当我们因拥有快乐而幸福时，能否为那些和我们有着同样需求的人们做点什么呢？献出你的爱心吧，这不是虚伪而是真正的善良．

　　The following story is read by me in a newspaper.

   The family had just moved to Rhode Island,and the young woman was feeling a little melancholy on that Sunday in May.After all,it was Mother'sDay--and 800miles separated her from her parents in Ohio.

   She had called her mother that morning to wish her a happy Mother's Day,and her mother had mentioned the colorful yard filled with purple lilacs.

   Later ,when she mentioned to her husband how she missed those lilacs,he popped up from his chair.''I know where we can find you all you want,"he said,"Get the kids and come on."

   So off they went.Before they got halfway up the hill,the fragrance of the lilac drifted down to them,and the kids started running.Soon,the mother began running too,until she reached the top.

  There were the towering lilac bushes,so laden with the huge flower clusters.Carefully,the young woman chose a sprig here,another one there.

   Finally,they returned to their car for the trip home.

   When they were within three miles of home,she suddenly shouted to her husband,"Stop the car.Stop right here."

  The man slammed on the brakes.The woman went out of the car and hurried up a nearby grassy slope with the lilacs still in her arms.At the top of the hill was a nursing home and the patients were outdoors strolling with relatives or sitting on the porch.

   The young woman went to the end of the porch,,where an elderly patient was sitting in her wheelchair,alone,head bowed.Across the porch railing went the flowers,into the lap of the old woman.She lifted her head,and smiled.For a few moments,the two women chatted,both aglow with happiness,and then the young woman turned and ran back to her family.

   'Mom,' the kids asked,'who was that?Why did you give her our flowers?'The mother said she didn't know the old woman.But it was Mother's Day and she seemed ao alone.'Besides,'she added,"I have all of you,and I still have my mother,even if she is far away.That woman needed those flowers more than I did."

    The next day the husband purchased half a dozen young lilacs bushes and planted them around their yard.

   The husband said every Mother's Day their kids gathered purple bouquets.And every year he remembered that smile on a lonely old woman's face,and the kindnessthat   putted   the smile there.

 

 

     Love is not confined to lovers,to parents.It has a more broader sense.It is the special feeling- love that makes the world more warmer.

     Everyday we can feel love around us,it is because that someone loves you.Thus.when you love,you are also loved.

 

    In the doorway of my home, I looked closely at the face of my 23-year-old son, Daniel, his backpack by his side. We were saying good-bye. In a few hours he would be flying to France. He would be staying there for at least a year to learn another language and experience life in a different country.

    It was a transitional time in Daniel‘s life, a passage, a step from college into the adult world. I wanted to leave him some words that would have some meaning, some significance beyond the moment.

    But nothing came from my lips. No sound broke the stillness of my beachside home. Outside, I could hear the shrill cries of sea gulls as they circled the ever changing surf on Long Island. Inside, I stood frozen and quiet, looking into the searching eyes of my son.

    What made it more difficult was that I knew this was not the first time I had let such a moment pass. When Daniel was five, I took him to the school-bus stop on his first day of kindergarten. I felt the tension in his hand holding mine as the bus turned the corner. I saw colour flush his cheeks as the bus pulled up. He looked at me-as he did now.

What is it going to be like, Dad? Can I do it? Will I be okay? And then he walked up the steps of the bus and disappeared inside. And the bus drove away. And I had said nothing.

A decade or so later, a similar scene played itself out. With his mother, I drove him to William and Mary College in Virginia. His first night, he went out with his new schoolmates, and when he met us the next morning, he was sick. He was coming down with mononucleosis, but we could not know that then. We thought he had a hangover.

In his room, Dan lay stretched out on his bed as I started to leave for the trip home. I tried to think of something to say to give him courage and confidence as he started this new phase of life.

Again, words failed me. I mumbled something like, "Hope you feel better Dan." And I left.

                      Now, as I stood before him, I thought of those lost opportunities. How many times have we all let such moments pass? A boy graduates from school, a daughter gets married. We go through the motions of the ceremony, but we don‘t seek out our children and find a quiet moment to tell them what they have meant to us. Or what they might expect to face in the years ahead.

    How fast the years had passed. Daniel was born in New Orleans, LA., in 1962, slow to walk and talk, and small of stature. He was the tiniest in his class, but he developed a warm, outgoing nature and was popular with his peers. He was coordinated and 6)agile, and he became adept in sports.

