Have you ever longed to escape the rat race and find some peace? Move to an island. In 2007, Jo and Steve, moved to Bardsey Island. The tiny island is two miles off the mainland with no cars, electricity or indoor toilets. After dark, the only lights are the stars and the glow from Dublin.

“The children had loved holidays here and had no worries. But Steve and I wondered whether we’d cope, being the only people in such an island,” recalls Jo. “But the role and place fitted us.”

The couple’s strong faith gives them a deep connection with the island, which has been a place of travelling since the fifth century. “Modern life boxes everyday life. But here we are closely connected,” she explains.

Their life is demanding, with just two of them managing the island’s farm, 300 cows, and poor ecosystems. Jo also tries to grow enough vegetables. “If the weather is settled, Tesco can deliver to a farm on the mainland and then Colin the boatman brings it over on the boat,” she adds.

Their phone system relies on a solar-powered battery, and the first interview was called off because of overcast weather. “Sometimes I have to sit on the mountain with my mobile!” says Jo. Jo and Steve’s lives are a cycle of privacy and interaction (交往). “In spring and summer, the island becomes very busy with visitors. By autumn, I’m looking forward to winter tohave time to be creative,” says Jo. When the weather is bleak and windy, Steve misses paragliding (滑翔伞运动) and star-gazing from his observatory. 

“I read somewhere that islands can either free you or become your prison,” she concludes. “We feel so honored to live on Bardsey and be free to be who we are.”

An old English saying says, " Laughter is the best medicine." One person who certainly would have agreed with this is Norman Cousins.

  Norman Cousins worked for a magazine called Saturday Review for almost forty years. He also wrote articles about peace, traveling to many different countries to share his ideas.

  In the 1960s, after returning to theUnited Statesfrom a busy and tiring trip toEurope, Mr. Cousins got sick. In less than a week after he got back, he could not stand. Every move that he made was painful. He was not able to sleep at night. The doctors told Mr. Cousins that they did not know how to cure his problem and he might never get over the illness. Mr. Cousins, however, refused to give up hope.

  Mr. Cousins thought that the illness could be caused by unhappy thoughts. He did not want to take medicine to cure himself. Instead, he felt that happy thoughts or laughter might cure his illness.

  He began to experiment on himself while still in the hospital by watching comedy shows on television. Mr. Cousins quickly found that ten minutes of real laughter during the day gave him two hours of sleep without pain at night.

  Deciding that the doctors could not help him, Mr. Cousins left the hospital and checked into a hotel room where he could continue his experiments with laughter. For eight days, Mr. Cousins rested in the hotel room watching comedy shows on television, reading funny books, and sleeping whenever he felt tired. Within three weeks, he felt well enough to have a holiday toPuerto Rico, where he began running on the beach for exercise. After a few months, Mr. Cousins was able to carry on his work. He had laughed himself back to health.

Cheating can happen in a lot of different ways. When people cheat, it’s not fair to other people, like the kids who studied for the test or who were the true winners of a game.

   Many people like the action of cheating. It makes difficult things seem easy, like getting all the right answers on the test. But it doesn’t solve the problem of not knowing the material and it won’t help on the next test --- unless the person cheats again.

   Some people lose respect for cheaters and think less of them. The cheaters themselves may feel bad because they know they are not really earning that good grade. And, if they get caught cheating, they will be in trouble at school, and maybe at home, too.

Some kids cheat because they’re busy or lazy and they want to get good grades without spending the time studying. Other kids might feel like they can’t pass the test without cheating. Even when there seems to be a “good reason” for cheating, cheating isn’t a good idea.

   If you were sick or upset about something the night before and couldn’t study, it would be better to talk with the teacher about this. And if you don’t have enough time to study for a test because of swim practice, you need to talk with your parents about how to balance swimming and school.

   A kid who thinks cheating is the only way to pass a test needs to talk with the teacher and his or her parents so they can find some solutions(解决办法) together. Talking about these problems and working them out will feel better than cheating.

I used to know nothing about fairy tales（童话故事）. To improve my reading skills, my mother gave me books that are a little bit difficult for me to understand. I didn't even know that fairy tales existed until I attended public school at the age of eight. Of course once I found out about books of this type, I would read them as quickly as I could.

