Look around you for opportunities to learn from the most19 people. You will be surprised at what they can 20you!

    Of the many interactions I had with my mother those many years ago,one stands out with clarity（明理）.I remember the1when mother sent me to the main road,about twenty yards away from our home,to2a passing group of seasonal work-seekers home for a3.She instructed me to take a container along and4dry cow waste for making a fire.I was then to5the meal for the group of work-seekers.

    The6of making an open fire outside at midday,7in a large three-legged pot in that intense heat,was enough to8even an angel.I did not manage to9my feelings from my mother and,after10the group,she called me to the room where she usually sat to11her sewing and knitting.

    Looking straight into my eyes,she said,"Tom,why did you get angry when I12you to prepare a meal for those13people?"Despite my attempt to deny her allegation（责怪）,and using the14of the fire and the sun as a(n)15for my behaviour,mother,giving me a16look,said “Lonao ga lo na nko”一“A foot has no nose”.It means: you cannot detect what17may lie ahead of you.

    Had I18to provide this group of people a meal,it may have happened that,in my travels some time in the future,I19myself at the mercy of those very individuals.As if that was not enough to20me,mother continued, "Motho ke motho ka motho yo mongwe."The literal meaning:“A person is a person because of another person.”

    Each year her husband sent her valentine roses, tied with pretty bows, and a card. The card would 1say, "I love you even more than last year on this day."

    The year he2, the roses were delivered to her door as usual. The card said, "Be my valentine. My love for you will always3with every passing year." She thought this was the4 time that the roses would appear. She5he ordered roses6without knowing that he would7.He always liked to do things ahead. Then, if he got busy, everything would work out 8.She put 9 in a very special vase, and then placed the vase beside the portrait of his smiling face. She would sit for hours, staring at his picture and the roses.

    A year went by, 10it was tough to live without him. Then, on Valentine's Day, the doorbell rang, and she saw roses sitting 11 her door. She brought the roses in, and then looked at them in surprise. Later she 12 the flower­ shop and asked them to explain 13 valentine roses were sent to her.

    The owner replied,"I know your husband passed away a year ago. The flowers you14today were paid for two years ago. Your husband always planned ahead. Here is 15 of many years. You'll get them every year till... and he also wrote a special little16for you...he did this years ago. He said, 'If you find out that I'm no longer here, the card should be sent to my wife the following year.'"

    She thanked him and hung up the phone, her tears 17 her face. She found a card among the roses and read it slowly, "Hello, my love. I know it's been a year since I was gone. I hope it's not too hard for you to overcome. I know you must be 18 and the pain is real. The 19 we shared made everything so beautiful in life. I loved you more than20can say. Please try not to be too sad. That is why the roses will be sent to you for years."

    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!

    Jason, our son, was born with cerebral palsy（脑瘫）. My wife and I often comforted him as he faced many 1 in his early years.

    It was 2 to see him regularly chosen last for baseball, but his most 3 time came when he began high school. One afternoon, Jason returned home in 4 and shouted: "I'm never going to school again!" He was 5 with food that other kids had 6 him on the school bus on the way home. Jason later told us what had 7. A few days earlier, Jason had 8 up for the school running team. That day, a few older students made 9 of his performance on the track. I called the headmaster about the 10, and it never happened again.

    One day, as the other kids exercised in the gym, they 11 one lonely runner-Jason jogging around the snow-covered track. A few weeks later, Jason said to me, "Dad, I was ready for the 12. He added that each month, each student 13 an "athlete of the month" and voted for the 14. Jason's name had never been 15. But that day, one student said: "Sir, I would like to propose Jason for athlete of the month. "The coach looked 16. "He works harder than any of us, Sir," the student continued. Tears 17 in Jason's eyes as everyone in the class put their hands up. We, also in tears, looked on as he 18 displayed his certificate.

    Whenever I despair, I think of this story. I 19 myself that challenges are not overcome by 20, but by patience, determination, and faith.