There was a man playing the piano in a bar. He was a good piano player and always performed in this bar. People came in just to hear him play. But one night, a customer told him that he didn’t want to hear him just play the piano any more. He wanted him to sing a song.

The man said, “I don’t sing.”

But the customer was persistent (固执的). He told the bar manager, “I’m tired of listening to the piano. I want that man to sing!”

The manager shouted across the room, “If you want to get paid, sing a song. Our customers are asking you to sing!”

So he did. He sang a song. A piano player who had never sung in public did so for the first time. And everyone was surprised by his song — “Mona, Mona Lisa”. He got lots of applause (掌声) that night.

He had such a talent for singing, but he just had been sitting on his talent for the past years! If without such a chance, he may have lived the rest of his life as a no-name piano player in a no-name bar. However, now he had become one of the best-known singers in America.

You, too, have skills and abilities. Maybe your “talent” is not as great as the singer above, but it may be better than you think! And with effort, most skills can be improved. So, in your life, you should be brave enough to try doing different things and find out what talents you really have!

D

If you have something to say about someone, say it today! It may make a world of difference. Last week at the Night of Hope in downtown Los Angeles, Victoria Osteen, one of my best friends, shared a story about a very special birthday present from a dear friend. It wasn’t expensive jewelry or a designer handbag. It was an attractive box. And though it was lovely, the box wasn’t the real gift.

When the friend presented it to Victoria, he said some wonderful things about the birthday girl. Then, he acted as if he were putting those compliments into the box and began passing it around to everyone else at the table. One by one, Victoria’s family and friends also said loving things about her, and one by one they “places” their kind words into the birthday box. Victoria shared how much that night had meant to her, and that day she put that beautiful box in a striking place in her bedroom as a reminder of the sweet words that were put in the box and in her heart.

I related this story because I also have what I call “an encouragement drawer”. As a writer, I hope to sell articles and present my picture books to the right editor, but I sometimes get rejection letters from editors and publishers. Thankfully there have been acceptance letters, contracts and awards along the way, too. But do you know what means even more? The thank-you cards and sweet notes that I’ve received from other writers I’ve met at the many writers’ conferences made me serve as a lecturer.

I remember looking forward to one particular conference more than 15 years age. I knew the cost of attending it really wasn’t in our budget, but I also knew that if I asked my husband to give me the conference ticket as my birthday present, he would. And that’s exactly what he did. We were living in Texas, and the writers’ conference was several thousand miles away. I had researched the editors who were going to appear there and the works to be offered, and I was sure the conference would be life-changing for me.

It was just not in the way I’d expected.

During the very first day of the “Writing for Children” conference, I sat in the front row. I was so excited that I hardly slept the night before. I couldn’t wait to learn from a fruitful children’s book writer. She greeted us with “Well, I wish I had better news. The children’s market is almost impossible to break into right now. I mean, I am well-published in it but I’m having a tough time making a sale.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! Some people got up and left. I stayed until the end, hoping her mood would improve and offer some words of wisdom. But neither happened. I walked back to my house that afternoon defeated, discouraged and downright mad. Later that night, I said to myself, “I should encourage others to write for children.” That’s why when I received emails, thank-you notes and cards saying “Thank you for helping me see that I can really make it a freelancer(自由作家),” “Thank you for encouraging me to write that devotional proposal---I got a contract”, or “Thank you for being so excited about my manuscript(手稿) about children. I was about to give up before meeting with you”, I would put them in my “encouragement drawer”.

And, on those days when I received three rejection letters or a bad review of a recent book, I would walk into my office, open one of those encouragement drawers and read a few cards. Like Victoria, I immediately felt uplifted after spending a few moments reading the nice things that people had written to me.

Maybe you don’t have a birthday box filled with wonderful compliments or an encouragement drawer filled with thank-you cards and notes, but you can spend some time on the good things and write a few thank- you notes of your own.

A

If you are trying to achieve big goals in your life and work, the chances are that, from time to time, you hit rock bottom. Nothing works, nothing goes right, and nothing succeeds. At times like these, you may feel like throwing in the towel. But before you do, read the following story. It might just change your mind.

One day, a small business owner decided heˈd had enough. Enough of the endless work, enough of the lack of response, enough of the disturbing loneliness.

He went into the woods to have one last talk to the wise man. "Mr. wise man," he said. "Can you give me one good reason why I shouldnˈt give up?"

The answer took him by surprise. "Look around you," the wise man said. "Do you see the fern (蕨类植物）and the bamboo?"

