C

    I'm a 34-year-old man. I lived in a nice house and have a successful career. But my life was not always so great. I had trouble learning from an early age. The school life was difficult for me.

    My life improved quickly when I discovered art. The art world gave me a chance to express myself without words. I went to an art school and became good at making things with dough. Here I learned my first important lesson: although I had trouble learning, I could still be smart and well express myself with dough. And I became confident from then on.

    I got my next lesson from rock climbing. It was a fun thing but I was frightened from the start. After about five years of climbing, I learned that if you fall in love with something and do it all the time, you will get better at it.

    Later I decided to learn how to read. Every day I practiced reading. After two hard years, I did well in it. And reading changed my life a lot.

    After learning art, rock climbing, and reading, now I've learnt that when we face difficulties, we should not give up. God closes a door for you, and will open another window for you.

    When I was about twelve years old, a girl in my class liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). She said I was very thin; I wasn't good at math; I talked too much; I was too proud, and so on. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.  He listened to me quietly, and asked, "Are those things true or not? Jane, didn't you ever think about what you're really like?" Then he added, "Well, you have that girl's opinions.  Make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true."

    I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I found out that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn't change, like being very thin, but many I could and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I got a clear picture of myself.

    I brought the list back to Daddy, and he said, "Now you know better about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears angrily and feel hurt. When something said about you is true, you'll find it will be of great help to you. Don't shut your ears. Listen to the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do. "

    Daddy's advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I've never had a better piece of advice.

    A farmer was put in prison(监狱). One day, he got a letter from his wife. "I am worried about our farm," she wrote. "It's time to plant potatoes, but I can't do all the digging(挖) by myself." The farmer thought over and then had an idea. He wrote to his wife, "Don't dig the fields. This is where my gold(金子) is. Don't plant potatoes until I come home." A few days later, the farmer got another letter from his wife. It said, "Two days ago, about ten prison guards(监狱看守) came to our fields. It looked as if they were looking for something. They have dug our field." The farmer wrote to his wife at once. "Now you can plant our potatoes," he wrote.