Baseball gave him his earliest challenge. He was an outstanding pitcher in Little League, and eventually, as a senior in high school, made the varsity, winning half the team‘s games with a record of five wins and two losses. At graduation, the coach named Daniel the team‘s most valuable player.

His finest hour, though, came at a school science fair. He entered an exhibit showing how the circulatory system works. It was primitive and crude, especially compared to the fancy, computerized, blinking-light models entered by other students. My wife, Sara, felt embarrassed for him.

It turned out that the other kids had not done their own work-their parents had made their exhibits. As the judges went on their rounds, they found that these other kids couldn‘t answer their questions. Daniel answered every one. When the judges awarded the Albert Einstein Plaque for the best exhibit, they gave it to him.

By the time Daniel left for college he stood six feet tall and weighed 170 pounds. He was muscular and in superb condition, but he never pitched another inning, having given up baseball for English literature. I was sorry that he would not develop his athletic talent, but proud that he had made such a mature decision.

One day I told Daniel that the great failing in my life had been that I didn‘t take a year or two off to travel when I finished college. This is the best way, to my way of thinking, to broaden oneself and develop a larger perspective on life. Once I had married and begun working, I found that the dream of living in another culture had vanished.

    Daniel thought about this. His friends said that he would be insane to put his career on hold. But he decided it wasn‘t so crazy. After graduation, he worked as a waiter at college, a bike messenger and a house painter. With the money he earned, he had enough to go to Paris.

The night before he was to leave, I tossed in bed. I was trying to figure out something to say. Nothing came to mind. Maybe, I thought, it wasn‘t necessary to say anything.

What does it matter in the course of a life-time if a father never tells a son what he really thinks of him? But as I stood before Daniel, I knew that it does matter. My father and I loved each other. Yet, I always regretted never hearing him put his feelings into words and never having the memory of that moment. Now, I could feel my palms sweat and my throat tighten. Why is it so hard to tell a son something from the heart? My mouth turned dry, and I knew I would be able to get out only a few words clearly.

“Daniel," I said, "if I could have picked, I would have picked you."

That‘s all I could say. I wasn‘t sure he understood what I meant. Then he came toward me and threw his arms around me. For a moment, the world and all its people vanished, and there was just Daniel and me in our home by the sea.

He was saying something, but my eyes misted over, and I couldn‘t understand what he was saying. All I was aware of was the stubble on his chin as his face pressed against mine. And then, the moment ended. I went to work, and Daniel left a few hours later with his girlfriend.

That was seven weeks ago, and I think about him when I walk along the beach on weekends. Thousands of miles away, somewhere out past the ocean waves breaking on the deserted shore, he might be scurrying across Boulevard Saint Germain, strolling through a musty hallway of the Louvre, bending an elbow in a Left Bank café.

What I had said to Daniel was clumsy and trite. It was nothing. And yet, it was everything

     据说，选定6月过父亲节是因为6月的阳光是一年之中最炽热的，象征了父亲给予子女的那火热的爱。父亲像是一颗树，总是不言不语，却让他枝叶繁茂的坚实臂膀为树下的我们遮风挡雨、制造荫凉。岁月如指间的流水一样滑过，不觉间我们已长大，而树却渐渐老去，甚至新发的树叶都不再充满生机。每年6月的第三个星期日是父亲的节日，让我们由衷的说一声：爸爸，我爱你！ 父亲节快乐！

        关于“父亲节由来”，有两个说法：   
第一个说法：
    1909年，华盛顿一位叫布鲁斯·多德的夫人，在庆贺母亲节的时候突然产生了一个念头：既然有母亲节，为什么不能有个父亲节呢？

   多德夫人和他的5个弟弟早年丧母，他们由慈爱的父亲一手抚养大的。许多年过去了，姐弟6人每逢父亲的生辰忌日，总会回想起父亲含辛茹苦养家的情景。在拉斯马斯博士的支持下，她提笔给州政府写了一封言辞恳切的信，呼吁建立父亲节，并建议将节日定在6月5日她父亲生日这天。州政府采纳了她的建议，仓促间将父亲节定为19日，即1909年6月第3个星期日。翌年，多德夫人所在的斯坡堪市正式庆祝这一节日，市长宣布了父亲节的文告，定这天为全州纪念日。以后，其他州也庆贺父亲节。在父亲节这天，人们选择特定的鲜花来表示对父亲的敬意。人们采纳了多德夫人伯建议，佩戴红玫瑰向健在的父亲们表示爱戴，佩戴白玫瑰对故去的父亲表示悼念。后来在温哥华，人们选择了佩戴白丁香，宾夕法尼亚人用蒲公英向父亲表示致意。