   Again and again, I begged my mother to take me to the library and let me choose a few. Finally, my request was granted(允许). After our return from the library, I started reading them eagerly and energetically, one after another. And I tried to put myself in the female character's shoe. I found she had to suffer before the handsome prince came to her rescue, and then they would live happily ever after.

   I asked my mother why she never let me know about fairy tales. Looking straight in my eyes, she told me that life is not like a fairy tale. There are good and bad things that will happen through life. At the end ,however, there is not a man that will come and “save” us. We do not need saving; we instead want someone in our lives to share those good moments and bad ones; we want someone we can depend on and also they can depend on us. Life is not about “happily ever after”．

   What then is life about mom? Life is the boy finding he loves every little thing about you, even the annoying things. He holds your hands and says “come with me” and you live, laugh and love together. But things are not going to be perfect. You still have to face difficulties together, working hard for your relationship.

After the examination, the doctor told my parents my sight would get worse and that I would lose my sight finally. On the way home from hospital, no one said a word. One day, would I only imagine the scenery beyond the glass rather than see it?

That September, I entered middle school. Most nights I had homework that included an armful of books to read. To keep up with other children, I took great trouble to finish the task. With my nose a couple of inches from the page, I was tired easily. What’s worse, after I had read several pages on my own, the words slipped off the page into inky pools.

However, then I did not have audio books and electronic devices like kids do now. Instead, Mom volunteered to read out loud. Mom worked part-time, cleaned the house, cooked and spent time with Grandma. In spite of being so busy, she showed up in my room like clockwork. She put on her reading glasses. Mom always thought those glasses made her look old. To me, she looked like a teacher.

In my room, Mom’s voice competed with the ticking of the clock. Being forced to focus on listening, I found a way to keep my marks up and compete with the other kids. When the teacher asked a question, I raised my hand with confidence. Teachers praised me for having a good memory. Reading removed my fear for my failing sight, reading also made me curious about other people’s challenges and how they managed. Though I could not use my eyes to fix on each passage, my mind lit up with every new book.

 True to what the doctor said, the worst came, but thanks to Mom, my sense of hearing now allows me to“see”. This was the most precious (珍贵的) gift from a mother to her child.

Two years ago I fell off the steps of a bus while climbing down and twisted my ankle. What followed was the usual way that is common in the US. A few hours later I was treated and discharged. What was uncommon was that I received extra care while going to ER(emergency room) and while I was in the hospital.

People were kind to me, men and women alike. They wheeled me into a private room instead of making me wait in the crowded waiting room. Someone came and asked me if the temperature is OK. When I said I was cold, he brought me a blanket and some magazines, in case I got bored. The nurses stopped by, making pleasant chats with me. People always came to ask me if I was in too much pain and if I needed anything…

There were other people who were brought in while I was waiting. Patients groaning in pain were given the care they needed and then ignored. My injury was not the priority, so while I was not pushed to the front of the line, my several hours’ stay in the hospital was made as pleasant as possible. Why would people do that? They gave others care, while I got kindness.

Like any other good looking, healthy, independent person,man or woman,it looks as if the world isnicer to rich people, and the world is nicer to attractive people. I’m not in the dating world. It’s notabout free drinks and gifts. It’s about people being nice.

I’m grateful for any positive behavior because I know this is temporary. Eventually I will join the groups of the elderly, the weak and the seemingly unattractive. One thing I refuse to do is to make excuses for being attractive. I know it’s temporary. I know it’s the luck of the draw and I know that I’m just one of the many. Does it matter to my husband, my mother and my kids what I look like? No. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

A couple had a son eleven years after they married. They were a loving couple and the boy was the apple of their eye. When the boy was around four years old, one day the father was very tired after work so he asked his wife to pick up their son. The mother, who was very busy in the kitchen, totally forgot about it.

Later the boy lost his way on the street. When the son was found missing, the mother hurried to look for him, but she didn’t find him. The mother felt very sad and didn’t know how to face her husband.

When the father went to the police station after hearing that the son was missing, he looked at his wife and said just four words. What do you think the four words were? The husband just said "I love you, darling."

