Stop wasting your time thinking of reasons for your failures and shortcomings. Instead, realize that the seeds of success were planted within you when you were born. Only you have the power to make those seeds grow.

    The seeds, and the power to grow them, are contained in the most awesome machine ever created: the human mind. Success is a choice and not a chance. You were born a winner. You were born rich. You can be a success if only you make the right choice.

    You cannot be successful without first developing your self-esteem (自信心). Your level of self-esteem is always based on the degree of control that you are able to exercise over yourself, and thus over your life. People with low self-esteem are people who do not believe that they have any power, or responsibility for their lives. They are always victims. They are leaves tossed (摇摆) by the winds of chance blown about with any sudden change in the weather.

    You can exercise control over your life only to the degree that you believe you are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Failures think that everything happens by accident and chance. Successful people realize that they are responsible.

    Everything happens as a result of something. If we can identify the cause, we can control the effect. We are responsible for what we choose to think and believe. One generally rises to the level that one expects. We are responsible for setting our expectations. Our success is dependent upon our level of confidence.

    If you associate with positive-thinking people, you are definitely going to achieve success. On the contrary, the opposite happens. We are responsible for finding, planting, and nurturing (培育) the seeds that contain future victory, born from setbacks (挫折).

    In short, in all areas of your life, whether they are financial, physical, emotional, or spiritual, you are responsible. Once you recognize this, accept it, and firmly believe it. You are on the road to success.

    They say if you love your job, you'll never work a day in your life. We say if you travel for work, you'll never have a boring commute(上下班往返) a day in your life. If the typical 9-to-5 isn't working for you, here are some options that will pay you to travel. No matter your current skill set, you can probably do it somewhere else.

Represent abroad

    The State Department is actively hiring Foreign Service Officers, and it's probably easier than you think to become one. You'll have to a lot of tests, but if you pass, you'll spend the next years of your life working around the world. A Junior Foreign Service Officer starts at $71,000 a year.

    Teaching English as a Second Language abroad is one of the best ways to deepen understanding of another culture. There's no need to be a certified English teacher in order to go abroad. In this program in China, soon-to-be teachers go abroad to obtain their Teaching English as a Foreign Language(TEFL) certifications. A beginning teacher in China will earn $2,500 for working six months, plus room and board.

    A cruise ship is a floating village. Therefore, any job that you could have in a village you could have onboard a ship-even auctioneering(做拍卖师). Carnival is hiring an art auctioneer to work aboard a luxury cruise ship. The only qualifications necessary are a college degree and public speaking skills. Going…going…sold.

Write the rails

    Writers can reimagine themselves as rail-surfing Jack Kerouacs, crossing the country and writing from coast to coast on the Amtrak Writer's Residency. The application process consists of two questions, as well as the opportunity to provide up to a 20-page writing sample. Amtrak will select 24 writers to participate in the program with the help from a panel of judges. Although the project won't replace a full-time job, it's really a fun opportunity. The application period for 2016 has closed, but applications will reopen in the fall.

    I recently posted a picture on Facebook from the movie Mad Max, a film where two groups race through the desert in steam punk vehicles, and wrote, “Actual picture of my way to work today.” It was meant to be a joke because of the sandstorms in Beijing, but one of my friends from back home thought it was real.

    I couldn't imagine how they could think that is actually what China is like. China has so many more conveniences and advantages than the West, and many of my friends agree. “I don't know how I will be able to deal when I go back home,” said a friend who is about to end her gap year in Beijing. “I've become so spoiled in China.

    China seems to be leading the way in innovation and convenience for daily life. Back home I could never shop, pull out my phone and scan a QR code to pay.

    There have been rumors of starting bike sharing in my hometown for years with little success while bike sharing suddenly appeared in Beijing overnight. I just step outside and scan a code, and I am on my way.

    Going out to eat with a group of friends back home was troublesome for both the group and the servers. Splitting checks and swiping (刷) 10 different cards or making change for each person in the group can be a pain. But with China's WeChat, you can quickly send your friends your part of the bill.

The list goes on...

    When I first arrived in Beijing, I was dead set on leaving in a month. That month has come and gone. Now, when someone asks me when I'm coming back, I think to myself, “Who knows?”

    While my friends think I'm riding through the desert on a motorbike, I am actually taking a “Didi” for what is the equivalent of $5 in the US.

    With all the conveniences and technology here, I may never want too go back.

    Ocean Dome

    Leave it to Japan to create the largest indoor theme park on the beach. The beauty of it is that it can be enjoyed no matter how warm or cold is outside. You can see power from waves, a volcano that erupts every hour. The dome clear sky ceiling makes you think you are enjoying hot weather even in winter.

