My friend Monty Roberts told me a story about a young boy. One day at school, the boy was asked to write a paper 1 what he wanted to be and do when he grew up.

    That night he wrote a seven – paper 2 his dream of owning a farm. He put a great deal of his 3 into the paper and the next day he handed it in to his 4. Two days later he received his paper back. On the5 page was a large red F with a 6 that read, “See me after class.” The boy went to see the teacher after class and asked, “7 did I receive an F?” The teacher said, “This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like 8. Owning a farm requires a lot of money. There's no 9 a young man could ever do it.” Then the teacher added, “10 you rewrite this paper, I will reconsider your 11.”

    The boy went home and 12about it long and hard. Finally, after a week, he turned in the 13 paper, making no changes.

    Monty then said, “I tell you this story because you are sitting in my farm. I 14 have that school paper over fireplace.” He added, “The 15 part of the story is that two summers ago the same schoolteacher 16 30 kids to camp out on my farm. When the teacher was 17, he said, 'Look Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream18. During those years I stole a lot of kids' dreams. 19 you had enough courage not to 20 yours.” Don't let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what…

    Hiking through the mountains of Colorado was never my plan. I wanted to take1at Yale University but I abruptly (意外地) decided to explore the great outdoors of the American West with an adventure program. Before I knew it, Chicago and my comfort zone were being left behind and2mountains and sand dunes (沙丘).

    On the morning of June 27, I was3by a burst of sunshine. I 4slowly but suddenly realized I was not in Chicago anymore. I was in a5in the middle of nowhere in Colorado. I was going to have to6my three tent mates. I tiredly took my clothes and hid behind a large bush to7. It was soon time to 8 ourselves to everyone at camp. Everyone seemed pretty friendly, but why didn't I feel a little9? I was starting to10not having chosen a roommate at Yale.

    After a quick 11, we made our way to the Great Sand Dunes.  12 it as the Egyptian capital of Colorado,” said my camp leader. Egypt in Colorado? Now things were really starting to become13. When we arrived, we were stroked by endless amounts of14. Brief thoughts of being15 by sand monsters came before me. My16increased when my camp leader told us, “Today, we are going to climb to the top of the Dunes.”

    Three hours later, I was out of breath17I made it to the top. Suddenly, I felt the18was worth it.

The next two weeks flew by. I met19that tested my survival skills, but I pushed through every one of them. I was glad that I had somehow developed a new sense of20.

    Experts say boredom is good for kids. It forces them to be creative, 1 their imaginations, and helps them discover new things. A(n) 2 in point is 13-year-old Luke Thrill from Dubuque, Iowa.

    Luke was 3 of playing video games and riding his bike, so he decided to build a tiny house in his backyard instead. He made money from cutting lawns (草坪) and 4 exchanged some services, such as gaining the help of an electrical engineer 5 sweeping his garage. Luke also 6 spare materials from his grandmother's house and other 7 materials from his neighbors for some of the windows and the door.

    The 89-square-foot home cost $1, 500 to build and 8 18 months. Inside there's a kitchenette, a back sitting room, a table and a mounted (镶嵌的) TV, and an upstairs bedroom can be easily 9 by stairway.

    Although Luke did the 10 and learned how to do all the work, he had his father's 11 throughout the project. Greg Thrill was very happy that his son learned to stay on 12 and deal with grown-ups. 13, he had some simple rules when Luke 14 the house: "You 15 the money. You build it. And you own it."

    Luke is now in love with 16. He has a YouTube channel and hopes to 17 other kids to start building. 18, he wants to build a bigger tiny house to live in, but for now, he 19 in his new home a few nights a week, does homework there, and uses it to take a 20 from his twin brother.

    Long long time ago, in a small and distant 1, there was a place known2 the House of 1000 Mirrors. A small, happy little dog learned of this place and 3 to visit it. When he arrived, he 4 happily up the stairs to the doorway of the house. He looked through the doorway with his ears lifted high and his tail 5 as fast as it could. To his great 6, he found himself staring at 1000 other 7 little dogs with their tails wagging just as fast as his. He smiled a great smile, and was 8 with 1000 great smiles just as warm and friendly. As he 9 the House, he thought to himself: This is a10 place. I will come back and visit it often."

    In the same village, 11 little dog, who was not quite as happy as the first one, was determined to visit the house. He 12 climbed the stairs and 13 his head low as he looked into the door. 14 he saw the 1000 unfriendly looking dogs staring back at him, he growled at them and was 15 to see 1000 little dogs growling back at him. As he left, he thought to himself, "That is a terrible place, and I will 16 go back there again."

    All the faces in the world are 17. When you smile at the world the whole world will 18 at you, and vice verse (反之亦然). 19, it is you who can choose to be happy or to be upset. And what kinds of reflections (思考) do you see in the 20 of the people you meet?

A friend who was depressed wrote me a letter a few weeks ago.He said his life was full of 1 and that his heart was full of worries.He was 2 about his life.He ended his 3 with this question:"We can't really change our life,can we?"As a famous musician,I 4 immediately and started my letter with these words:"Yes,we certainly can!"

I can still remember the first time someone 5 my life.When I was a child, I started to like 6 but I had no talent for any instrument.When I was 8,I went to a 7 with my parents.The 8 impression(印象) it gave me was a musician playing the guitar.She 9 so well.Later, my parents led me to 10 her.She let me try playing her guitar.I did my best 11 I couldn't play well."I played so badly," I said 12 .She looked at me with her kind eyes,smiled,and 13 me,"You played so well and I'm proud of you."Those 14 words changed me.They gave me 15 .They planted a seed(种子) in my mind that continues to 16 to this day.Her encouragement made me realize that I could do as well as her.From that day on,we became friends and our 17 lasts until now.

You have something inside of you that is 18 and that could change your life for the better.You just have to 19 it,bring it out and work hard at it.And that is what I have tried to do all of the years since that 20 day.Can you change the world?Yes,you can!You can change it and make it better every single day of your life.

The famous Spanish painter Pablo Picasso once said, "I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it." It strikes a chord(引起共鸣) with me because that's exactly what I have been doing these years.

One of my earliest memories of doing before learning is baking scones(烤饼) when I was about 10 years old. I wanted to bake them to surprise my mother when she returned home.

Before that, I'd observed how my mother baked them many times. As I started to try, I didn't know I shouldn't handle the dough(面团) with my hands too much once I'd added the baking powder(发酵粉). However, I knew exactly how to roll out the dough and use a cookie cutter to cut the scones, because my mom had already taught me.

By the time my mom arrived home, the smell of freshly baked scones welcomed her into the kitchen. They were close to perfection—flat, as a result of overhandling the dough, but they tasted OK. My mom sweetly praised me for my attempt, rather than scolding me for the state of the kitchen, which was like a tornado had just blown!

Have my attempts always been successful? I wish! Some of my kitchen disasters were so terrible that even the dogs wanted nothing to do with them. My gardening failures didn't live to see another season.

But my habit of doing before learning is still helpful. Whatever new software I have to learn how to use, I do so by simply starting to use it. I do, learn, and improve. So if you ask me whether I regret that I tend to do first and learn later, I'd say I don't, because what I have discovered from those is the wisdom to know when it's OK to do and then learn, and when it's probably better to learn and then do!