My first lesson is at a meeting. As we settle around the table I hear Meg, who is1a recent operation, talking to Judith, the manager of our project. “Thank you so much for2 my daughters to their dance lessons last week.” “Don't mention it,” Judith says, “It was nothing.”

    Knowing how 3Judith's schedule is, with her work, kids and aging parents, I find her driving Meg's children to lessons unbelievably 4. I am about to say more about this when Donna, another colleague, enters the room5. She apologizes for being late, saying she just hosted a lunch for her friends who are over seventy. “That is so nice of you,” I say, 6 how busy she is, how she doesn't like to cook and clean. “Oh,” she says, waving her hand, “It was nothing.”7, I can still tell the 8in her voice. She did gain a sense of satisfaction from the entertainment offered to her friends.

    Seeing their 9 to help others selflessly, I start thinking about the concept of “nothing”, this way of living—had it really been nothing or are they simply saying that? It 10to me that once I spent a whole afternoon after work helping a friend 11a speech she was going to deliver. I12 her to rearrange the sequence of the stories in the lecture to make it sound more 13. After the fifth try, she finally 14it . She hugged me with15, saying thanks to me. I smiled and said it was nothing.

    Suddenly, I realized that helping someone was really something to me. I learned that giving from the heart doesn't 16 mean sacrifice and hard work. The 17is finding something we love to do and finding someone who18 that something. Our generosity can benefit others19 ourselves. Once you have a good 20of it, it's nothing. And it's really something.

    In August 1999,Yuriko noticed that her daughter,Ayako,was looking thin and pale,1 she insisted that the 22-year-old see a doctor.As they waited for the rest results,the doctor2 gave Yuriko a note while her daughter wasn't noticing.

    In the restroom,Yuriko opened the note,“It is stomach cancer,“said the doctor.“Please3There is no time.”

On September 21,Ayako had a(n)4Three quarters of her stomach were removed.The doctor 5 the situation to Yuriko but the medical terms sounded like a foreign language.

    Ayako was put on anti-cancer drugs,and over the next three months,she 6 from side effects,and lost seven kilograms.

    Yuriko decided to do more to 7 her daughter.She read all kinds of books on cancer.As a single mother,she had no one to share her 8with.

9 the difficulties,Yuriko was able to help her daughter.When Ayako started experiencing breathing difficulties,Yuriko 10 if it could be a side effect of the anti-cancer drug.She told Ayako's doctor and he 11to take her off the drug.

    12in November 2002,Ayako's treatment came to an end.Although she felt her pain 13Yuriko couldn't forget how lost and 14 she felt during her daughter's treatment.She wrote a letter to the local newspaper 15the creation of a support group for cancer patients.

    Phone calls and letters 16 her idea started pouring in.In December 2002,Yuriko formally17 Ikkikai,roughly meaning “sharing the joy”,with the18of providing hope and information for people with cancer,and their families.

    Ikkikai's message has begun to 19Yuriko says,“The simple act of talking to other people who understand your problems can make the greatest 20I hope that more people would join in the group.”

    Reggie couldn't hear a thing. He was a1boy, but he had been born deaf.  He was well-known to everyone in town, and they were all2him. Unfortunately, though, he3seemed to end up being treated differently from everyone else. Children worried they would4him, and that maybe because he wouldn't hear the ball being hit in his5. Adults acted like he was unable to6them, as though he was some kind of baby.

    His friend Michael didn't like this. He decided that things had to be7. Michael's father was the town's mayor(市长), and Michael8to convince him that this year, in honor of Reggie, they should offer one day of the9to deaf people. During that whole day everyone would have to wear earplugs(耳塞).

    People liked the10. The day became known as The Day of Silence, and when it arrived, everyone stuck plugs in their11, in a spirit of great fun. That morning was filled with12and laughter. But, as the hours passed, people became more and more aware of how13life was when they couldn't hear anything.

    On that day nobody was thinking of Reggie as just a14person. This meant he could be15just like any other boy, and people saw a whole new side of16. Not only that, but Reggie had a bright and sharp mind. On that day, using his usual17, Reggie was the one who could communicate best with everyone. This meant that people paid more attention to what he was saying, and they were18by his intelligence and his ability to find solutions to almost any problem. They19that he had always been like that, and that in normal life all Reggie needed was a little more time than others to20. That was the only difference.

