Watching some children trying to catch butterflies one hot August afternoon, I was reminded of an incident in my own childhood. When I was a boy of 12, something happened to me that cured me forever of wanting to put any wild creature in a cage.

    We lived on the edge of a wood, and every evening at dusk the mockingbirds would come and rest in the trees and sing. It's the most beautiful sound in the world.

     I decided that I would catch a young bird and keep it in a cage and in that way would have my own private musician.

    I finally succeeded in catching one and put it in a cage. I felt very pleased with myself and looked forward to some beautiful singing from my tiny musician.

    I had left the cage out on our back porch, and on the second day, my new pet's mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth. The baby bird ate everything she brought to it. I was pleased to see this. Certainly the mother knew better than I how to feed her baby.

    The following morning when I went to see how my pet bird was doing, I discovered it on the floor of the cage, dead. I was shocked! What had happened! I had taken excellent care of my little bird, or so I thought.

    Arthur Wayne, the famous ornithologist, happened to be visiting my father at the time, hearing me crying over the death of my bird, explained what had occurred. “A mother mockingbird, finding her young in a cage, will sometimes bring it poison berries(浆果). She thinks it better for her young to die than to live in captivity.”

    Never since then have I caught any living creature and put it in a cage. All living creatures have a right to live free.

Distance runners often worry about “hitting the wall” during training or races—that terrible moment when negative thoughts become so overpowering that they make it difficult to continue.

Hitting the wall typically happens around 20 miles in a marathon, when the body's supplies become exhausted. At this point, many runners feel exhausted and discouraged, slow their pace, have trouble focusing and want to quit or walk.

“Generalized tiredness, unintentionally slowing their pace, the desire to walk, and shifting focus to just surviving the marathon appear to be particularly common characteristics of it,” said Dr. Alistair McCormick, an exercise psychologist in England who co-authored a new study. “A marathon becomes a real mental battle when runners ‘hit the wall.'”

    Psychological blocks are an extremely common experience for recreational endurance (耐力) athletes, according to the study. To learn how they affect people, sports psychologists asked 30 recreational runners and cyclers about the psychological demands of training, preparing for and participating in competitions.

     “Recreational runners and cyclists found it stressful trying to find the time to train, McCormick said. “What was also interesting was the number of potential banana skins they met with before and during competition-disasters that could cause the athletes to lose their focus and their motivation to keep persevering.”

    These roadblocks included difficult environmental conditions and equipment failure, problems with nutrition or making a mistake, the study reported. The athletes in the study said they fell these obstacles (障碍) affected their motivation and concentration, negatively affecting their overall performance.

According to the study, 43 percent of marathoners are likely to hit the wall during a race. Finding ways to move past those kinds of experiences, then, could have major benefits for an athlete's performance and well-being.

    It is widely acknowledged that nearly every kid might come across some kind of school bullying(欺侮), however, the age at which kids were first bullied could influence how strongly they are affected, suggests a new study. And, surprisingly, it is not the youngest kids who are hurt the most in the long term.

    Bullying can have long-lasting effects, but particularly when it begins in adolescence(青春期), the researchers say, people subjected to either verbal or physical bullying are known to be at greater risk of developing depression, anxiety disorders or to behave violently. But not everyone reacts in this way.

    Children who were bullied for the first time before they hit adolescence seem to get over it, but those who are bullied for the first time later on in adolescence seem to become more aggressive(富有攻击性的) or are more likely to turn to drinking as a means of coping with it. These are the conclusions of psychologists Matthew Newman and colleagues of Texas at Austin, US.

    The team gave questionnaires to nearly 1,500 college students about their experience of physical and psychological bullying before adolescence- before high school- and in late adolescence- at high school. They assessed mood and mental state, judging by signs of anxiety or depression, such as sleeplessness. The group was also questioned about how they would react to certain challenges, such as humiliation.

    People who were bullied all showed slightly higher levels of stress. But while those bullied earlier in life seemed to respond normally to provocation (煽动), people bullied for the first time late in adolescence are more withdrawn and sensitive to violence.

    There are also sex differences between those bullied for the first time during adolescence: females are more likely to react aggressively when provoked and males are much more likely to turn to drinking to escape bad situations. The best solution in all cases was strong social support, whether from friends, family or school. Those with no one to share their problems with suffered the most.

    So perhaps it is best not to shelter children completely from bullying early on, suggests Newman, "They may get stressed, but unhealthy coping really jumps out when they are bullied for the first time later on."

