From time to time, we all get a bit down. Maybe we are feeling bad because we're not doing well with our goals. There are many reasons for feeling down, but I'm not able to discuss all of them. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Make a list. Sometimes we are sad simply because we are troubled by all the things we have to do. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Make a list of the most pressing things you have to do. Thus you're getting things under control. You can see, right in front of you, what you need to do, and that can pick up your mood.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} You've made a list, and you still feel puzzled? Well, get started on the first thing you need to do. Once you get into action, you'll feel better. And once you start doing something, you will feel much better than lying around feeling sorry for yourself.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} I like Brown Eyed Girl, the Kinks, the Ramones, or an upbeat Beatles tune. You might have your own brand of feel-good music. Whatever it is, let yourself move to the beat. It may just be what the doctor ordered.

    Talk about it. Get a best friend, family member or coworker you can talk to. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} It can also help you work out the reasons you're feeling down.

    There is an old Spanish saying which states, “Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.” How many times have we put off our dreams tomorrow? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} We have to go for them now!

Tomorrow is not promised.

    Nobody likes to talk about death, but everybody is going to die at one point. None of us know the day or the hour. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Don't go to your tomb(坟墓) with unrealized dreams. Make the decision to go after every dream, big or small right now.

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    One of the biggest dream killers is fear. Many people could have achieved amazing things if only they weren't afraid. Just think about all the things you've wanted to go, but allowed fear to convince you that you weren't talented, or good enough. Fear is not real. It is a product of thoughts you create.

Take action to realize your dream.

    You can dream about writing a great play, but it's never going to happen unless you actually put pen to paper. You can dream about finding a cure for cancer, but it will never happen unless you actually become equipped with the necessary tools to find that cure. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

Possibilities are waiting on you.

    There are so many amazing opportunities and people waiting on you. How do you get to them? Simple! Follow your dream. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} You'll never see those doors if you sit around waiting on a dream to happen, instead of actually working to make it happen.

How to Improve Eyesight Naturally

    Eyes are important for everybody. You must take care and try everything in your hand to keep them in good condition. Here are some of the tips to improve your eyesight naturally.

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    Strain is known to be a factor in many health conditions and eyestrain is no exception. Try meditation, yoga or other methods of stress relief to improve your vision and overall health.

    Try palming.

    Sit upright in a comfortable chair.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Cup your hands so that there is no pressure on your eyes. Let your fingers rest across your forehead. There should be no light entering your eyes. Palming should be done for a period of 5 to 10 minutes to start. Palming should be relaxing. It may help to do palming in a darkened room.

    Avoid sugar as much as possible.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It will unpleasantly affect your eyesight, which affects the eyes by producing a larger amount of insulin (胰岛素) in the blood. Therefore you shouldn't be having much fruit juice or something that contains a lot of sugar.

    Exercise your eyes.

    The only exercise most eyes get is that daily rubbing we give them when we're tired or suffering from eyestrain. But eye exercises are actually good for your eyes and can improve your vision.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Blink as fast as you can for a few seconds then close your eyes tightly, open and repeat. Do this exercise 3 to 4 times daily.

    Eat healthy.

    You probably hear that statement all the time but eating the right foods are necessary to good health.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Foods that are high in fiber, vitamin C, D and beta carotene as well as other vitamins and minerals can help improve your vision. Here are a few foods that can be beneficial to good vision: carrots, eggs, blueberries, spinach, kale, grapes, and fresh garlic.

A. Reduce eyestrain.

B. Keep your eyes moist.

C. Sugar is your eyes's worst enemy.

D. Give your eyes a workout with the following exercise.

E. You may not be aware that your diet affects your vision but it does.

F. Close eyes and cover them with the palms of your hands.

G. Be sure to get plenty of sleep so your eyes don't strain to stay open during the day.

The Cost of Thinking

    Despite their many differences, all human beings share several defining characteristics, such as large brains and the ability to walk upright on two legs.

    The first unique human characteristic is that humans have extraordinarily large brains compared with other animals. It seems obvious that evolution should select for larger brains. Mammals (哺乳动物) weighing sixty kilograms have an average brain size of 200 cm². Modern man has a brain averaging 1200-1400 cm². We are so fond of our high intelligence that we assume that when it comes to brain power, more must be better. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

    The fact is that a huge brain is a huge drain—consumption of energy—on the body. I's not easy to carry around, especially when boxed inside a massive skull (倾骨). It's even harder to provides energy. In modern man, the brain accounts for about 2-3%of total body weight but it consumes 25% of the body's energy when the body is at rest. By comparison, the brains of apes (类人猿) require only 8%of rest-time energy. Early humans pad for their large brains in two ways. Firstly, they spent more time in search food. Secondly, their muscles grew smaller and weaker. It's hardly an obvious conclusion that this is a good way to survive. A chimpanzee (黑猩猩) can't win an argument with a modern man, but it can tear the man apart like a rag doll.

