Some people are lucky enough to be born with a good sense of direction and even if they have only visited a place once, they will be able to find it again years later.

    I am one of those unfortunate people who have poor sense of direction and I may have visited a place time after time but I still get lost on my way there. When I was young I was so shy that I never dared ask complete strangers the way and so I used to wander round in circles and hope that by some chance I would get to the spot I was heading for.

    I am no longer too shy to ask people for direction, but I often receive replies that puzzle me. Often people do not like to admit that they didn't know their hometown and will insist on telling you the way, even if they do not know it; others, who are anxious to prove that they know their hometown very well, will give you a long list of directions which you can not possibly hope to remember, and still others do not seem to be able to tell between their left and their right and you find in the end that you are going in the opposite direction to that in which you should be going.

    If anyone ever asks me the way to somewhere, I always tell them I am a stranger to the town in order to avoid giving them wrong direction but even this can have embarrassing results.

    Once I was on my way to work when I was stopped by a man who asked me if I would direct him the way to the Sunlight Building. I gave my usual reply, but I had not walked on a few steps when I realized that he had asked for directions to my office building. However, at this point, I decide it was too late to turn back and search for him out of the crowd behind me as I was going to meet with someone at the office and I did not want to keep him waiting.

    Imagine my embarrassment when my secretary showed in the very man who had asked for directions of my office and his astonishment when he recognized me as the person he had asked.

    Recently I was shopping in the local Walmart. There I 1a former coworker. We started 2 about old times when we worked together at the store. Looking at her I could 3 that she was not in the best of health so I asked, “When are you going to 4?” She told me with tears in her eyes that she had 5 retired but had to come back to 6 because she couldn't make ends meet with her retirement 7. I told her how sorry I was and left the store.

    A week later, I was 8 to have a little extra cash and I was looking for someone to 9 it with. It wasn't a ton of money 10 it was more than what I had and I wanted to show my 11 by giving a bit of it to someone else. I was 12 at Walmart again and I noticed the same 13 I had talked to a week earlier.

    As soon as I 14 her I thought she could be one of the people I share my blessing with. I walked up to her. I 15 her by name and asked her, “If I16 you something, will you keep it and not try to give it back?” She 17 at me, puzzled and said yes. At the same 18 I reached in my pocket and pulled out a $100 bill and put it in her hand. When she saw what it was she looked 19 and asked “Why me?” I saw her tears rolling down her face.

    I walked away because I 20 myself about to cry.

    One afternoon, as I was driving back home, I stopped at a busy crossing as the traffic light turned red. I waited 1 for the light to turn green.

    Suddenly, an old woman 2 and started asking for money. That day, I had unknowingly 3 the air conditioner in the car and my window was down. The old woman was 4 very close to my car. As she begged, I closely 5 her weather-beaten face, which had lots of wrinkles (皱纹) on it. Her eyes showed lots of sadness and her 6 body was shaking. I 7 that there was no one to 8 after her, which forced her to beg on the streets.

    Seeing her condition, I immediately felt from within my being a huge surge (凶涌) of 9 for her. It was coming deep from within my 10. I normally gave change to 11. However, that day my inner self strongly urged me that I give her something substantial (大量的)12 she could have a good 13 that evening.

    Without any hesitation, I took 14 a substantial amount from my wallet and 15 it in her hand. Her weather-beaten face lit up with a toothless 16 and she blessed (祝福) me and went on her way. In the meantime the traffic light had turned green, and it was time to 17 on.

    As I drove back home I felt within myself a sense of joy and 18 surging through me because I was able to do something for 19 one person on this planet. Her blessings will be one of the most treasured 20 in my life.

A Deed a Day

    It was a busy day as usual. I was making sandwiches and balancing the phone between my shoulder and chin. The washing machine sounded as my husband walked in with our daughters. We had only about twenty minutes to eat 1 we had to take the girls to their next activity. My husband seemed a bit 2 that dinner was not on the table.

