Beliefs form a big part of our lives. Successful people have always believed that they can be and will be successful in their lives, such as Michael Phelps. Many of us have seen Michael Phelps win 8 gold medals in a single Olympic Games. That has created a history for himself. Many people have admired his success and the first reaction in their mind will be, “Wow, how I wish I could be like him!” Have you ever wondered what brought him success?

    In fact, anyone can achieve what they have wanted to achieve. It is about beliefs. Everyone is a born winner. It is this belief that drives an individual to be successful in his or her own field. All successful individuals have strong beliefs and it is one of the bases for their success. If we start to believe in ourselves, the things that we can achieve will definitely give us a pleasant surprise.

    Other than having a strong belief, it is the attitude that drives the individual to create their own history. The devotion towards themselves and the drive must also be present. Imagine having a strong belief in oneself and having a poor attitude towards life. Then how would that individual turn out to be? One's attitude comprises the drive, the devotion and the desire to achieve his goals. If one has strong beliefs about the goals that he can achieve and he displays good attitudes towards them, it would be no surprise to anyone that he will be able to achieve his goals.

    Start believing in yourself and you will achieve your goals and with the right positive attitude, you will definitely be able to create the miracle that you have always dreamt of.

"Who does the cooking in your home?" I'm often asked by my colleagues. "My wife and I share it 50/50," I usually say without hesitation.

    It's a lie, of course. We're pretty much even（相等的）when it comes to the children and the elderly. But the paying of bills isn't 50/50-my wife pays all sorts of household expenses, so I never even have to set eyes on them. And the cooking isn't 50/50, either.

    The truth is that I am the cook. On my recent 40th birthday, I received the following gifts from my children: a new pot, two mini bottles of truffle oil, a decorative salad-dressing pourer, and a juice-making machine. For a moment I longed for something more manly, a cricket bat, perhaps, and then had to admit that all these things would be useful for me.

    It's not that my wife can't or doesn't like to cook (she makes delicious Welsh cakes). Nor has it always been this way. In the early years of our marriage I'd be relaxing with a glass of wine while my wife prepared for dinner after work.

But at some point that changed and I became the cook. Ten years with my wife gave me the rewards-I can throw together a roast, and I can make much foreign food. But I have truly become a monster(怪物) in the kitchen, unable to keep myself away from cooking. "You have to add Dijon to the sauce; it brings out the taste of the cheese," I volunteer, as my wife is cooking. "Quick, stir in the butter so the dish becomes delicious."

    Is it any wonder that my wife has given up coming into the kitchen while I find the whole process of chopping, mixing, and adding things deeply satisfying?

A Lifesaving At-Home Checkup

    More importance is attached to physical fitness nowadays. However, staying fit can be expensive when going to professional agencies for medical checkups. Here we show you three ways to do medical checkup at home, try them for a rough idea about your health condition.

    1 Balance On One Leg

    Hold for up to 60 seconds. If you fall down early, you may be at higher risk for brain decline. In a Japanese study, 30 percent of older adults who could balance for only 20 seconds or fewer had microbleeds in the brain, an early sign of risk for stroke or dementia(痴呆). These microbleeds can affect balance, memory, and decision making.

    2 Touch Your Toes

    Sit with your back straight, then lean forward and try to touch your toes. Not even close? You might be at risk for heart problems. By using this test, University of North Texas researchers found that some old inflexible folks have to have the heart work harder to provide enough blood, raising the risk of heart attack or stroke.

    3 Sitting To Standing

    Time how long it takes to lift and lower yourself from a chair ten times as fast as you can. Senior adults who did ten repetitions in 21 seconds or fewer were less likely to die over the next 13 years than those who took longer. The test requires muscle strength, balance, and heart fitness; being slow could mean underlying disease before symptoms arise.

    The above are home tests everyone could do to keep you fit and they don't require much time or money. Learn what possible dangers are hiding inside you and how to deal with them.

    I do not know Sybrina Fulton. Nor can I claim to understand the depth of her pain. Yet, we share a deep connection. A common feature experienced by those women who face the challenge of raising a Black male child in a nation that far too often views Black male bodies through fear. You see, Ms. Fulton is living my nightmare (恶梦). A constant worry that has stayed in the back of my mind since the birth of my eldest son, some sixteen years ago.

    Through the years, I have witnessed the world's reaction to my son evolve as he has grown from a small boy to a young man. In his early years, his easy smile and lovable character were nothing less than magnetic (有磁性的). Complete strangers would approach him in the street, draw him into conversation, and find themselves easily struck by his lively spirit. Even at that time I worried, how would my son react when in the years to come some of those who found themselves so impressed by this cute, intelligent boy, might grasp their purse tighter as he walked by.

    Over the years I have sought to protect his spirit from the hurt that comes from undeserved hatred. I have also sought to arm him with the knowledge that could one day save his life. He knows, for example, that if he is ever pulled over by the police, that he is to keep both hands on the wheel at all times and only reach for his license when the officer is specifically observing his actions. He knows, even in less threatening situations, that rough play and loud interactions with his buddies of any color will be viewed very differently when he does it, than when his white friends display the very same behavior. Still, the truth of the matter is, no amount of advice or voiceless behavior overcomes the physical, immovable fact of the color of his skin. His intelligence, easy smile, and lovable character won't protect him from unfounded assumptions of criminality.

