Ramadan is one of the most important festivals for Muslims. The name of the festival comes from the Arabic month in which it is celebrated. Ramadan is celebrated in countries all over the world, especially in Africa and the Middle East. The time for celebrating Ramadan varies each year. People celebrate it in the ninth month of the Arabic lunar calendar. During Ramadan, people must not eat during the day: from when the sun comes up to when the sun goes down, people celebrating Ramadan will not eat or smoke. When the sun has gone down, however, the celebration begins. People often stay up all night eating singing and dancing.

    In late spring, many people around the world celebrate Easter. The festival is a celebration of spring and it is also a religious holiday. It is the time for Easter bunnies and egg hunts, and of course for eating lots of delicious foods. Easter is celebrated in late March or early April but the exact dates are different form year to year. People celebrate Easter in different ways: in some countries, the Easter Bunny—a big rabbit—will visit and children will go on egg hunts, looking for eggs and candy that have been hidden by their parents. In other countries, Easter is a time for children to dress up like witches and go from door to door asking for candy—much like Halloween in the US. The Easter Bunny and the Easter Egg are popular symbols of the festival.

    People have understood that kindness is good for the person who receives help. For example, when we give food to a hungry person, he is blessed. However, scientists have recently begun to study the effect kindness has on the person giving it. What they have found is that doing good is good for the doer. Acts of kindness can improve health, help a person reach goals and even add years to a person's life.

    The first study to show the connection between doing good and living a long life was a study on aging. Beginning in 1956, scientists studied a group of married mothers for 30 years. They thought the women with the most children would die first. But the number of children a woman had did not matter. Wealth did not matter. Education did not matter. What did matter was whether they volunteered. Women that volunteered had fewer diseases during their life.

    Many other studies have found the same positive effects. Helping other people improves long-term health. The gains are the same for men, women, old people and the young. Those who volunteered had fewer serious diseases than those who did not volunteer. This included diseases such as heart attack, cancer and stroke.

    Scientists are researching many possible causes. One possible cause is an increase in antibodies （抗体）, which help fight against disease. One study showed the body produces more antibodies after an act of kindness. This increase in antibodies can last nearly an hour after one act of kindness is finished.

    Another one is an increase in a chemical that fights the effects of stress from life. Scientists have found a link between being kind to people and an increase in the chemical oxytocin. Oxytocin is a chemical produced in the brain. It reduces many of the harmful chemicals the body produces under stress.

    Life in the summertime is often full of pests. Like most Long Island homeowners, I want to ensure my suburban life with pest-free living. So it was with wide-eyed wonder that I greeted the smiling exterminator (灭虫者) who rang my bell.

    “We'll be serving your neighbors, Mike and Sarah (I'm not familiar with either one by name),” he waved in the other direction. “Since we'll have a team here tomorrow, we're offering a discount.” He came out with numbers beginning from $299 then in seconds to $89.

    “You've probably been seeing the ant hills around.” he moved toward my front walkway and lawn. “And have you seen the bees that dig nests in the ground?” he continued with his head shaking up and down pushing me to do the same.

    “What we do is spray three feet out from your foundation and three feet up.” As he was talking, and without breaking eye contact, he opened his iPad cover and began operating at the screen to show me frightening images. “It also kills other pests, like spiders. It is the best pesticide (杀虫剂),” he said, pausing for effect.

    He then went into soft talk to close the deal, correctly foreseeing that I would be concerned about safety and the environmental impact on my vegetable garden, plants and our little patch of planet here on Long Island. “The products are environmentally responsible, safe with children and pets,” he said.

    I'm unkind when it comes to unwanted visitors entering on my out-of-doors moments. Any insect found in my house or on my deck is bound to be poisoned or pancaked.

    Unfortunately for the exterminator, just as I was considering making an appointment, Billy, my fearless husband, pulled into our driveway, which made me ask for a business card out of politeness instead.

    I was driving down the road the other day, listening to sweet music coming out of my car radio. My heart felt peaceful, my mind was clear, and my soul was full of love. Even with all its problems: life seemed good. Then the music stopped and the news came on. There was talk of another famous millionaire in drug rehab (康复) after an incident with the police. There was news on the murder of a poor man whose life was supposed to be changed after winning the lottery. There was even a discussion on how much greed and excess (放肆) had damaged our world.

    Every story seemed to point once again to the old saying that money can't buy happiness. Hearing them made me think of a movie I saw many years ago on Mother Teresa's home for the dying in India. What struck me most when I watched it wasn't the unbearable poverty there. It wasn't the sickness and suffering that the people there were going through. It was rather the peaceful smiles of love, kindness, and happiness that they shared with the Sisters and with each other. These people had nothing. Many were struggling at the end of death. Yet, they knew the simple truth that so many of us here are still learning: Joy is Free.

    We can have joy and spread joy every day of our life here. Don't love or admire dollar signs and think that money will bring you happiness then. Joy can't be purchased. It can't be owned. It can only be chosen and then given freely to others. In the eyes of eternity (永恒), money is only worthless paper. The only thing that matters is the love within you and the love that you give to the world. Make that your legacy (遗产) and your life will forever be rich in joy.

    I began smoking at 13, with a friend in the evenings when we were out. I never thought of the damage it brought me. But I had a bad cough after a cold, and my teeth weren't as white as my sister's, who never smoked. I no longer played any sports. Since all my friends smoked, I never felt different.

    I met and married my husband Paul when we were 22，both smoking like chimneys (烟囱). I had two children by the time I was 26, and life went on as normal. We smoked around our children, never thinking it would be doing them any harm. They both begged us to stop when they learned about the hazards of smoking. We just rolled our eyes at each other.

    My parents quit smoking, and my aunts quit smoking, but they were older. I had lots of time to quit in my life. Paul's mother died of a heart attack at only 55, after suffering two diseases caused by smoking. And still we smoked.

    At the age of 36, I had a child with a breathing problem. We moved outside to smoke, as she had such trouble breathing, and we didn't want to add to that!

    Then my father died a few years later of cancer throughout his body. Still I smoked, even as he asked me on his deathbed to try to stop. I did mean to, but I thought that I had too many worries to deal with. How would I face them without a smoke? Little did I know then that the smoking was only adding to my inability (无能) to deal with trouble, clouding my whole world in smoke.

    Then Paul had an extremely serious problem in his heart because of a condition caused by smoking. Finally, I decided to quit smoking. I knew I'd suffer greatly too if I kept smoking. Paul decided to join me, of course. He had no choice if he didn't want to die.

    Luckily, we made it. Now I have enough energy, a joy in living, and more confidence than ever before.

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