    With these tips you can finally get a solid night's sleep.

    Reserve Your Bed

    Get into bed just for sleeping. Avoid working, paying bills, reading, or watching television in bed. If you associate your bed only with sleep, you'll be more likely to fall asleep.

    Watch the Caffeine(咖啡因)

    Too much caffeine throughout the day can cause interrupted sleep. Limit yourself to two cups of tea, coffee, or cola, taken at least 6 hours before bedtime.

    Tap the Exercise Answer

    In a study from Stanford University School of Medicine, a group of 50- to 76-year-olds who had complained of sleep problems began proper exercise for about half an hour four times a week. Compared with a similar group of people who didn't exercise, the more active group slept an average of one hour more each night, took less time to fall asleep.

    Take a Bath

    Take a warm bath an hour or two before bed. Your body temperature will slowly drop after you get out of the tub（浴盆）, making you feel tired. Don't bathe right before bed, however, because it can briefly stimulate you enough to make it hard to fall asleep.

    Buy the Right Bed

    A bed that's too soft can cause poor sleep. Replace your mattress(床垫)if it's more than ten years old, and buy one that's as firm as you can tolerate but still comfortable.

    If 30 minutes go by and you haven't fallen asleep, don't lie in bed feeling frustrated. Get up and do something relaxing.

    If you could sail around the world with only one companion, who would you choose? Guirec Soudee, a 24-year-old man from France, chose his pet chicken.

    Soudee has been sailing around the world for two years. No matter which country he sails to, Monique, the hen, is by his side. He found her in the Canary Islands and knew right away they were meant to be best companions. "I didn't speak any Spanish and she didn't speak any French, however, we could always have a small talk, even though she didn't understand me." Soudee joked.

    He had always wanted a companion for his journey and originally thought about bringing a cat, before deciding it would be too much work to look after on a boat. Upon meeting Monique, Soudee realized a hen was the perfect choice. He believed they could communicate with each other well.

    Not only does it cost little to raise Monique, but she lays eggs as well — some things that are always a plus in a situation where storing a lot of food can be a challenge. She lays about six eggs a week on average, even in cold climates like Greenland, where Soudee and Monique are docked(进港) now.

    And what happens when the weather at sea gets bad? Usually Soudee lets Monique stay freely on the boat, but when the winds get terrible he ensures she is safe in her hutch so that she doesn't fall out of his boat and into the sea. Another thing Soudee must care for is the rule in every country he visits. They had met with customs officials in Canada. He was permitted to keep her, but he knows they might not always be so lucky.

    Although Monique can sometimes get on his nerves, Soudee says she's much better than a human companion aboard. "She follows me everywhere. All I need to do is shout 'Monique!' and she will come to me, sit on me, listen to my small talk and give me company," he said.

    After visiting Greenland, they'll head down the Bering Strait to Nome, Alaska. From there the destination is undecided, but Soudee will certainly discuss where they should travel to next with Monique.

After a busy morning, lunch can feel like just the pick-me-up you need-but sometimes the meal that you thought would energize you is the very thing that makes you want to nap at your desk.

Feeling tired after lunch, or post-meals in general, is known as postprandial somnolence—or, colloquially, the food coma.

Part of this phenomenon is due to basic physiology (生理学): When humans eat, most of our blood goes to the digestive organs to process the food, said Sandra Arévalo, director of community health and wellness at Montefiore Nyack Hospital in New York state.

The tendency to get tired after eating isn't inherently suggestive of something amiss (出错的). But there can be additional factors that worsen this natural response, making getting through the rest of the workday or any activities feel like a slog. Here's what to watch out for and how to make adjustments.

When it comes to why you feel overly tired after eating, a common cause is consuming meals that are heavy in terms of quantity or quality. Not eating breakfast can lead to overindulging later in the day if excessive (过度的) hunger makes controlling your appetite difficult, Arévalo said.

Sometimes, however, the makeup of certain foods can contribute to tiredness. Fats are the hardest nutrient to digest because their molecules are much larger than those of protein or carbs, said Julie Stefanski, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. If you had a meal high in fat—such as fried foods or pizza—that could make you feel tired. Meals high in added sugar or refined or highly processed carbohydrates can have the same effect.

The fiber in so-called whole foods like corns slows the absorption of sugar into the body, which means they don't cause blood sugar or insulin spikes and instead give you more stable, lasting energy, said Kristin Kirkpatrick, a registered dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic.

"A five-minute walk or something helps to improve circulation and alertness (机敏), as well," Arévalo said.