生命的路是要自己从荆棘中踏出来的

亲爱的母亲：

外婆已届暮年，日薄西山，由于女儿孙子众多，探望外婆的人也多。尤其是新年或生日期间，亲友来访络绎不绝，作为子孙的，都会奉献红包向她祝福添寿。可是她都会把红包奉还。也许金钱对她没那么重要，子孙满堂才是件乐事；故红包回敬子孙，祝福子孙事业昌盛进步。
记得念高中时，因家里经济拮据，我交不出八十六元的学期费。我犹如热锅上的蚂蚁，心急如焚。一向性子硬，不肯屈膝求人的我，只好迎着头皮，低颜向外婆求借。
俗语说：“渴望一滴如甘露，醉后添杯不如无。”当时虽然三几十元，却可以改变我的一生命运。离校后，穷有穷干，苦有苦干，儿孙自有儿孙福，凭自己的努力，突破困境，就如鲁迅所说：“生命的路是要自己从荆棘中踏出来的”。财富与幸福不是等待别人赐给的，而是要自己创造的。光明来自黑暗，幸福来自痛苦，从苦境中才能了解人生真谛。祝：吉祥幸福快乐

Ambition

It is not difficult to imagine a world short of ambition. It would probably be a kinder world: without demands, without abrasions, without disappointments. People would have time for reflection. Such work as they did would not be for themselves but for the collective. Competition would never enter in. Conflict would be eliminated, tension become a thing of the past. The stress of creation would be at an end. Art would no longer be troubling, but purely celebratory in its functions. The family would become superfluous as a social unit, with all its former power for bringing about neurosis drained away. Longevity would be increased, for fewer people would die of heart attack or stroke caused by tumultuous endeavor. Anxiety would be extinct. Time would stretch on and on, with ambition long departed from the human heart.

Ah, how unrelieved boring life would be!

There is a strong view that holds that success is a myth and ambition therefore a sham. Does this mean that success does not really exist? That achievement is at bottom empty? That the efforts of men and women are of no significance alongside the force of movements and events? Now not all success, obviously, is worth esteeming, or all ambition worth cultivating. Which are and which are not is something one soon enough learns on one’s own. But even the most cynical secretly admit that success exists; that achievement counts for a great deal and that the true myth is that the actions of men and women are useless. To believe otherwise is to take on a point of view that is likely to be deranging. It is, in its implications, to remove all motives for competence, interest in attainment and regard for posterity.

We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth or the immediate circumstances of our up bringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time or conditions of our death. But within all this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we shall live: courageously or in cowardice, honorably or dishonorably, with purpose or in drift. We decide what is important and what is trivial in life. We decide that what makes us significant is either what we do or what we refuse to do. But no matter how indifferent the universe may be to our choices and decisions, these choices and decisions are ours to make. We decide. We choose. And as we decide and choose, so are our lives formed. In the end, forming our own destiny is what ambition is about.

选择放下就能活在当下

锦莲：

新生命的诞生是旧有生命的传承与延续，从中你可感到一种无法言喻的神奇力量。西班牙就有句谚语说：“孩子是天上掉下的礼物，要好好珍惜，才能保存！
偏偏太有责任感的你放不下，抛不下手边一堆的工作。这似乎是成人世界的责任与义务，也可以说是无奈与感伤。因此你女儿与你只维持四个多月的因缘，也许她来这个世界想传达一些信息给你。请你好好的去体会与觉醒。再别把女儿的往生当成赌注，让她在天之灵能安息。祝：选择放下就能活在当下。

Which Are You?

A daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her father, a cook, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs and in the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

The daughter sucked her teeth and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a mug. Turning to her he asked, “Darling, what do you see?”

“Carrots, eggs and coffee,” she replied.

He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma.

“What does it mean, Dad?” She humbly asked.

He explained that each of them had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. But after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

“Which are you?” he asked his daughter.

When adversity knocks on hour door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

我亲爱的外婆

亲爱的母亲：

为父受戒百日已过，趁这次假期抽空探望外婆，她老人家比上回消瘦多，但健康依旧精神奕奕，只较健忘，她也自认记忆大不如前。
见到曾外孙们个个成长成人，他那份喜悦的心情我也能体会得出。
临别前，她从腰间掏出一些钱给曾孙们。每次我都被她的举动而愕然。她坚持一定要我们收下，我不敢违拗，恭敬不如从命，只好收下，但总是感到别扭，很不自在。
收下钱，不胜感慨。我正处盛年，一向自立更生，虽然一生劳劳役役，而今生活略可安裕，作为子孙本应尽报养之恩，为何还要外婆的钱？为了尊重她老人家的心意，只好接受她的钱，让她得到宽慰，但也令我凭空增添一份惆怅。 祝：健康快乐

Your Beliefs

Your beliefs are very powerful and have the power to create or to destroy your life. In most cases, whatever you believe is what you will become. If you believe that you are loser, that you never get a break in life that you can’t accomplish anything, these things will be your reality. Believe that you are unlimited, that you can do anything you commit to doing and when you do, your accomplishments will know no bounds.

You control your beliefs and that is how you ultimately control your life. This is a very important point. So how do you develop beliefs that will empower you?

Many of our beliefs come from our environment, the world we live in on a daily basis. If your environment is limiting your beliefs, then work very hard on changing it. If you are constantly around people who negative and limiting, find other people to hang out with. Get around positive, successful people.

Beliefs also come from past experience. That is why it is so important to experience success on a regular basis. Set small, achievable goals and then try your best to reach them. “I will finish this project by early afternoon.” “I will do my colloquium with sketch shown the next hour.” “I will exercise for 30 minutes for 5 km this evening.” When you start to experience success, then start to believe in success and that leads to more and bigger successes.

Beliefs come from knowledge. The more you learn the more things you will know to be possible. Always take advantage of opportunities to learn something new. It will bring new possibilities into your beliefs and your life.

Most importantly, you can develop new beliefs by setting and visualizing goals for your life. Define your goals clearly and with precision. Then, in your mind, see yourself achieving them in all of their sensory details. Mentally live the experience, see the sights, hear the sounds, smell the aroma, feel the feelings. Your nurtured beliefs will lead you to their reality.