    I was eleven years old when the fire broke out that year. I stood outside in just my underwear while I watched the 1 that I grew up in rapidly burn to the 2. A few minutes earlier I had been 3 asleep in my nice, warm bed when a 4 woke me up. My mum's bedroom was just next to mine and my brother's. A fire had broken out there and 5 her. While I stumbled(跌跌撞撞地走)around in the 6 and darkness, she ran from room to room quickly waking everyone in the house. The house, however, was over 50 years old and made of wood. Before we could do anything the fire 7 it. We all barely 8 outside before the 9 engulfed(吞没) every room.

    I stood there 10 while the fire destroyed my books, clothes, and toys. I watched 11 while my mum cried and my Dad swore. I 12 what was going to happen to us 13 we had lost all of our things. As I looked around, though, I realized something for the first time: The things that 14 aren't things. I realized at that moment that we were all alive. 15 that was essential had 16 the fire. We would all be around to love each other for many years to come. And that was all that mattered.

    I still think of that fire in the 17 that helped me to become who I am today. It showed me for the very first time what is truly 18 in this life. It helped me to learn that the love we 19 is far more important than the things we 20.

    Lori was suspended (暂停)from school for having cigarettes in her locker. She told her dad, "I don't know how they got there! I was just putting them in my pocket to take them to the principal when a teacher 1 and sent me to the office." Dad had a hard time 2 that Lori didn't know how the cigarettes got into her locker, 3 only she had the key. He also found it hard to believe that she was putting them in her pocket to take them to the principal. He felt disappointed that Lori would 4 to him because they had always been such a close and loving 5. He was also worried that she was beginning to 6 her life by getting involved in smoking, drinking, and drugs.

    Dad felt like 7 and punishing and letting her know how disappointed he was.

    8 , he decided to look for the positive. It is never difficult to find, if you are willing to look for it. As he got into Lori's 9 he could understand that she was probably having a tough time deciding how to 10 with family values and still be part of the crowd. He also realized that the only reason Lori would lie to him would be because she loved him so much that she wouldn't want to disappoint him.

    With this 11 , Dad approached Lori. Instead of scolding and punishing, he kindly said, "Lori, I'll bet it is really difficult trying to 12 how to stick up for what you believe and yet not be called a 13 by your friends.

    Lori felt such 14 as she said, "Yes, it is."

    Dad went on, "And I'll bet that if you would ever lie to us, it would be because you love us so much that you wouldn't want to disappoint us." Lori got tears in her eyes and could only nod in 15. Dad added, "Lori, we would be disappointed if you did something that would 16 you. But if you don't know that you can always tell us anything, then we aren't doing a good enough job in letting you know how much we love you — 17Lori gave her dad a big 18 , and they just held each other for a while.

    They never did directly discuss the problem of smoking and lying. Over a year has gone by, and Lori seems to delight in letting her mom and dad know every time she 19 the temptation(诱惑)to do something contrary to her 20. She also feels proud that she is influencing her friends to stick up for their belief.

    Jen and Jeff Fisher were a lovely couple with two kids who would soon be faced with a life-changing decision. Not only would it change the1of the family that they already had but it would also change the2of three young children that came into their home.

    The Fishers already had two3of their own: 13-year old Aiden and 10-year-old Macy. The Fishers decided to4another child and were introduced to the foster (寄养的) system. It was through foster care that they'd5three kids who would change everything.

    A social worker who worked with the foster system6the Fishers to an 11-year-old girl named Tannah Butterfield. She and her two younger siblings (弟妹) lost their7and no longer had a home of their own. Tannah wanted nothing more than a8of her own.

    As is9with the foster system, siblings are at risk of being separated from each other and sent off to10homes. But that's when the Fishers did something extraordinary.

    The Fishers11Tannah and her siblings, six- year-old Teagun and two-year-old Tallie, into their home. It was an extremely polite gesture,12since some foster families won't accept siblings together due to their13differences.

    When Tannah and her siblings set foot in the Fisher household for the first14, the switch couldnt have been15. They got along well with Aiden and Macy as if they'd all16each other their whole lives!

    A majority of kids in foster care often17separated. Luckily for Tannah, Teagun, and Tallie, they were able to18with the Fisher family for whole two years. At that point, Jen and Jeff Fisher19that they wanted to adopt the three kids that they had come to20as their own.