    为了使父亲节规范化，各方面强烈呼吁议会承认这个节日。1972年，尼克松总统正式签署了建立父亲节的议会决议。这个节日终于以法律的形式确定了下来，并一直沿用至今。

第二个说法： 
    专门用一天向母亲表示敬意的想法是1907年在美国首先提出来的。2年以后华盛顿州的一位妇女约翰·布鲁斯·多德夫人提出应有类似母亲节的一天来向一家之长的父亲表示敬意。多德夫人年幼丧母，由父亲把她带大。她非常爱自己的父亲。

    在多德夫人提出她的想法的同一年－－1909年，华盛顿州州长作出反应，宣布六月的第三个星期日为父亲节。这个想法在1996年被伍德·威尔逊总统正式批准。1924年，卡尔文·柯立芝总统建议把父亲节作为一个全国性的节日以便“在父亲和子女建立更亲密的关系，并且使父亲铭记自己应尽的全部责任”。红色或白色玫瑰是公认的父亲节的节花。

   父亲节在全美国作为节日确定下来，比母亲节经过的时间要长一些。因为建立父亲节的想法很得人心，所以商人和制造商开始看到商机。他们不仅鼓励做儿女的给父亲寄贺卡，而且鼓动他们买领带、袜子之类的小礼品送给父亲，以表达对父亲的敬重。

   第二次世界大战期间，驻扎在英国的美国军人要求得到父亲节的贺卡寄回国内。美国军人的要求得到英国贺卡出版商的回应，因而印制了贺卡。虽然英国公众对这个人为节日接受缓慢一些，但今天英国在六月里第三个星期日也热烈庆祝父亲节，和美国的庆祝方式差不多。

   父亲节似乎远不如母亲节那么重要，没有孩子给父亲送礼物。但是，美国的父亲仍然认为他们的命运比许多其它国家的父亲强得多，因为那些国家的父亲们连个名义上的节日都没有.

ME

血型：O

网名：xinge,英文名:christine,中文名:陈利群

e-mial:xxclq2008@yahoo.com.cn/xinge1205@126.com

星座：魔羯

爱好：电影，音乐，摄影，书法，服饰，书籍，旅游，交游，上网，，

想去的地方：维也纳，澳洲，新加坡，韩国，日本，加拿大，马尔代夫

最爱做的事：听着好音乐看好书，或是在封闭的空间看好电影

最爱的人：爸爸，妈妈，弟弟，妹妹，当然还有ME啦。。。

喜欢的音乐人：孙燕姿，林俊杰，陈奕迅，李贞贤，东方神起，神话 喜欢的艺人：汤姆克鲁斯，克拉克盖博，布拉德皮特，妮可儿基德曼，达斯汀霍夫曼，苏菲玛索，山下知久，龙泽秀明，木村拓哉，夏雨，张志霖，贾静雯，宋慧乔，申东旭，RAIN，ERIC，ANDY，。。。

喜欢的球星：小罗，小贝，亨利，舍莆琴科，

幸福是风起时，有人从身后为你披上一件衣；是疲惫时捧上一杯清茶；是清贫时两人共享一碗白粥；是寂寞时有人总在想着你，并经常发来问候的短信。。 人生如同钓鱼，每次抛出去的钩并不见得都有收获，但你心中要永远寄予希望，经得起鱼漂的上下沉浮，把握好手中的这根鱼竿，快乐地面对每一天！！！

近况：大三快结束了，好期待大四，但又很害怕时间的流逝太快，，，呵呵

文字

文字

姓名：刘力扬 身高：172cm 体重：52kg

兴趣爱好：旅游 摄影 音乐 美食 搜藏世界各地有趣的东西／收集黑胶唱片 带冒险性的活动，例如：快艇／滑翔 特长：造型设计 唱歌 美术

最喜欢的食物：咖喱蟹

率直 憨厚 真诚 是个可以信任的朋友 有大海和蓝天环绕的地方－希腊

"Ocean's Thirteen" premieres

Cast member Brad Pitt (R) and actress Angelina Jolie pose at the premiere of "Ocean's Thirteen" at the Grauman's Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California June 5, 2007. The movie opens in the U.S. on June 8. (Reuters.>

Cast member George Clooney poses at the premiere of "Ocean's Thirteen" at the Grauman's Chinese theatre in Hollywood,

Model Cindy Crawford poses at the premiere of "Ocean's Thirteen" at the Grauman's Chinese theatre in Hollywood.

