My father was 44 and knew he wasn't going to make it to 45. He wrote me a letter and hoped that something in it would help me for the rest of my life.

    Since the day I was 12 and first read his letter, some of his words have lived in my heart. One part always stands out. "Right now, you are pretending to be a time killer. But I know that one day, you will do something great that will set you among the very best." Knowing that my dad believed in me gave me permission to believe in myself. "You will do something great." He didn't know what would be, and neither did I, but at times in my life when I've felt proud of myself , I remember his words and wish he were here so I could ask, "Is this what you were talking about , Dad ? Should I keep going ?"

A long way from 12 now, I realize he would have been proud when I made any progress. Lately, though, I've come to believe he would want me to move on to what comes next: to be proud of , and believe in , somebody else. It's time to start writing my own letters to my children . Our children look to us with the same unanswered question we had. Our kids don't hold back because they're afraid to fail. They're only afraid of failing us. They don't worry about being disappointed. Their fear —as mine was until my father's letter —is of being a disappointment .

    Give your children permission to succeed. They're waiting for you to believe in them. I always knew my parents loved me. But trust me：That belief will be more complete , that love will be more real, and their belief in themselves will be greater if you write the words on their hearts："Don't worry; you'll do something great ." Not having that blessing from their parents may be the only thing holding them back.

    When Mr. David retired(退休), he bought a small house in a village near the sea. He liked it and hoped to live a quiet life in it. But to his surprise, many visitors came to see his house in summer holidays, for it was the most interesting building in the village. From morning to night, there were visitors outside the house. They kept looking into the rooms through the windows and many of them even went into the house. He decided to drive the visitors away. So he put a notice on the window. The notice said，“If you want to satisfy your curiosity(好奇心), come in and look around. Price: twenty dollars.”Mr. David was sure that the visitors would stop coming, but he was wrong. More and more visitors came and Mr. David had to spend every day showing them around his house. “I came here to retire, not to work as a guide(导游)”, he said angrily. In the end, he sold the house and moved away.

    Mr White was over 80 years old, but he looked younger than his age. He played Tai Chi in the park every day, so he was very healthy. It was 11:30. It was time for him to walk home. He usually got home thirty minutes later. One day, Mr White didn't get home when it was 12：30. His family worried about him. After a short while, a police car stopped in front of their house. What happened?

    "The old man was lost and he called us for help," the policeman said.

    When the policeman left, Mr White's daughter asked her father, "Dad, you go to the park every day. How can you be lost?" "I'm not lost at all. I'm just tired. I don't want to go home on foot," answered Mr White with a smile.

    Li Shizhen (李时珍) was one of the most famous doctors in Chinese history.  He was born in Qichun, Hubei in 1518.

    Both of Li Shizhen's father and grandfather were doctors. Li Shizhen's grandfather was a country doctor who traveled in the countryside with a bag of herbs (药草) and medications and cured (治愈) people. His father was doctor who wrote several books.

    Li Shizhen used to help his father in his medical practice when he was young. Li Shizhen's father wanted him to enter politics (从政). Li Shizhen studied for the exams and passed the country-level examination, but he was never able to pass the imperial (帝国的) examination.

    When he was 38, he cured the son of the Prince of Chu and was invited to be an official in that court (宫廷) A few years later, he became an official at the Imperial Medical Institute.

    Even though he fulfilled his father's dream, he didn't want to continue working for the court.

    One year later, he left the court and returned to be a doctor again.

    Li Shizhen. was famous for his book, Compendium of Materia Medica 《本草纲日》He spent 27 years writing the book. Unluckily, Li Shizhen died before the book was officially published. It is such a successful book. Now it is still one of the most important medical books in China.