Sleeping in Class

I can still remember it as if it happened yesterday. I was a college freshman and had1most of the night before laughing and talking with friends. Now just 2 my first class of the day my eyelids were feeling 3and my head was drifting down to my desk to make my textbook a 4. A few minutes' nap time before class couldn't5, I thought.

Boom! I lifted my head immediately and my eyes opened wider than saucers. I looked around with my heart 6 quickly trying to find the cause of the 7. My young professor was looking back at me with a 8, boyish smile on his face. He had 9 dropped the pile of textbooks he was carrying onto Ms desk. “Good morning!” he said, still smiling. “I'm glad to see everyone is 10. Now let's get started.”

For the next hour I wasn't sleepy at all. It wasn't from the shock of my professor's textbook11either. It was12from the attractive discussion he led. With knowledge and good humor, he made the material come alive. His insights were full of both wisdom and loving kindness. I13the classroom not only wide awake, but a little 14and a little better as well.

I learned something far more important than 15 in class that day, too. I learned that if you are going to do something in this life, do it well, do it 16, and make it an 17 of your love. What a glorious place this world would be if all of us did our work joyously and well. What a beautiful world we could 18 if every doctor, teacher, musician, cook, waitress, poet, miner, farmer, and laborer made their work an expression of their love. Don't sleepwalk your way through life then. 19! Let your love fill your work and your soul. Life is 20short not to live it well.

    Maureen stood by the lake. Suddenly the children came running through the trees with sharp cries of 1 They rushed up to the 2leaning over the clear water, watching the crowds of tiny fish. Some children demanded loudly to go to the boats, but 3those who had been left behind at the ice-cream stall(小摊) came running up to make some announcement or other, and they all4the water and dashed back the 5 they had come. With growing excitement, Maureen6them.

    When she7what had been running for, she stopped running. They were 8things again. The toy stall was9and they were crowded around it. Behind the 10 a calm middle-aged woman was selling a great variety of small rubbish. She took 11from the forest of small hands in exchanging for little boats, plastic dolls, yellow pencils, anything. Maureen leaned against a 12 looking on. The idea of13 washed against her face like a strong current(流), trying to draw her in.

    Nona Parker pushed out to the edge of the group and14what she had bought on the ground so that she could see what money she had left in her white purse. Under Maureen's 15 lay a boat, a mouth organ(口琴) and a brown load of bread. Maureen was so full of the16for the things like that she couldn't bear to look at it. She turned her17sharply. Her face was against the tree. She shut her eyes and 18 eagerly for some money, for the price of a set of toy plates. In a moment, she opened her eyes,19she didn't turn back to the stall. It was too 20to see the others buying whatever they wanted. She rubbed almost round the tree, her eyes on the ground.

    I was confused while I was eating lunch in a restaurant the other day. I was sitting there looking at what I'd1and wondered if anyone else could see the2in my mind. I'm about to 3a lot of fat and wash it down with a diet soda.

    What can I say? I'm trying to lose some weight.4I do things like that all the time, which is probably why the pounds are 5so slowly. I spent half an hour on the treadmill (跑步机) and I6myself with potato chips. I7that I will no longer eat them again, so I just eat a lot at this time. I make it all the way through the entire day doing everything absolutely right, and then at bedtime, “just one chip won't8it “turns into “where did that entire bag of potato chips go?”

    Of course, I9do well with my weight loss program, Once I put together two full weeks of eating properly and exercising10I was starting to feel a (an)11I could bend over to tie my shoes more easily. But just as it was about to become a12I entered a period of long, late nights filled with13deadlines. I sat in front of my computer, eating snacks and drinking sodas to help me stay14Within a few days, the habit of a sensible eating and exercising was a15.

Unfortunate but16I was too tired to get on the treadmill.17I had work to do, for which I needed all the energy I could 18 So I started skipping exercise sessions. And 19I started doing so, it became easier to skip them.

    There are always reasons not to do the things that we really should do. Every reason is just another 20.

    On the very first day, God created the cow. He1 to the cow, "Today I have created you!2 a cow, you must go to the field with the3all day long. You will work all 4 under the sun! I will give you a life5 of 50 years."

