A man, who sometimes takes my bus, is in rags. His life seems different from that of the others. He looks exhausted and carries nothing. He appears along a downtown street, seemingly out of nowhere. We sometimes want to know where he sleeps at night.

    A few weeks ago he boarded the bus. A few stops later, a young woman boarded. She swiped (刷) her bus-card, only to find the machine would not accept it. The driver told her to pay the $2.25 fare. “I just bought this card,” she said. “I paid the money...”

    The driver said she could take the card back to the sales office and explain the problem. In the meantime she would have to pay the fare for that day. The woman became confused and distressed. The rest of us just watched, wondering how the problem would be solved. Suddenly the man rose from his seat, dropped a few coins into the fare box.

    “You're lucky,” the bus driver said quietly. “He paid for you.” Silence fell over the bus. The rest of us had watched the woman's discomfort, but he felt it. We lawyers, journalists and business people headed downtown to help fix the world. He fixed her world.

    I haven't seen him since that day. Some people believe angels occasionally drop down and move among us. All I know is that I have a new respect for the simple act of kindness. It speeds us along on our way.

    Everybody, at some point in their lives, has experienced failure. It could be something as simple as not getting the job you wanted, or getting fewer marks even after hard work. But what makes you is not your failure, but how you get back up after being hit.

    Once, a young school boy was caught in a fire accident in his school and was assumed that he would not live. His mother was told that he was sure to die, for the terrible fire had destroyed the lower half of his body. Even if he were to survive, he would be lame throughout his life.

    But the brave boy did not want to die nor did he want to be lame. Much to the amazement of the doctor, he did survive. But unfortunately from his waist down, he had no motor ability. His thin legs just hung there, lifeless. Eventually he left the hospital. But his determination to walk was unshakable. At home, when he was not in bed, he had to stay in a wheelchair. One day, he threw himself from the chair and pulled himself across the grass, dragging his legs behind him. He reached the fence, raised himself up and then began dragging himself along the fence, firmly determined. He did this every day, with faith in himself that he would be able to walk unaided. With his iron determination, he did develop the ability to stand up, then to walk on and off, then to walk by himself and then to run.

    He began to walk to school, and then run to school, to run for the joy of running. Later in college he was on the track team.

    In February 1934, in New York City's Madison Square Garden, this young man who was not expected to survive, who would surely never walk, who could never hope to run - this determined young man, Dr. Glenn Cunningham, ran the world's fastest mile.

    A good example of the power of positive thinking and faith in oneself, Glenn Cunningham continues to be an inspiration for many, and his story, a brilliant evidence to how one can bounce back even when all difficulties are piled against one, to the degree that death seemed the preferable option.

    Abraham Lincoln, a self-taught lawyer, was elected 16th president of the United States in November 1860, shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War. Lincoln proved to be a smart military strategist and a competent leader: His Emancipation Proclamation (解放宣言) paved the way for slavery's abolition, while his Gettysburg Address stands as one of the most famous speeches in American history. In April 1865, with the Union on the brink of victory, Abraham Lincoln was killed; his untimely death made him a hero to the cause of liberty, and he is widely regarded as one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history.

    On January 20, 1981, Reagan took office. Only 69 days later he was shot by a would-be killer, but quickly recovered and returned to duty. His grace and wit during the dangerous incident caused his popularity to soar.

    At the end of his two terms in office, Ronald Reagan viewed with satisfaction the achievements of his innovative program known as the Reagan Revolution, which aimed to motivate the American people and reduce their reliance upon Government. He felt he had fulfilled his campaign pledge of 1980 to restore "the great, confident roar of American progress and growth and optimism."

    When George W. Bush, at the age of 54, became the 43rd president of the United States, it was only the second time in American history that a president's son went on to the White House. John Quincy Adams, elected the sixth president in 1824, was the son of John Adams, the second president. While John Adams had brought up his son to be president. George Bush, the 41st president, insisted he was surprised when the eldest of his six children became interested in politics, became governor of Texas, and then went on to the white House.

    Barack Obama served as the 44th President of the United States. His story is the American story—values from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family, hard work and education as the means of getting ahead, and the belief that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others.

    With a father from Kenva and a mother from Kansas, President Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. He was raised with help from his grandfather, who served in Patton's army, and his grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management at a bank.

    We are the CEOs. We are the head designers. We are the top engineers. We are the senior creators. We are the inventors. We are the only maker of our own happiness.

    However, we still have learned that people's views on happiness often change with many outside things. Some people smile happily beside their new cars and homes. Students feel excited when they get better grades. Babies laugh loudly when they get new toys. Maybe true happiness has been lost in these things.

    How could we have allowed ourselves to be cheated for so long? Something outside may give us happiness, but what directs us to real happiness is inner (内在的) spirit.

    Our spirit is so easily broken, yet it is the single strongest thing we own. Why do people with terrible diseases still smile? Why do those with a broken heart still find joy? The inner spirit is powerful, and it is the only thing on earth that can be broken into pieces but can perfectly mend itself with time. Think about those who suffer a lot but still feel happy. Their inner spirit is very strong.

    Our inner spirit will be the greatest gift that we give ourselves. It is our compass (指南针) to happiness, but we are the tour guides.

It's generally believed that people act the way they do because of their personalities and attitudes .They recycle their garbage because the care about the environment .They pay $5 for a caramel brulée latte because they like expensive coffee drinks.

It's undeniable that behavior comes from our inner dispositions (性情), but in many instances we also draw inferences about who we are, as suggested by the social psychologist Daryl Bem , by observing our own behavior .We can be strangers to ourselves .If we knew our own minds, why would we need to guess what our preferences are from our behavior? If our minds were an open book, we would know exactly how much we care about the environment or like lattes .Actually, we often need to look to our behavior to figure out who we are.

Moreover, we don't just use our behavior to learn about our particular types of character—we infer characters that weren't there before .Our behavior is often shaped by little pressures around us, which we fail to recognize .Maybe we recycle because our wives and neighbors would disapprove if we didn't .Maybe we buy lattes in order to impress the people around us .We should not mistakenly believe that we always behave as a result of some inner disposition.

Whatever pressures there can be or inferences one can make, people become what they do, though it may not be in compliance (符合) with their true desires .Therefore, we should all bear in mind Kurt Vonnegut's advice: "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be."