Renaissance is a French word. It means “rebirth”. It's a strange name for a period of history. What was exactly “ reborn” during the Renaissance?

    To answer this question, we need to look back at the time of the Roman Empire. At this time Roman artists, scientists and writers influenced by Greek ideas were the world's most advanced. They had become skilled observers of the natural world around them, and had become experts in studying animals, plants, the human body or the stars and planets. They wrote down their ideas about what they saw, and based their theories about the world on their observations.

    During the fourth and fifth centuries the Roman Empire slowly broke down. Many of the Romans' art and sculptures were destroyed and some manuscripts（原稿）were lost as well. But most importantly, some of the ancient attitudes were lost. A questioning approach to the world was replaced by an unquestioning one.

    Why did this happen? One reason was to do with the influence of the Christian Church. Through the thousand years following the fall of the Roman Empire, the Church controlled many aspects of life including education and learning. The Church ran all the universities and thought that the aim of a university should be to teach old ideas more clearly, not to introduce new ones. The scholars in the universities were expected to study God and heaven from the Bible and ancient books, rather than the world around them.

Take medicine for example. The main textbook for doctors had been written by a Greek doctor called Galen more than a thousand years earlier. But when Roger Bacon, a thirteenth-century priest（牧师）, said that a new approach to medicine was needed — doctors should do their own original research instead of reading writers from the past such as Galen-the Church put him in prison.

    By the time of the fourteenth century, however, some parts of the Christian Church were becoming less strict about their ideas and there was a new state of mind among artists, doctors and scientist. People wanted to find out more about the world by studying it. This attitude of investigation had been common in classical scholars, and it was ‘reborn' during the Renaissance.

    Schools across the world are trying to come up with solutions to keep students active. Some are replacing traditional classroom chairs with exercise balls or standing desks. At Ward Elementary School in Winston, North Carolina students have adopted a new program that requires riding fixed bikes while reading.

    'Read and Ride5 is the creation of school counselor Scott Ertl, who came up with the idea while he was exercising and reading at the gym. Believing it would be a fun way to convince students to become more active, he placed one in the comer of his classroom and encouraged them to use it during independent reading classes.

    It was so popular that Ertl decided to add more bikes and offer the Read and Ride program to the entire school. Today Ward Elementary has a dedicated exercise room filled with bikes that can be used by students while completing their daily reading assignments.

    Besides making reading more fun, the program also helps students exercise at a comfortable pace without the pressure that comes with regular sports-related activities. It is also a perfect way to release energy during days when the weather is not helpful to outdoor activities.

    Most importantly, however, are the program's academic benefits. A year after Read and Ride was introduced at Ward Elementary School, students actively involved in the program demonstrated an astonishing 83% reading proficiency. Those that had not taken advantage of the exercise bikes tested at a much lower, 41%.

    Though the substantial improvement in academic achievement cannot all be attributed to programs like Read and Ride, experts believe they are a significant contributor. That's because studies have shown that physical activity stimulates (刺激) brain cells and helps prepare it for learning. As word of the difference made by this easy to execute exercise program spreads, don't be surprised to find schools across the country adopt “Read and Ride” for their students.

    I was having a great morning until I sat down in front of my office computer. "Your password has expired(过期)," a server message flashed on my screen, with instructions for changing it.

    Coming up with a new code doesn't seem like a big deal, unless you work at my company, where we have to change it monthly, using at least one uppercase character, one lowercase character, one symbol, and one numeral. Oh, and the whole darn thing can't be fewer than eight characters. And I can't use any of the same passwords I've used in the past three months.

    Suddenly I was furious. What didn't make it any better was that I was deeply depressed after my recent divorce. Disbelief over what she had done to me was all I thought about. Every day.

    My anger didn't mean anything to the empty input field with a pulsating cursor (闪动的光标), waiting for me to type a password that I'd have to re-enter — many times — for the next 30 days. I remembered a tip I'd heard from my former boss. He'd said, "I'm going to use a password to change my life."

    I couldn't focus on getting things done in my current mood. There were clear indicators of what I needed to do to regain control of my life, but I couldn't notice them.

    My password became the indicator. My password reminded me that I shouldn't let myself be a victim of my recent breakup and that I was strong enough to do something about it.

    I made my password Forgive@h3r.

    I had to type this statement several times a day. Each time my computer would lock. Each time my screen saver with her photo would appear. Each time I would come back from eating lunch alone. In my mind, I wrote Forgive her every day.

    The simple action changed the way I looked at my ex-wife. That constant reminder of reconciliation led me to accept the way things had happened at the end of my marriage and embrace a new way of dealing with my depression. As the month wore on, I felt a slow healing begin to take place. By the time my server prompted me to reset my password the following month, I felt free.

    One month later, my dear Exchange server asked me yet again to reset my password. I thought about the next thing that I had to get done.

    My password became Quit@smoking4ever.

    I quit smoking overnight. This password was a painful one to type during that month, but doing it helped me to yell at myself in my mind as I typed that statement. It motivated me to follow my monthly goal.

    One month later, my password became Save4trip@thailand.

    Guess where I went three months later: Thailand.

    Seeing how these reminders helped to materialize my goals kept me motivated and excited. While it's sometimes difficult to come up with your next goal, keeping at it brings great results.

    Here is a simplified extract of what some of my passwords have been in the past two years, so you get an idea of how my life has changed, thanks to this method:

    Forgive@h3r To my ex-wife, who started it all.

    Quit@smoking4ever it worked.

    Save4trip@thailand it worked.

    Eat2times@day it never worked, still fat.

    Sleep@before12 it worked.

    Ask@her4date it worked. I fell in love again.

    No@drinking2months it worked. I feel better.

    Get@c4t! It worked. I have a beautiful cat.

    MovE@togeth3r it worked.

    Facetime2mom@sunday it worked. I talk with Mom every week.

    And the one for last month: Save4@ring Yep. Life is gonna change again soon.

    My wife and I went to this vegan(严格的素食主义的) restaurant to give it a try. As we were eating our pepper and salt tofu, a young lady named Debra walked in. She wasn't aware that the place is vegan and was looking for some meat. My wife and I talked up the place and invited her over to try some of our tofu. Debra tried it, nodded and went out.

    After a few minutes, she and her mother both walked back in. We were having the rest of our meal at that time, so we told her what we had ordered. Debra then asked the waitress to just repeat our order for them. Next, Debra said. "And we want to pay for their meal", pointing to my wife and me. We tried to say no, but Debra wouldn't listen.

    That was not the end of it. Hugs were in order. Debra came over to our table and my wife got up to hug her. Debra hugged my wife and put $ 100 into her hand. My wife firmly said NO, but Debra insisted. Debra kept talking about our kindness, and we did the same about hers and her mother's. With tears in the eyes, the workers were blown away by this whole exchange between four strangers. I left the waiters and waitresses a tip that would cover all of our meals and we were on our way.

    I've been witnessing so much kindness, especially over the last few years, as I began to pay more attention. We now have a new favorite restaurant and every time we go there my plan is to pay for someone else's meal.