How I Turned to Be Optimistic

    I began to grow up that winter night when my parents and I were returning from my aunt's house, and my mother said that we might soon be leaving for America. We were on the bus then. I was crying, and some people on the bus were turning around to look at me. I remember that I could not bear the thought of never hearing again the radio program for school children to which I listened every morning.

    I do not remember myself crying for this reason again. In fact, I think I cried very little when I was saying goodbye to my friends and relatives. When we were leaving I thought about all the places I was going to see—the strange and magical places I had known only from books and pictures. The country I was leaving never to come back was hardly in my head then.

    The four years that followed taught me the importance of optimism (乐观), but the idea did not come to me at once. For the first two years in New York I was really lost-having to study in three schools as a result of family moves. I did not quite know what I was or what I should be. Mother remarried, and things became even more complex (复杂的) for me. Some time passed before my stepfather and I got used to each other. I was often sad, and saw no end to “the hard times.”

    My responsibilities in the family increased a lot since I knew English better than everyone else at home. I wrote letters, filled out forms, translated at interviews with Immigration officers, took my grandparents to the doctor and translated there, and even discussed telephone bills with company representatives.

    From my experiences I have learned one important rule: almost all common troubles finally go away! Something good is certain to happen in the end when you do not give up, and just wait a little! I believe that my life will turn out all right, even though it will not be that easy.

    What is it?

    KindSpring has created a series of 21-Day Challenges designed to help individuals and groups grow in values that help create positive change. Regardless of profession, age, culture or geography, when we try to cultivate(培养) certain values we create a ripple effect(连锁反应) that has the power to transform our lives and the world for the better. When we practice these values together over and over again, our efforts encourage and strengthen each other in remarkable ways. Each of our 21-Day Challenges focuses on a specific value — from kindness to mindfulness. Click here for more information.

    How does it work?

    A small daily commitment + a daily prompt(提示)+ a process for communication. Each 21-Day Challenge invites participants to carry out one small daily action related to the main theme. Every day for three weeks a unique idea is emailed out that serves as a prompt. Participants are encouraged to carry out the act and share stories of their experiences in both online and offline spaces. You can sign up to participate as an individual or you can “host” a challenge for a group you belong to. The challenges were developed for workplace, school/college and family environments, but are broadly usable. Any group is more than welcome to take them on. At the end of 21 days, you may continue the practice with your group, take on a new challenge, or even design your own. There is no charge for any of our services. All the challenges are offered as a gift. Five steps to host a challenge.

    Why should we do it?

    The 21-Day Challenges are all designed to fit the pace of modern day life. They are not very time-consuming（耗时的）, and in most cases demand less than five minutes a day. Twenty-one days certainly can't change everything, but it can begin a new way of being. You are invited to bring these practices to your company, school, community center, or family. Get started with joining a challenge or hosting one here. Let us know if you have questions—we're delighted to help any way we can!

    At first glance Esther Okade seems like a normal 10-year-old. She loves dressing up, playing with Barbie dolls and going to the park or shopping. But what makes the British-Nigerian youngster stand out is the fact that she's also a university undergraduate.

    Esther, from Walsall, an industrial town in the UK's West Midlands region, is one of the country's youngest college freshmen. The talented 10-year-old enrolled at the Open University, a UK-based distance learning college, in January and is already top of the class, having recently scored 100% in a recent exam.

    "It's so interesting. It has the type of maths I love. It's real maths-theories, complex numbers, all that type of stuff," she smiles. "I want to finish the course in two years. Then I'm going to do my PhD in financial maths when I'm 13. I want to have my own bank by the time I'm 15 because I like numbers and I like people and banking is a great way to help people." she adds.

    Esther has always jumped ahead of her peers. She sat her first Math GSCE exam, a British high school qualification, at Ounsdale High School in Wolverhampton at just six, where she received a C-grade. A year later, she got the A-grade she wanted. Then last year she scored a B-grade when she sat the Math A-level exam.

    Not content with breaking barriers to attend college at just 10 years old, Esther is also writing a series of math workbooks for children called "Yummy Yummy Algebra."

    "It starts at a beginner level-that's volume one. But then there will be volume two, and volume three, and then volume four. As long as you can add or subtract, you'll be able to do it. I want to show other children they are special." she says.

    After years of trying, our neighbors convinced my parents that ice fishing would be a fun winter getaway from our dairy farm. Before that, their idea of entertainment involved driving around the countryside to see how the neighbors' crops were doing.

My parents eventually built a fish house and set it up on Wood Lake. We excitedly headed for the lake on many January and February weekends. By the time we arrived at our favorite fishing spot across the lake each day, somebody had usually made a clear path across the ice. The fish houses were together at the best fishing spots, forming some kind of a neighborhood.

    Our house was large enough so all four of us could fish at the same time. Each corner had a square cut out of the floor. We sat in comfort. You'd think ice fishing would be cold, but we had a small woodstove (木炉) inside, and we put snow around the bottom of the house to keep the wind from blowing underneath.

    Besides the thrill of watching your bobber (钓鱼浮标) dip below the water, lunch was always the highlight of the day. Mom would fry pork or hamburgers in a pan. The smell of cooking meat was the envy of every other fish house in the neighborhood.

    Our days passed with a mix of quiet time and family chatter. We talked about the farm or school. And of course, we shared fishing advice. Part of the fun of ice fishing was learning to understand and trust the sounds of the frozen lake. Healthy ice "talks" as it freezes and shifts. You could often hear the sound of a crack traveling through the ice.

    People who have never tried ice fishing may not think it sounds very exciting, but it was for us. Fishing trips were an adventure. We didn't always catch fish, but we always brought home great memories of a day with family and friends.

    It's no surprise to hear the honking of horns in New York. Whoever tries every day to get more than a few minutes of sleep in the morning in the city will tell you that he could do nothing about it! No one can deny honking of horns is just one of his most widely enjoyed pastimes.

    But Andy, a Japanese website developer has had enough of it. Once, the 27-year-old man approached the open window to wait for the driver to finish honking, delivered a polite "excuse me" and then yelled "Ho-o-o-o-onk!", which means fierce anger in Japan. Then he threw three eggs from the window of his apartment on to a passing car honking loudly below when his patience was worn out. Instead of apologizing to him, the driver threatened to kill him angrily. So, nobly, Andy turned to non-violence. He started writing anti-honking haiku verses, a form of Japanese poetry, and submitted them to local newspapers:

    Oh. forget Enron;

    The problem around here is; All the damn honking (Enron: a major American company that recently caused a scandal because of corrupt(腐败) mismanagement)

    "Then this kind of chain reaction started happening," Andy says. "All these other haiku started appearing unexpectedly" Andy's community is now covered in anti - honking poetry, written by all walks of life.

    Patience slowly fades;

    Residents store up their eggs; That day is coming soon.

    It's understandable that Andy has set up a website — www.honku.org — and now people from across the country send him news of their own anti - honking activities. It seems that poetry can change the world after all. Then, just recently, anti-anti- honking haiku started to appear, launched by locals who thought Andy should stop worrying about honking and start worrying about starving children, or war in the Middle East instead. Andy has an answer for that. "Stop me if this is too ridiculous," he says, "but they talk about the violence in the Middle East like it's a force of nature, like it's beyond our control. But actually it's kind of like the honking - the violence is man -made. If we can figure out how to stop honking on the streets, I think we could learn some things that we could use on a large scale."

Are you tired of your daily routine? If so, have a look at our fascinating range of holidays. 

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