    Nitendo Amusement Park

    Like it's not strange enough to be a grown up addicted to Nintendo games, here comes a park ready to let you experience exactly the same games live. It may sound cool and it may be safe. But surely spending time in such a place can only show that you have a funny taste in experiencing gaming.

    Alien Apex Resort

    Located in Roswell, a known spot for alien related events, this one is the place for the fans of alien life to enjoy themselves. One can get abducted(绑架) here, enjoy seeking help and have fun. Strange enough is that anybody would want to……

    Suoi Tien Park

    Buddhist theme park, this one comes with Bible like story, heaven and hell, a lot of real thrills and of course some unusual fun including bats, crocodiles and crazy rides. It is a cool experience for crazy fans and it can really be something you would like to visit as a young person

    Digger Land

    Seeing the hard work of the digging machines can be actually full of education for kids. This park has everything any amusement park would have but dirt is dominant(最突出的). You can be sure your kids will enjoy getting dirty by doing crazy things involving digging with excavators(挖掘机) or operating heavy machines.

    It's interesting when you think about how Japan is a nation that appreciates the virtues of silence and good manners, and yet when it comes to eating noodles, Japanese people can be the loudest in the world.

    According to lifestyle website grapee.jp, slurping when eating noodles is encouraged in Japanese culture. It's believed that taking air into your mouth can enhance the flavor of the noodles, and that it helps cool down the noodles. It's also considered to be a way to show appreciation for the dish. Sometimes, just making the noise alone seems to make the noodles more enjoyable.

    It wasn't until a new expression - “noodle harassment”,or “hu-hara” in Japanese - came out last year on social media that Japanese people started to realize that the slurping noise is making some foreign visitors uncomfortable.

    As a response, Japanese instant noodle maker Nissin introduced a so-called noise-canceling fork earlier this year. The fork, which looks like an electric toothbrush, is connected wirelessly to a smartphone. When the person using the fork starts to slurp, the fork sends a signal to the person's phone, making it play a sound to mask the slurping noise.

    “The fork is a solution to the 'noodle harassment' issue, particularly as the number of tourists visiting Japan increases,” said the company, according to Euro News.

    But is it really necessary?

    Dining traditions do vary. What's considered to be proper table manners in one country is likely to be seen as rude in another. In India, for example, people eat with their hands because they think in this way they build a connection with the food. However, people who are used to eating with utensils（餐具）might find it uncomfortable to get their hands covered with oil and bits of food. But this eating method is part of India's culture, just like Japan's slurping is part of its own.

    “So, if you are eating noodles, whether that's ramen（拉面）, udon（乌冬面）, or soba（荞麦面）, please slurp,” wrote the reporter Brian Ashcraft on blog Kotaku. “If anyone gets annoyed while you are doing that, pay them no mind because they're missing the point entirely.”

    Chinese media and Internet users on Monday decried（谴责）a lack of morals in society after a child was struck twice by two different trucks and left bleeding on the road as more than a dozen bystanders did nothing to help the seriously injured girl.

    The incident, captured by a surveillance camera and aired by Southern Television Guangdong (TVS), showed the two-year-old girl was knocked down and run over by a white truck on a narrow market street on the afternoon of Oct. 13, in Foshan City of Guangdong Province.

    The driver fled the scene of the accident, leaving the girl to bleed on the sidewalk. Over the next six minutes, more than a dozen people walked by the girl, yet not one individual did anything to help her. The girl was then hit a second time by another van before an elderly trash collector came to her aid and brought the attention of the girl's mother, according to the video and eyewitnesses.

    Doctors said that the girl, who was put on life support after being hospitalized, remains in a deep coma. The girl's parents, who are migrants living in the city, are now with her.

    Police said the drivers of both vehicles have been arrested. However, the apathy(冷漠) of the bystanders shown in the video has shocked the public, and people are questioning the morality of society.

    High moral standards were once considered as national pride in China where individuals known for selflessly helping others were adored（崇拜） by the public.

    But in recent years, the perception（观念）of a decline of morals has become a hot topic as profit and materialism are perceived to be affecting society's values.

    On Sept. 2. an 88-year-old man in central China collapsed, his face striking the pavement. Yet, no one came to his aid, and he ended up choking to death on the blood from his nose.

    Some have linked the absence of good Samaritans (模范人物)to a previous case in which a man trying to help an elderly woman who fell was accused of harming her.

    A strong chorus of opinion on the Internet says laws should exempt（免除）Samaritans from liability（责任）, yet laws themselves cannot solve society's morality dilemma.

    Cao Lin, a China Youth Daily commentator, said in a signed article published on Monday that the worry of liability should not be an excuse for not helping, and this case exposes the decline of humanity in Chinese society.