Actress Angelina Jolie smiles at the premiere of "Ocean's Thirteen" at the Grauman's Chinese theatre in Hollywood,

Cast member Matt Damon waves next to his wife Luciana at the premiere of "Ocean's Thirteen" at the Grauman's Chinese theatre in Hollywood.

Cast member Al Pacino waves as he arrives at the premiere of "Ocean's Thirteen" at the Grauman's Chinese theatre in Hollywood.

    Fathers seldom say"I love you",for them those three little words are the hardest ones to say,yet the feeling of love is always there.

    In my childhood,I always quarreled with my brother about the father belonged to whom,for ,to my little brother,mum was belong to him.So,I said father was mine.Oh,my God,it is how ridiculous.In the eyes of  most of us ,our fathers are always silent,they never say a of words to us,do not like our mums,they tell us how to  become a strong man,a willness one,and so on.But they didn't say that three words,<I love you>,we understand why.Because the love of our fathers is silent.

    You really shouldn't say "I love you" unless you mean it.But if you mean it,you should say it a lot.People forget.

 

Flash: 韩国最感人MTV

Flash: 韩国最感人的爱情故事

    Books are to mankind what memory is to the individual.They contain the history of our race,the discoveries we have made,the accumulated knowledge and experience of ages;they picture for us the marvels and beauties of nature;help us in our difficulties,comfort us in sorrow and in suffering,change hours of weariness into moments of delight,store our minds with ideas,fill them with good and happy thoughts,and lift us out of and above ourselves.

    When we read we may not only be kings and live in palaces,but,what is far better,we may transport ourselves to the mountains or the seashore,and visit the most beautiful parts of the earth,without fatigue,inconvenience,or expense.Precious and priceless are the blessings which the books scatter around our daily paths.We walk,in imagination,with the noblest spirits,through the most sublime and enchanting regions.

    Macaulay had wealth and fame,rank and power,and yet he tells us in his biography that he owed the happiest hours of his life to books.In a charming letter to a little girl ,he says:"If any one would make me the greatest king that ever lived ,with palaces and gardens and fine dinners and wines and coaches,and beautiful clothes,and hundreds of servants,on condition that I should not read books, I would not be king.I would rather be  a poor man in garret with plenty of books than a king who did not love reading."

    Pursuing a hobby in one's spare time can  bring various rewards.A hobby can provide us with both interest and entertainment.It can be something from which we learn more about ourselves or about the world.It may introduce us to friends who share our tastes and interests and from whom we can also learn.

    While choosing a hobby that suits our individual needs,we have to consider several factors.For one thing ,we have to take into account how much free time we can spend on a certain hobby and the amount of money with which to buy equipment or other things needed for it.For another,we have to think about what benefit we are likely to gain from it.We may also wish to choose between a hobby we can pursue alone and one we can share with others.

    Of course,there are a great many hobbies to choose from.Some people enjoy collecting coins or stamps;other choose to spend their free time on sports or music.There are creative hobbies such as painting or model making for those who wish to do something with their hands.All of these,and many others,can all bring us rewards.However,it is a pool man without one hobby,I think.

    A man's interest in the world is only the overflow from his interest in himself.When you are a child your vessel is not yet full;you care for nothing but your affairs.When you grow up,your vessel overflows;you are a politician,a philosopher,or an explorer and adventurer.In old age the vessel drives up,there is no overflow:you are a child again.

    Travel is beneficial to us in at least three ways.

    First,by traveling we can enjoy the beautiful scenery of different places.We can see with our own eyes many places which we can read about in books,and visit famous cities and scenic spots.

    Second,we will meet people with different interests and see strange and different things when we travel.We can get ideas of the conditions and customs of other people and we can taste different foods and local flavors if we like.In this way,we can understand how differently other people live.

    Third,travel will not only help us to gain knowledge of geography,culture and history,but will also help us keep healthy and make us less narrow-minded.Travel benefits us both mentally and physically.

    With all these advantages of travle,it is no wonder that travel has become more popular than ever in China.

