My senior year of high school was very busy. If I wasn't studying or worrying about1, I was taking part in many activities after class or attempting to make my plans for2.

    As the senior year began to slow down, I got a3job working at a local coffee shop. I had expected that the job would be 4, but there are5 when I was angry at the human race as a whole, simply because I couldn't seem to 6anyone. There was always too much sugar, too little ice, or not enough milk. However, I7 working at this coffee shop.

    One day, one of my 8 customers came in, looking depressed and defeated. I asked what the 9 was and if I could help, but the customer wouldn't say any details. He just said that he felt like lying on the bed, 10 the sheets up over his head, and staying there for a few years. I knew exactly11 he felt. Before he left, I handed him a bag with his coffee. He looked at me 12 because he hadn't ordered anything but the coffee. He opened the bag and saw that I had given him his favorite cookies. “It's on me.” I told him.

    The next day that customer came again. 13ordering anything, he 14 me a pink rose and a thank-you note saying that not too many people took the time to care about15 and that he was 16 there were still people like me in the world.

    As time went on, I came across many 17customers. But anytime I felt 18, I thought of that little 19. Then I would smile, hold my head up high, clear my20 and ask politely, “How can I help you?”

    It was a cloudy day, and the terrible experience happened when I was studying in Bangalore. I got a call from my mom that my brother's1was fixed and they were arranging the wedding ceremony in the next few days.My 2was pretty far. So the next thing I was 3 to do was to book my 4 ticket as there was no direct flight to my hometown. The 5 was done by an agent in my neighborhood. I paid the whole amount 6. But when the day approached the 7 disappeared, leaving me without the train ticket, and thus 8all my travel plan.

    But as it is said, once you face such 9 situations, you realize your inner strength. I 10 decided I would complete my whole journey by bus. Without further 11 ， I took a bus to the first city stop. The next bus was again not 12 —it was 8 hours to a city near my hometown, where my aunt lived. They were also going to 13 my brother's wedding ceremony. So I called them and 14 them to accommodate me. They 15. Half the battle was won.

    Then next day, I was just a few hours from my hometown. When my aunt's family and I were boarding our car, my 16 asked me to switch places with her.

    The journey continued. We were trying to overtake(超越) another car when 17 a truck appeared in front of us and we went directly head on in front of it. We 18 with the truck. In this accident, almost everyone in our car was 19. Fortunately, I didn't have any injury, 20my cousin who switched places with me was seriously injured!

    The young seal couldn't have been more than two days old, and yet he was all alone. Sometimes he would swim1, but he always came back. At first we thought it was2that he kept swimming back to us, until we noticed that he obviously had been3, and had nowhere else to go. We call him “Curious George”.

    Without his mother's milk, George appeared very4with his eyes closed. I jumped into the water and swam up to him,5we were less than two feet away. My heart went out to George and I just hope that he had the 6 to interact with me. Suddenly, he7his eyes and immediately he jumped up between my arms, putting his head against my chest. It was a(n)8 moment. But I knew that George wouldn't9without some help.

We10the local conservation volunteers. They were11that in the absence of his mother, he had developed a12relationship with us. They promised they would bring him to an area with13people living there and keep an eye on him. Even though it hurt to see him14, we knew that he was in better hands.

    The next day we15the conservation volunteers and asked how George was doing.16the volunteers informed us that he was too close to humans, we realized that was probably our17! They decided to bring him to a small island wildlife preserve with a lot of seals in the area, where they could better 18 him.

    A week later, we called again, and were informed that George was19in the water swimming with other seals. George was20. And he will always swim in my heart.

    There is a story about a princess who had a small eye problem that she felt was really bad. Being the king's daughter, she didn't like to listen and kept 1 all the time. When the doctors wanted to help her, she always refused any 2treatment and kept touching her eye and it became worse and worse.3 the king announced a big4 for whoever could cure his daughter. After some time, a man arrived. He 5 that he could cure the princess but6 he was not a doctor.

    After he had 7 her, the man said, “There is nothing much wrong with your eye, hut there is something else that is really 8 .” The princess was worried and asked what it was. He 9and said, “It is really bad. I shouldn't tell you about it.” No matter how much she10, he refused to tell her, saying that he could not speak without the king's11 .

    When the king arrived, the man was still 12to tell his findings. After the king ordered him to tell them, the man said, “Well, there is no problem with the 13 . The big problem is that the princess will start14 a long tail very soon. If she15it when it appears, I can prevent it from growing.” Everyone was deeply concerned at this 16. And the princess stayed in bed, day and night, directing all her17 to feeling when the tail might appear. Thus, after a few days, her eye got well.

    This is how we 18 react: we always focus on our  19 problem and it becomes the center of everything. So far, we have done this20, generation after generation.

    One year my children came home from school asking where we were going on your summer vacation. It seemed that all the other kids were1 where they were spending the summer. I couldn't 2to take them anywhere but I didn't want to tell them that so I just said, “It's a surprise!” They were 3. That bought me a little more 4.

    I called several amusement 5to see if there was a half-price event during the summer but no such 6. I tried everything, with no success, so I called some of the other moms to find that most were in the same7that I was. We decided to8 something fun for our kids to do. We had a meeting, all five of us, and9 what is now called a “playcation”.

    One mother was a  10, so on Mondays the kids would all go to her house. They would play games using plants and11. They also planted vegetables and12 them grow over the summer.

    Another mother had Bible 13 on Tuesdays. She asked some questions about Bible. The kid who answered  14got a penny, which they all turned in at the end to buy their goodie bags(礼品袋).

    At our house on Wednesdays, I made an outdoor 15training with my spare tires. The kids also walked a balance beam and raced through large cardboard boxes taped together.

    On 16they had arts and crafts across the street. Fridays were17by a wonderful single dad with a metal detector(金属探测器)who took everyone out treasure18 .

    The summer was a big19 . Okay, it wasn't Disney World,20 the kids didn't miss anything. My son actually asked me, “Can we do this again next year?”

    My mother was a nurse and often took me along to visit the families she was caring for. Among them was a woman who had a 1 disease and was always lying on the bed.

    One afternoon, my mom told me that we needed to 2 the woman at her home to 3 treatment, and we would stop at a store 4 I thought we would stop at a5store, but we pulled up to a6 My mom headed to the make-up7and bought the most expensive bottle of8they offered. She also bought a 9nightdress. When I asked my mom who these things were for, she said they were for her patient. My mom 10explained that although this woman was older and unable to11her bed,  she was still a lady, and she 12dignity and beauty. She 13 to me that when we care for someone, we 14the disability or the illness and we look into the15 of the human so we can connect with them with sympathy. I 16 realized that my mother's 17strengths were caring for the very young and the very old, those who can not 18for themselves and need trustworthy care providers. I knew in 9th grade I would become a 19.

    Today, I work as a clinical psychologist, and I'm: not 20 that I find my practice filled with patients who are very young and very old.