    That night, I had a heavy 3, thinking we were becoming taskmasters on an assembly line（流水线）. We had become too 4 in our own tasks and not very considerate towards those around us. We needed to do something to bring back some meaning into our lives. It needed to be something that would 5 our own matters and energize us toward the common good.

    I bought a notebook, named it “Our Deed Diary” and held a family meeting. I told my family I wanted us all to think about doing a 6 for others every day. It could be for each other or for people outside our 7. And we all needed to write it down in the notebook.

    I thought one deed a day was too easy. However, it was actually 8 than it seemed because it had to be something 9 what we had already done. Sending birthday cards to people we already sent cards to every year would not 10.

    We had a rough 11. On some days, someone would forget to 12 a good deed, while on other days, we would forget to write our good deeds in the diary. After a few weeks though, I found myself waking up in the morning trying to 13 what good deed I could do for someone that day. My daughters began to rush to me after school to 14me the good deed they had done.

    Now, after a year, I am happy to say that it is making a(n) 15 in our lives. Instead of always 16 what the day will bring for us, we think about what we can do for someone else.

    Who would have thought that trying to do a simple kindness a day would be so 17? I feel my daughters have felt inner joy that you can only 18 by giving to someone else from your heart. The best thing is that you feel so great about doing something for someone else; you don't even look for a expect anything in 19. So, when someone does return the favor, it is an enormous and 20 bonus.

    Frederick Albert is not a name you will find in a history book. It is,1, the name of a German farmer who was such a hero in Reynoldsburg, Ohio during the Great Depression that people there2 him a lot. He was also my great-grandfather.

    Although my great-grandfather died before I was born, he has had a 3 influence on my life. I always hear stories about his4. My favorite one that my mother has often told me brings 5 to my eyes as I'm so moved.

In 1935, my great-grandfather planted watermelons for extra money. To cut6, he always saved the seeds for the next season. While 7 supplies at the feed store(饲料店) one fall morning, my great-grandfather learned of a young girl who was ill with kidney(肾) disease. Her mother had 8 from a local amateur doctor that watermelon seeds could be crushed(压碎) into tea to help 9 her daughter, she 10 my great-grandfather and asked if she could have some of his watermelon seeds. Without hesitation, my great-grandfather gave all his watermelon seeds to the mother — he was such a(n)11 man.

    Unfortunately, all the watermelon tea in the world could not 12 the child and with winter's first snowfall, she died. The girl's mother remained 13 to my great-grandfather and his family. News of the child's death spread, and so did the story of my great-grandfather's 14 and kindness. Many local farmers 15 him with free watermelon seeds.

    In my eyes, my great-grandfather is a real hero 16 he followed his heart and did what was best for others. Although he was a poor man monetarily(在金钱上)， he was17 in the love he gave to others and the 18 he received.

    Whenever I find myself in19 or confusing situations, I will remember his story. I smile with 20 when I follow his wisdom.

    No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own 1.

    I learned this lesson from a(n)2many years ago. I took the head 3 job at school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a weak football program.

    It was a tradition for the school's old team to play against the 4 team at the end of spring practice. The old team had no coach, and they didn't even practise to 5the game. Being the coach of the new team, I was excited because I knew we were going to win, but to my disappointment, we were defeated. I couldn't 6 I had got into such a situation. Thinking hard about it, I came to 7that my team might not be the number one team in Georgia, but they were 8me. I had to change my 9 about their ability and potential.

    I started doing anything I could to help them build a little10. Most important, I began to treat them like11. That summer, when the other teams enjoyed their 12, we met every day and 13 passing and kicking the football.

    Six months after suffering our 14 on the spring practice field, we won our first game and our second, and continued to 15. Finally, we faced the number one team in the state. I felt that it would be a16for us even if we lost the game. But that wasn't what happened. My boys beat the best team in Georgia, giving me one of the greatest 17 of my life!

    From the experience I learned a lot about how the attitude of the leader can 18 the members of a team. Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and 19them. I helped them to see themselves 20, and they built themselves into winners.

    Winners are made, not born.