    For me,I have travelled Hainan,Beijing,Jiujiang,etc.In Hainan,I stay with my classmate in her home.There I tasted many kinds of fruit,that is a paradise.There has only one season the whole. The seafood was great,also with the air,and the enviroment.It likes a forest.However,in Beijing,that is indifferent.There,you will feel culture atmosphere everywhere.I have been to the GreatWall,Summer Palace, Yuanming Palace,Zoo of beijing, the Tian'anmen Square,Peking University> ,Tsinghua University,and so on.It is deserves to be called the culture capital of China.

    S0 I will say if you have chance and time,though you don't have a lot of money,you should go somewhere you wish to,for travelling.

动物对人类的启示

1，野狗首领在沙漠狂风夜的垂范精神--在最困难的时候，顶到最前面去！

人生启示：你不为别人着想，别人也不会为你着想。一个出色的企业领导，总会在企业最困难，最危险的时候挺身而出，身先士卒可以为员工带个好头，从而激发员工 的热情克服一切艰难险阻。

2，兔子的生存法则---寻找市场的缝隙

人生启示：市场总是会有缝隙的，它不可能是铁板一块。每一个产品，都可以找到属于自己的市场。精明的管理者一旦找到市场的缝隙，就会合理展开定位，促销，试销等活动，将自己的产品顺利打入市场。

3，鹿跳峡的故事--‘瞎子背跛子’，共同前进的最佳组合

人生启示：这个世界是瞎子背跛子共同前进的时代。“双赢”是种策略，也是一种艺术。多懂得一些生活中的“双赢术”，自己获得收益，也给别人带来益处。

4，羚羊与狼的竞争化生存---正视竞争对手

人生启示：大自然的法则是‘物竟天择，适者生存’。没有竞争，就没有发展，没有对手，自己就不会强大。不要因为而不敢与人竞争，弱者自有弱者的生存方式。

5，可悲的列队毛毛虫--杜绝盲目跟随

人生启示：“在我的生活中，我就是绝对的主角！”三毛说得多好。做人 做事必须要坚信：自己才是自己的主人。要知道，在这个世界上，那些失败者大多不把自己当主人，而轻信别人，所以他们总是在盲目的怪圈中苦苦挣扎，以致一事无成。

6，喜欢吃鸡的猫---想成事就要付出代价

人生启示：无论做事还是用人都要权衡利害关系，做事是需要付出代价的，所以不能因噎废食；用人则不能求全责备以暇掩瑜。

7，章鱼的故事--不要钻牛角尖

人生启示：钻瓶子是章鱼的专利，钻牛角尖可是某些人的专利。如果我们的思想也是一只章鱼的话，遇到苦恼，烦闷，失意，诱惑的瓶子，请注意减速绕行。在更广阔的海洋里，有更多值得争取的东西，一味向瓶子里挤，我们的思想也会越来越狭窄，越来越失去光亮。

8，青蛙与狗的悲剧--防微杜渐

人生启示：当面对突如其来的灾难，我们往往都能发挥我们意想不到的潜能，杀出重围，找出一条活路来；但对慢慢地增加的困难，逐渐形成的险境，我们就显得盲然，麻木，习以为常。直至向失败投降。

9，沉默的羔羊--该表现时要表现

人生启示：“沉默的羔羊”被人驯化，丢掉了自己叫喊的本能，这同样是一种悲哀。表达自己，这是永远不能放弃的一项法则。沉默。只在特定的饿时候才适用。

10，螃蟹的嫉妒心理--嫉妒会让我们一无所有

人生启示：嫉妒的起因是我们发现别人比我们做得更好，别人比我们拥有更多。嫉妒推动了社会的进步与发展，但是它不能给我们正确的导航。它给我们指明一条道路，但是却让我们去妨碍和伤害别人。

11，偷食农民大米的猴子---贪婪的人最容易上圈套

人生启示：往往是越贪婪的人越盲目，越贪婪的人越容易上圈套。世间              的物质能够满足人的需要，却不能满足人的贪婪，这不能不说是人类的             悲哀。

12，成吉思汗之鹰---深沉的爱

人生启示：也许你以前总抱怨父母的唠叨，埋怨老师的苛刻，指责朋友的不敬，认为这一切你都不需要，更不喜欢。成吉思汗之鹰告诉你，父母之所以唠叨，那是爱；老师之所以苛刻，那是关心；朋友之所以对你不敬，那是坦诚相待。

13，箭鸭惊动首相--不要轻易伤害他人

人生启示：伤害他人很容易，但若想重获对方的信任却很难。你伤害过谁，也许早已忘记，可是被你伤害的那个人却永远不会忘记你。为人处世切记：可以随时付出你的关爱，永不要彼此伤害。