    The cow objected, "What? This kind of a 6life you want me to live for 50 years? Let me have 20 years, and the 30 years I'll give back to you." So God agreed.

    On the second day, God created the dog. God said to the dog, "What you are7 to do is to sit all day by the door of your house. Any people that come in, you will have to8 at them! I'll give you a life span of 20 years."

    The dog objected, "What? All day long to9by the door? No way! I'll give you 10 my other 10 years of life!" So God agreed.

    On the third day, God created the monkey. He said to the monkey, "Monkeys have to11people. You've got to make them laugh and do monkey 12 I'll give you 20 years life span."

    The monkey objected. "What? Make them laugh? Do monkey faces and tricks? Ten years will13, and the other 10 years I'll give you back." So God agreed.

    On the fourth day, God created14 and said to him, "Your job is to sleep, eat, and play. You will enjoy very much in your life. All you need to do is to enjoy and do nothing. This kind of life, I'll give you a 20 year life span."

    The man objected. "What? 15a good life! Eat, play, sleep, do nothing? Enjoy the best and you16me to live only for 20 years? No way, man! Why don't we make a(n)17? Since the cow gave you back 30 years, and the dog gave you back 10 years and the monkey gave you back 10 years, I will 18them from you! That makes my life span 70 years, right?" So God agreed.

    AND THAT'S WHY...

    In our first 20 years, we eat, sleep, play, enjoy the best and do nothing much. For the next 30 years, we19all day long, suffer and get to 20 the family. For the next 10 years, we entertain our grandchildren by making monkey faces and monkey tricks. And for the last 10 years, we stay at home, sit by the front door and bark at people!

    It was an extraordinarily busy time of year. I felt some 1 to head straight home after a long meeting. So I headed to the 2 nearby for some therapeutic (治疗性的) hiking. As I reached the top and admired the view, my unclear mind 3. Re-energized, I knew that I could deal with the 4 that waited for me upon my 5. When I arrived back in the office the next day, I was full of energy, and finished my work 6.

    It was almost 20 years ago that I learned how 7 it is for me to carve out time to escape to the wild. I had finished my Ph.D. , 8 soil and water conservation in Honduras, but I wasn't sure what 9 I wanted to have. So, I decided to act on a dream I had been nursing for a few years, 10 my mom showed me a magazine article about a man who had 11 around America. I figured that I could 12 cycling with research for a book on American agriculture while I worked out my next career step.

    So I did it. During the cycling 13, I found the clearness I needed to 14 my next career move. Talking with farmers I met along the way, I learned that their biggest 15 was selling their produce. I decided to broaden my 16 from land management to improving farmers' access to markets. My 17 interest led to working for a nongovernmental organization and I did eventually 18 a book on. American agriculture.

    The 19 is to find your source of inspiration and make good use of it. For me, I always get nourishment (营养) from being 20 in the outdoors.

    I'm Therese, a business manager living in Berlin, Germany. Last month, I 1 to read over 100 nonfiction books in psyshology, politics, and leadership. It might sound 2, but I really did.

    It started with a 3. A colleague 4 me to read Mallcolm Gladwell's The Story of Success in two 5. Determined as I was, I just couldn't 6 the deadline. I 7 the first few chapters quickly but found it impossible to finish all in 2 hours. So I 8 the bet, but it gave me an idea: I needed to find a better way to consume nonfiction books. I finally registered the Blinkist app, which is really 9 for me to read quickly. Blinkist is one of the apps that transform books into "bite-sized"10. I've learned that in order to produce proper insights from every book, over 100 literary experts 11 themselves to work. I also love that the app has an audio 12 allowing me to listen to great ideas. So I set a fresh 13 with this cool app — to read the key insights from 100 books in one month. How did I do? I read 102 titles exactly.

    I used to 14 much time on social media. Moreover, my job is exhausting, so by the time I leave work, my brain is pretty useless. 15, reading a book on the Blinkist app is like a snack for my 16. I'm happy that I'm doing something 17 with my time. Every day, I wake up 18 than the day before. If you want to get wiser too, then I challenge you to try and 19 my 102-title record! 20 the Blinkist app and start your reading adventure!