“Yes.” the man replied.

“When I planted the fern and the bamboo, I took very good care of them. I gave them both equal amounts of food and water. I gave them sunlight in spring and protected them from the storms in autumn. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not give up on the bamboo. In the second year, the fern grew even better than before but nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not give up on the bamboo. In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not give up. In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. Still I would not give up."

Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout(芽)came out from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small. But day by day the sprout grew. Within six months, the sprout had risen to a height of 100 feet. It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. "Did you know, young man, that all this time you have been struggling, you have been growing? Grow the roots that you need to produce your fruit."

"Donˈt compare yourself to others. All things have different purposes, and different journeys.  The bamboo has a different purpose from the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful. Your time will come. You will rise high."

The small business owner left the forest. And never went back.

If nothing seems like it is happening in your life, despite all the work youˈre putting in, remember that youˈre probably growing roots not fruit. Stick with it. One day not far from now, thereˈll be a great harvest.

A

 （2015安徽卷）When her five daughters were young, Helene An always told them that there was strength in unity (团结). To show this, she held up one chopstick, representing one person. Then she easily broke it into two pieces. Next, she tied several chopsticks together, representing a family. She showed the girls it was hard to break the tied chopsticks. This lesson about family unity stayed with the daughters as they grew up.

Helene An and her family own a large restaurant business in California. However, when Helene and her husband Danny left their home in Vietnam in 1975, they didnˈt have much money. They moved their family to San Francisco. There they joined Dannyˈs mother, Diana, who owned a small Italian sandwich shop. Soon afterwards, Helene and Diana changed the sandwich shop into a small Vietnamese restaurant. The five daughters helped in the restaurant when they were young. However, Helene did not want her daughters to always work in the family business because she thought it was too hard.

Eventually the girls all graduated from college and went away to work for themselves, but one by one, the daughters returned to work in the family business. They opened new restaurants in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Even though family members sometimes disagreed with each other, they worked together to make the business successful. Daughter Elisabeth explains, "Our mother taught us that to succeed we must have unity, and to have unity we must have peace. Without the strength of the family, there is no business."

Their expanding business became a large corporation in 1996, with three generations of Ans working together. Now the Ansˈ corporation makes more than $20 million each year. Although they began with a small restaurant, they had big dreams, and they worked together. Now they are a big success.

  Have you ever been afraid to talk back when you were treated unfairly? Have you ever bought something just because the salesman talked you into it?

  Many people are afraid to assert (维护，坚持) themselves．Dr．Robert Albert, author of STAND UP, SPEAK OUT and TALK BACK, thinks it is because their self-respect is low．“There’s always a superior (长者)around—a parent, a teacher, a boss who knows better．’’ But Albert and other scientists are doing something to help people assert themselves．

   They offer assertiveness training courses, A．T．for short．In the A．T．course people learn that they have a right to be themselves．They learn to speak out and feel good about doing so．They learn to be confident without hurting other people．

  In one way, learning to speak out is to get rid of fear．A group taking an A．T．course will help the timid person to lose his fear．But A．T．uses an even stronger motive to share the need．The timid person speaks out in the group because he wants to tell how he feels．

  Whether or not you speak up for yourself depends on your self-respect．If your face is more important than you, you may feel less of a person．You start to doubt your answers to problems．However, once you get to feel good about yourself, you can learn to speak out．

B

    It does not have to be January 1st to give yourself a chance to make the most out of your day. Every day is a new day and a fresh start to learn, grow, develop your strengths, free yourself from past regrets or hurts, and move forward older and wiser. Every day gives you a chance to reinvent(重新审视) yourself. It is never too late to change things that are not working in your life.

    Each day is a new beginning and a piece of blank paper. How would you like to create your day? What would you like to paint on it? If you wake up in a negative mind, you are more likely to paint a dark picture throughout the day, and your picture will not show hope, happiness and joy.

    If you take each day to think actively, a nd have a positive intention for how you would like to create your day, how would your life be different? What can daily positive intentions do for you? Every day you will give yourself the gift of an “attitude of gratitude(感恩)”.

    Each day is a chance to look at things in a different way. You can experience each day in the beauty of the world--- and the beauty of you who are in it! You can find yourself changing from “I can’t” to “I can”. With a focus on positive intentions, you feel you are full of power and more like a “winner” than a “loser”.

    You pay more attention to the present, and will be more likely to live fully in the present each moment of each day. After all, the past is a great place to visit, but you don’t want to live there! So how about starting each day taking a moment to think of a positive intention for the day?