14，杰克与他的鸟--不要想当然

人生启示：不要 将你的思想强加于你身边的人，你认为正确的，完美的事情，可能并不适于他人，如果你执意要那么做，其结果只有一个--非但不能得到别人的感激，还会得到他人的怨恨。

15，自拔双角的愚蠢公牛---别在夸赞声中失去自知之明

人生启示：好话人人爱听，但不要在恭维面前失去自知之明。

16，城里老鼠与乡下老鼠---过自己的生活

人生启示：与其表面风光过一种担惊受怕看人眼色的日子，不如简单朴实生活在从容不迫自由自在的环境里。实际上，很多人都过着像城里老鼠一样的生活。

17，马戏团里的大象--不要用老眼光看新问题

人生启示：不要给自己的心灵任何负面的暗示。在通向成功的道路上，会不可避免地遇到很多障碍，由于自身条件的限制，有些障碍我们可能一时还无法跨越，但这并不表明它是永远不可逾越的，随着自身能力的提高以及外部环境的变化，当初做不到的事情以后却可能很轻易地做到。

18，想讨好主人却被杀的驴---做自己最擅长的事

人生启示：每个人都有自己独特的才能，千万不要选择那些根本不适合自己的工作来做。勉强改变自己去迎合工作需求，不仅无益于你取得很好的成绩，而且还可能对你的职业生涯产生难于意料的负面影响。做自己最擅长的事，才是成功的饿关键。

19，在鳄鱼嘴里跳舞的鸟---将最危险的地方变成最安全的地方

人生启示：世上没有什么不可以改变的饿事情，即使是根深蒂固的思想也可以转化，水火不相融，但矛盾可以协调，如果你能真正地站在对方的立场上为对方着想，敌人也可以成为朋友。

20，刺猬的冬季取暖术--保持适当的距离

人生启示：在人际交往中必须把握分寸，坚持适度的原则，与他人保持一定的距离。不要以为与人交往越亲密越好，这是一个错误的观念。如果不注意保持彼此间的距离，把握好恰当的分寸，就随时可能会在交往中受到伤害。

21，两匹马的血性反抗--己所不欲，勿施于人

人生启示：自以为是的恶念让人失去了尊严，利欲的丑陋常常会刺痛我们善良的心。己所不欲，勿施于人，在很多时候，强迫就等于罪恶。

22，逼死商人的骆驼--无原则的退让只会让他人得寸进尺

人生启示：随意打开方便之门，对任何要求都尽量满足，无原则的退让只会将自己逼上绝境。

23，养在鸡笼子里的鹰--自我设限就是在扼杀潜能

人生启示：有许多很有才华的人就是遭受外界太多的批评，打击和挫折，于是奋发向上的热情，欲望被“自我设限”压制封杀，没有得到及时的疏导和激励，既对人生之路惶恐不安，又对碌碌无为习以为常，丧失了信心和勇气，逐渐养成了犹豫，狭隘，自卑，不思进取，不敢拼搏的精神面貌。

 

My teammates on the United States Disabled Ski Team used to tease me about the size of my chest, joking that my greatest handicap wasn't my missing leg but my missing cleavage. Little did they know how true that would become. This past year, I found out that for the second time in my life I had cancer, this time in both breasts. I had bilateral mastectomies.

When I heard I'd need the surgery, I didn't think it would be a big deal. I even told my friends playfully, "I'll keep you abreast of the situation." After all, I had lost my leg to my first go-round with cancer at age 12, then gone on to become a world champion ski racer. All of us on the Disabled Ski Team were missing one set of body parts or another.

I saw that a man in a wheelchair can be utterly sexy. That a woman who has no hands can appear not to be missing anything. That wholeness has nothing to do with missing parts and everything to do with spirit. Yet although I knew this, I was surprised to discover how difficult it was to adjust to my new scars.

When they brought me back to consciousness after the surgery, I started to sob and hyperventilate.

Suddenly I found that I didn't want to face the loss of more of my body. I didn't want chemotherapy again. I didn't want to be brave and tough and put on a perpetual smiling face. I didn't ever want to wake up again. My breathing grew so shaky that the anesthesiologist gave me oxygen and then, thankfully, put me back to sleep.

When I was doing hill sprints to prepare for my ski racing - my heart and lungs and leg muscles all on fire - I'd often be hit by the sensation that there were no resources left inside me with which to keep going.

