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.

    Once a wise man was walking from one town to another with a few of his students. While they were travelling, they happened to pass a lake. They  1 there and the wise man told one of his students, “ I am  2. Get me some water from the lake there.”

    The student  3 up to the lake. When he reached it, he  4 that some people were  5 clothes in the water, and, right at that moment, a cart (四轮车) started  6 the lake. As a result, the water became very  7. The student thought,“ How can I give this muddy water to my teacher to drink!” So he  8 and told the wise man, “ The water there is very muddy. I don't think it is  9 to drink.”

    After about half an hour, again the wise man asked the  10 student to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The student obediently (顺从的) went back to the lake. This time he found that the lake had absolutely 11 water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to drink. So he 12 some water in a pot and took it to his teacher.

The wise man looked at the water, and then he looked up at the student and said, “ See 13 you did to make the water clean. You let it be … and the mud 14 on its own — and you got clear water… Your mind is also like that. When it is15, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don't have to 16 any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.”

    What did the wise man 17 here? He said, “ It is effortless.” 18 peace of mind is effortless process. When there is peace inside you, that 19 permeates (蔓延) to the outside. It20around you and in the environment, so that people around start feeling that peace and grace.

    University was a new experience for me. I had grown up in a small seaside town in the south of England, and suddenly I was 1 together with people of my age from all over the country. People were speaking in 2 that I had only ever heard on TV, and sometimes using words that I had 3 heard before.

    I had only been at university for about a week when I 4 David Pitman, from Blackburn in the north of England. We 5 that we both played tennis, and arranged to meet up one afternoon for a 6.

    I went to the sports hall at the time we'd 7, and went into the changing rooms. David was already there, and I could see that he wasn't very 8. He was searching anxiously for something inside his bag. He looked up at me as I 9.

    “I've 10 my keks,” he said. “You haven't got any, have you?” 11 I had no idea what he was talking about. Tennis balls? Shorts? Trainers? What? I said: “Sorry?” David repeated: “Have you got any 12 keks with you?”

    Of course, I could have asked him what the word meant, 13 I was too embarrassed (尴尬的) and didn't want to offend (冒犯) him. David saw the 14 on my face, and said: “You know — keks. Shorts. Tennis shorts.”

    Now I 15, and luckily, I did have some 16 in my bag. I lent them to him, we 17, and he won. Then we went to get a 18. The woman at the canteen asked me what I wanted. “I'd like a Black Beauty, please,” I said. (Where I 19, that's cola and ice cream.) “What on earth is that?” said the woman. I 20 knew how she felt.

    Several months ago, Greece suffered from the refugee (难民) disaster. I hadn't been 1 of the Scale (规模) of it until I actually got to Greece. I2as manager of the Oinofyta Camp. This work is like being a 3, And I realized that I had met my 4, which was to take care of them and show them that they were loved and cared about, not5.

    All of the Greek islands are 6. I have a camp that within three or four days could 7500 people.

    When your life is spent getting handouts (救济的) from everyone all day, you lose your 8. I had this 9 idea that it would be great to start a business, sewing bags from leftover 10 material. Those people were the 11 people in the camp because they had a purpose. We have 12 in America who want to buy these bags now.

    Learning to say 13 has been one of the harder things here at the camp; the constant 14of residents. I was so happy for them when they got their family 15, and so sad because I knew that the16 of me being able to 17 see them again was pretty slim.

    My 18 kids are all asking me the same question now: “Mom, when are you coming home?” I don't know. I hope that my legacy (遗赠) here is that the refugees will always remember that I cared about them, that they were special and 19, and that they were worthy of that 20.

    Experts say boredom is good for kids. It forces them to be creative, 1 their imaginations, and helps them discover new things. A(n) 2 in point is 13-year-old Luke Thrill from Dubuque, Iowa.

    Luke was 3 of playing video games and riding his bike, so he decided to build a tiny house in his backyard instead. He made money from cutting lawns (草坪) and 4 exchanged some services, such as gaining the help of an electrical engineer 5 sweeping his garage. Luke also 6 spare materials from his grandmother's house and other 7 materials from his neighbors for some of the windows and the door.

    The 89-square-foot home cost $1, 500 to build and 8 18 months. Inside there's a kitchenette, a back sitting room, a table and a mounted (镶嵌的) TV, and an upstairs bedroom can be easily 9 by stairway.

    Although Luke did the 10 and learned how to do all the work, he had his father's 11 throughout the project. Greg Thrill was very happy that his son learned to stay on 12 and deal with grown-ups. 13, he had some simple rules when Luke 14 the house: "You 15 the money. You build it. And you own it."

    Luke is now in love with 16. He has a YouTube channel and hopes to 17 other kids to start building. 18, he wants to build a bigger tiny house to live in, but for now, he 19 in his new home a few nights a week, does homework there, and uses it to take a 20 from his twin brother.

    It was 7 in the morning. I was on a train to another city when I started a(n)1with a young man sitting next to me. From what he said, I2that he came from a farming family and was now doing very well in the IT industry. He was3enough to give me a window seat, help a co-passenger when he dropped his coffee, etc. These small4showed what a good person he was!

    I was lost in reading a biography(自传) on Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold Schwarzenegger has played a huge role in my life5I haven't met him. Reading a6about him is great fun.

    Now my co-passenger7to see the book, so I handed it to him. Minutes passed into hours. From the train window, I8him reading the book carefully. Towards the end of the trip, I even saw him9everything about the book including the publishing house and code number. He turned to me and asked where he could buy this book.

    "You can10 it," I said. "This is the second time that I've read it anyway."

    I was lying! Actually it was last weekend that I bought it. I loved it so much and how I11to hold on to it myself! 12, when I thought of his kindness, I thought I should do something too. "Wow," the man said to me. "This is really13. Thank you so much."

    "No problem. Don't worry about it."

    I got off the train and walked into the new city with a sense of14. I did not regret giving the book to him as I believed15each other is really a good thing.