    What makes the Trayvon Martin travesty (歪曲) of justice so painful to me, personally, is the knowledge that Trayvon's mother loved her baby no less than I love mine. The various pictures of moments throughout a happy childhood that have now found a home on nationwide newscasts provides clear evidence of that. Yet no amount of love and care, and no words of advice could have saved her son from the cruel killing he faced at the hands of a self-appointed neighborhood watch-dog. And perhaps even worse, nothing could have prepared her for the inhuman way her son has been treated by officials even in death. To think for three long days, his parents searched for him while officials failed to inform them of his fate and instead, performed drug and alcohol tests on his lifeless body, while failing to do the same for his attacker—the only one of the two who indeed had a criminal past is frankly, unforgivable. To know that the words of her son's killer were given more weight than eye-witnesses and taped evidence of her child's screams and eventual death must be heartbreaking. But to also have to live with the fact that his attacker still breathes free while her son lays buried underground is certainly more than any sorrowful parent should have to endure (忍受).

    It is this type of pain that is not unfamiliar to the Black experience in America, for this is the Black mothers' burden. A burden we have endured for centuries. We know the pain of having our newborn babies grabbed from our loving arms to be sold into lifelong servitude (奴役) and to never again experience the warmth of a mother's loving hug. Yet, there is still the rightful expectation, that in modern-day America, the wheels of justice would not be stopped.

    So today, it is my hope that Trayvon's mother, father, family and friends can take some comfort in the fact that millions of Americans of every color stand with them in their fight for justice. This is a burden no family should have to endure alone.

    We will not give up.

    We will not forget.

    We will continue the fight until justice is done.

    BELJLNG—Eating at a Beijing restaurant is usually an adventure for foreigners, and particularly when they get the chance to order "chicken without sex life" or "red burned lion head".

    Sometimes excited but mostly confused, embarrassed or even terrified, many foreigners have long complained about mistranslations of Chinese dishes. And their complaints are often valid, but such an experience at Beijing's restaurants will apparently soon be history.

    Foreign visitors will no longer, hopefully, be confused by oddly worded restaurant menus in the capital if the government's plan to correctly translate 3, 000 Chinese dishes is a success and the translations are generally adopted.

    The municipal (市政) office of foreign affairs has published a book to recommend English translations of Chinese dishes, which aims to help restaurants avoid bizarre translations. "It provides the names of main dishes of famous Chinese cuisines in plain English," an official with the city's Foreign Affairs office said, "Restaurants are encouraged to use the proposed translations, but it will not be compulsory." It's the city's latest effort to bridge the culture gap for foreign travelers in China.

    "The book is a blessing to tourist guides like me. Having it, I don't have to rack my brains trying to explain Chinese dishes to foreign travelers," said Zheng Xiaodong, a 31-year-old employee with a Beijing-based travel agency.

    "I will buy the book as I major in English literature and I'd like to introduce Chinese cuisine culture to more foreign friends," said Han Yang, a postgraduate student at the University of International Business and Economics.

    It is not clear if the book will be introduced to other parts of China. But on Tuesday, this was the most discussed topic on weibo.com, China's most popular micro-blogging site.

    Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) needs to prove its worth through rigorous clinical trials, according to the head of one of China's largest herbal remedy companies, as a contentious new law to boost the $40bn sector comes into effect.

    Traditional Chinese Medicine is estimated by analysts to account for a third of sales in China's $117bn pharmaceutical (药学) market, the world's second largest. But most of those sales are of relatively cheap over-the-counter drugs, with many Chinese hospital doctors unwilling to prescribe TCM remedies because of the lack of evidence for their effectiveness.

    China's first law promising equal status for TCM and western medicine in the country's state-dominated healthcare system comes into effect this weekend. Provisions include encouragement for hospitals to set up TCM centres, and a licensing system for practitioners (从业者). "This law is very important for securing the status of TCM," said Wu Yiling, chairman of Yiling Pharmaceutical, a company that makes herbal remedies based on traditional recipes in the northern province of Hebei.

    Listed in Shenzhen, Wu Yiling has a market capitalization of RMB 20.7bn ($3bn). Mr Wu, the son of a herbal practitioner, controls a family fortune of $1.6bn, according to the Hurun Rich List.

    Mr Wu is both a supporter of the nature of Qi—the mystical energy force that provides the basis for much of TCM theory—and the clinical trials vital to western pharmaceutical companies. "TCM needs to develop using modern research methods," he said.

    For instance, researchers from Peking and Cardiff Universities tested the health benefits of Yiling's herbal medicine Yangzheng Xiaoji, publishing papers in the International Journal of Oncology that showed the drug can slow the growth of cancer tumours. "The theory and recipe is TCM, but in practice the evaluation of our medicines is carried out according to western evidence-based methods," Mr Wu said.

    Analysts say such tests can help gain support from doubtful hospital doctors and boost prescriptions. "Doctors need strong evidence that drugs definitely work," said Serena Shao, healthcare analyst at brokerage CLSA. "Some of these companies are currently doing clinical trials, and getting proof that their drugs have the same efficacy (功效) as chemical drugs. That's the way to go." she added.

    The TCM law has been greeted with doubt from China's western-schooled medical establishment, which points to a lack of rigorous training for TCM doctors, and a recent series of shocking events involving herbal injections believed to have been harmful. "Officials will try and encourage TCM, but also will be very cautious about what kinds of TCM they use in hospitals," added Ms Shao.