Then I'd think about the races ahead - my dream of pushing my potential as far as it could go, the satisfaction of breaking through my own barriers - and that would get me through the sprints. The same tenacity that served me so well in ski racing helped me survive my second bout with cancer.

After the mastectomies, I knew that one way to get myself going would be to start exercising again, so I headed for the local pool.

In the communal shower, I found myself noticing other women's breasts for the first time in my life. Size-D breasts and size-A breasts, sagging breasts and perky breasts. Suddenly and for the first time, after all these years of missing a leg, I felt acutely self-conscious. I couldn't bring myself to undress.

I decided it was time to confront myself. That night at home, I took off all my clothes and had a long look at the woman in the mirror. She was androgynous.

Take my face - without makeup, it was a cute young boy's face. My shoulder muscles, arms and hands were powerful and muscular from the crutches. I had no breasts; instead, there were two prominent scars on my chest. I had a sexy flat stomach, a bubble butt and a well-developed thigh from years of ski racing. My right leg ended in another long scar just above the knee.

I discovered that I liked my androgynous body.

It fit my personality - my aggressive male side that loves getting dressed in a helmet, arm guards and shin protectors to do battle with the slalom gates, and my gentle female side that longs to have children one day and wants to dress up in a beautiful silk dress, go out to dinner with a lover and then lie back and be slowly undressed by him.

I found that the scars on my chest and my leg were a big deal. They were my marks of life. All of us are scarred by life; it's just that some of those scars show more clearly than others. Our scars do matter. They tell us that we have lived, that we haven't hidden from life. When we see our scars plainly, we can find in them, as I did that day, our own unique beauty.

The next time I went to the pool I showered naked.

He lost his arms in an accident that claimed his father's life-who was the main source of support for the family. Since then, he has had to depend on the arms of his younger brother. For the sake of taking care of him, his younger brother became his shadow, never leaving him alone for years. Except for writing with his toes, he was completely unable to do anything in his life.

One late night, he suffered from diarrhea and had to wake up his younger brother. His younger brother accompanied him into the toilet and then went back the dorm to wait. But being so tired, his younger brother fell asleep, leaving him on the toilet for two hours till the teacher on duty discovered him. As the two brothers grew up together, they had their share of problems and they would often quarrel. Then one day, his younger brother wanted to live separate from him, living his own life, as many normal people do. So he was heart-broken and didn't know what to do.

A similar misfortune befell a girl, too. One night her mother, who suffered from chronic mental illness disappeared. So her father went out looking for her mother, leaving her alone at home. She tried to prepare meals for her parents, only to overturn the kerosene light on the stove, resulting in a fire which took her hands away.

Though her elder sister who was studying in another city, showed her willingness to take care of her, she was determined to be completely independent. At school, she always studied hard. Most of all she learned to be self-reliant. Once she wrote the following in her composition: "I am lucky. Though I lost my arms, I still have legs; I am lucky. Though my wings are broken, my heart can still fly."

One day, the boy and the girl were both invited to appear on a television interview program. The boy told the TV host about his uncertain future at being left on his own, whereas the girl was full of enthusiasm for her life. They both were asked to write something on a piece of paper with their toes. The boy wrote: My younger brother's arms are my arms；while the girl wrote: Broken wings, flying heart.

They had both endured the same ordeal, but their different attitudes determined the nature of their lives. It is true that life is unpredictable. Disasters can strike at any time. How you handle misfortune when confronted with it, is the true test of your character. If you choose only to complain and escape from the ordeal, it will always follow you wherever you go. But if you decide to be strong, the hardship will turn out to be a fortune on which new hopes will arise.

Armed with two over-packed suitcases, we arrived at the airport just in time for my flight. "Well, here we are, the airport," my sister said with a sigh. As I watched her unload my luggage, I could see the sadness in her eyes. This was not easy on her either.

We had both been dreading this moment for the past week. One last hug and a final good-bye and I would be on my way to a new life abroad, leaving my beloved sister behind.

All my life I had loved airports. To me they were some kind of magic gateway to the world, a place from which to start great holidays and adventures. But today it seemed like a cold and heartless place.

As we made our way to the gate we passed through a busload of frustrated holiday goers and their screaming children. I looked at my sister and even though her eyes were filled with tears, she was trying to keep a brave face. "You better go or you'll miss your flight," she said.