The son was missing. If she had picked him up earlier, this would not have happened. There is no point in blaming (责备) anyone. His wife had also lost her only child. What his wife needed at that moment was comfort and understanding from her husband. That is what the husband gave his wife. Several weeks later, with the help of the police, the couple finally found their lost son. The family’s relationship became stronger over that time.

Sometimes we spend lots of time asking who is to blame. We miss many chances to give each other support and let each other feel the warmth of human relationships. Get rid of all your unwillingness to forgive, selfishness, and fears and you will find the world is much more wonderful.

On a cold evening I was waiting for a taxi in New York. About 5 minutes later, I was picked up by a driver, and he said how horrible some people were. I knew there was a part of me that wanted to be silent, but I had to listen out of kindness.

  The man told me that he had just come from JFK Airport without a customer. Over the course of that taxi ride, what started as anger changed slowly and he mentioned that he had read an article which said that the happiest people are the ones that give, so he hoped he’d have more chance to give in his life. I was really starting to enjoy being with this man.

  As we arrived at the place where I wanted to go, I paid my money by credit card. I pulled out an extra $20 and said, “Sir, since we’ve been talking about giving this whole time, I want to share that feeling with you. I’ve already paid my money, but here’s an extra little bit. You can tell the next passenger in this taxi that their ride is a gift from another.”

  I thought I was pretty cool at this point. But he turned toward me, tears in his eyes, and he said, “Sir, I have a better idea. You give that $20 to a homeless person around here and I will give the next passenger a free ride myself.”

  It was a great honor meeting that man and learning the lesson of how everyone gives and adds joy to another with their generosity.

A girl became a volunteer in the activities of Deathbed Care，which meant visiting and taking care of a patient suffering from an incurable disease with days numbered.

The girl was assigned to look after an old man suffering from cancer whose children lived abroad. Their living conditions were not satisfactory while the old man had a lot of savings. She was expected to comfort him and keep up his spirits.

Every Saturday the girl came on time to keep him company，telling him stories. When he was having an intravenous drip (静脉滴注)，she would help massage his arms. The doctor found the patient much improved mentally. The old man began to involve himself actively in the medical treatment and he seldom shouted at others.

But something that happened made the doctor uneasy and puzzled. Each time the girl left，the old man would give her some money. The doctor did nothing to interfere (干涉)，unwilling to offend the old man. A month later the old man showed evident signs of decline after suffering coma(昏迷) a few times.

When rescued from the latest coma，the old man told the doctor his last wish，“I have deep sympathy for the girl. Will you be kind enough to help her finish her studies？”

But the doctor knew that her family was well－off and she had no difficulty pursuing her studies. Sometimes she even came to the hospital in her fatherˈs car.

When the girl came at the weekend after the death of the old man，the doctor told her the bad news. She was very sad and burst into tears. Then she handed $500 to the doctor，saying，“The old man had all along thought I came to do the job because of poverty. He gave me money so that I could continue my schooling. ”Now he got the answer to the puzzle. In the last period of his life，the old man found it a real pleasure to be able to help a girl badly in need.

Everyone, please imagine, a big explosion breaks out as the plane takes us high in the sky. The plane is full of smoke and the engine sounds scary. Two minutes later, the engines are turned off. We are now sitting in a plane with no sound. And we can see: Life is over. That really happened. At that time, I had a front-row seat on Flight 1549, the plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York.

Now let me tell you the three things I learned when the silence came.

First, I thought about all the people I wanted to reach out to but didn’t. I thought about all the experiences I wanted to have but never did. I no longer wanted to put off anything in life. Second, I really regretted the time I wasted on things that did not matter. I decided to remove negative energy from my life. Third, I realized, wow, dying was not scary. But it was very sad just because I only wished I could have seen my kids grow up.

Fortunately, I was given the gift of a miracle of not dying that day. I was given another gift, with which I was to see into the future and come back and live differently.

About a month later, my wife and I were at a performance by my daughter, not much artistic talent. Yet, I’m crying. I realized that above all, the only goal in my life was to be a good father.

Audience, again, imagine the same thing happening on your plane. How would you change? What would you get done? And more than anything, are you being the best parent you can?

Thank you.