    Another unique human characteristic is that we walk upright. Standing up, it's easier to find food or enemies. In addition, their arms that are unnecessary for moving around are freed for other purposes, like throwing stones or signaling. As a result, humans can perform very complex tasks with their hands.

    Yet walking upright has its disadvantage. The bone structure of our ancestors developed for millions of years to support a creature that walked on all fours and has a relatively small head. Adjusting to an upright position was quite a challenge, especially when the bones had to support an extra-large skull. Humankind paid for its broad vision and skillful hands backaches and painful necks.

    We assume that a large brain makes huge advantages. It seems obvious that these have made humankind the most powerful animal on earth. But humans enjoyed all of these advantages for a full 2 million years during which they remained weak and marginal creature. Thus humans who lived a million years ago, despite their big brains and sharp stone tools, lived in constant fear of meat-eating animals.

Observational Learning: To See Is to Know

    A group of psychologists, led by Albert Bandura, developed social learning theory, which emphasizes the fact that much learning occurs in a social context. This kind of learning, which results simply from observing and imitating the behavior of others, is called observational learning. Observational learning helps people acquire proper behavior in their families and cultures. By watching others, we learn how to greet people, eat, laugh and tell jokes. Do you still remember your first few days in senior grade one? By watching others, you learned how people talked to each other, what clothes were "fashionable," and how to interact with instructors.

    With modeling, you observe others' behaviors, and then none, some, or all of these behaviors may be learned and repeated, or modified. In one of Bandura's classic studies, children were divided into three groups: One group watched an adult beating up a Bobo doll, one group watched an adult ignoring the Bobo doll, and the third didn't see an adult at all. After being mildly frustrated by being placed in a room with toys, but not being allowed to play with some of them, all of the children were then placed in another room with a variety of toys, including a Bobo doll. Children in the first group tended to imitate what they had seen, mistreating the doll (and inventing new ways to abuse it).

    Researchers have discovered that several characteristics of models can make learning through observation more effective. Not surprisingly, the more you pay attention to the model, the more you learn. You are more likely to pay attention if the model is an expert, is good looking, has high status, or is socially powerful. Second, by watching others, we learn about what behaviors are appropriate for people like ourselves, so models who are seen as similar are more readily imitated. All students need to see successful, capable models who look and sound like them.

    Then, as teachers, how can you apply observational learning? Here are a few guidelines. Above all, model the behaviors and attitudes you desire your students to learn. For example, show enthusiasm for the subject you teach. Be willing to demonstrate both the mental and the physical tasks you expect the students to perform. Second, use peers, especially class leaders, as models. For example, in group work, pair students who do well with those who are having difficulties. Third, you may seek the help of class leaders in modeling behaviors. Examples include letting high­status students lead an activity when you need class cooperation or when students are likely to be reluctant at first.

    I have some gray hairs. Do l dare to count them? Just the fact that I have enough to count scares me, and turns getting old into a reality. I'm certainly getting older. We all are. But why does it have to happen so quickly?

    We just celebrated my birthday. I say "celebrated" because we had cake and ice cream. For my kids, any excuse for ice cream and cake is a celebration. I'm not sure if to me it was a thing to celebrate, though. I like the special attention that birthday bring, but I don't wait for them 364 days of the year like my children do. For them, another number means more privileges and more things that they get to do. For an adult, another number means fewer things. that you can do, like "I can't run as fast as I used to…etc. "

    I went with my children to the old-age home near my apartment building. We walked inside the door. The contrast between my preschoolers full of energy and the old women siting in the wheelchair by the door made me lost in thought. Not so long ago, I was a bouncing preschool like my children. Not so long ago, there women were the mothers of small children. Fifty years ago, they were me, and in fifty years, I could be them. The visit, like my birthday, served as a reality check. "Life is so short and it goes by so quickly. Enjoy the moment that you are in, because you will never get it back, "I told myself.

    This is also what I want to leave behind to my children. I decide to try to start just by not complaining. In any difficult situation, I will try to find the good things about it, no matter how small the good things might be.