"I am just going to walk away and not look back," I said, "that would just be too hard."

As I held her one last time she whispered, "Don't worry about me, I'll be just fine." "I'll miss you," I replied, and with those last words I was off. As promised, I did not look back, but by the time I reached the custom's office I was sobbing. "Cheer up, love," the tall customs officer said with a smile. "It's not the end of the world, you know." But to me it was the end of the world, as I had known it.

While boarding the plane I was still crying. I did not have the energy to put my bag in the overhead locker, so I stuffed it on the empty seat next to mine. As I settled into my chair, a feeling of sadness overwhelmed me. I felt like my best friend had just been taken away from me.

Growing up, my sister and I would do everything together. Born barely fifteen months apart we not only looked alike, we were alike. We both had that same mix of curiosity and fear of all things unknown to us.

One sunny summer day I was playing outside on the grass when she came up to me and said, "Want to come to the attic?" We both knew that the answer to that question was always 'Yes.'

We were frightened of the attic but also fascinated by its smells and sounds. Whenever one of us needed something, the other one would come along. Together we would fight the life-size spiders and battle through the numerous boxes until we found what we needed.

Over time the visits to the attic became less scary. Eventually there came a time when we would go by ourselves, but my sister and I stayed as close as ever. When the time came for us to go to college, what better way than for us to go together.

My parents were pleased because that way we could 'keep an eye on each other' and of course report back on what the other one was up to. But now that our college days were over and I was off to a foreign country, all I had left were my memories.

The plane shook heavily and the bag that I had shoved onto the seat next to me fell on the floor. My aspirin, hairbrush and a copy of the book I planned to read were spread on the floor.

I bent over to gather them up when I saw an unfamiliar little book in the middle of my belongings. It was not until I picked it up that I realized that it was a diary. The key had been carefully placed in the lock so I opened it.

Immediately I recognized my sister's handwriting. "Hi Sis, What a day it has been today. First you let me know that you are moving abroad and then my boss..."

Only then did I realize that my sister had been keeping a diary for the past month and that she was now passing it on to me. She had been scheming to start the diary for the past year but now the time seemed right. I was to write in it for the next couple of months and then send it back to her.

I spent the rest of the flight reading about my sister's comings and goings. And even though a large ocean separated us, at some point it felt like she was actually there. It was only when I thought that I had lost my best friend that I realized that she was going to be around forever.

有个小伙子非常爱一位姑娘，但姑娘的父亲却不喜欢他，不允许他们继续发展下去。小伙子很想给姑娘写封情书，但他知道姑娘的父亲会先看，于是他给姑娘写了这样一封信：

There once lived a lad who was deeply in love with a girl, but disliked by the girl's father, who didn't want to see any further development of their love. The lad was eager to write to the girl, yet he was quite sure that the father would read it first. So he wrote such a letter to the girl:

My love for you I once expressed
no longer lasts, instead, my distaste for you
is growing with each passing day. Next time I see you,
I even won't like that look yours.
I'll do nothing but
look away from you. You can never expect I'll
marry you. The last chat we had
was so dull and dry that you shouldn't think it
made me eager to see you again.
If we get married, I firmly believe I'll
live a hard life, I can never
live happily with you, I'll devote myself
but not
to you. No one else is more
harsh and selfish and least
solicitous and considerate than you.
I sincerely want to let you know
what I said is true. Please do me a favor by
ending our relations and refrain from
writing me a reply. Your letter is always full of
things which displease me. You have no
sincere care for me. So long! Please believe
I don't love you any longer. Don't think
I still have a love of you!

Having read the letter, the father felt relieved and gave it to his daughter with a light heart. The girl also felt quite pleased after she read it carefully, her lad still had a deep love for her. Do you know why? In fact, she felt very sad when she read the letter for the first time. But she read it for a few more times and, at last, she found the key - only every other line should be read, that is the first line, the third, the fifth … and so on to the end.

姑娘的父亲看了这封信以后，非常高兴的把信给了姑娘。姑娘看完信后也非常快乐，小伙子依然爱着她。你知道她为什么高兴吗？其实，她初读这封信时非常忧伤，但她怎么也不相信那是他的真心话，于是她又默读了几遍，终于，她清楚了该怎样来读这封信。只能一、三、五行如此类推来读，直到信的结尾。

I've opened the curtain of my east window here above the computer, and I sit now in a holy theater before a sky-blue stage. A little cloud above the neighbor's trees resembles Jimmy Durante's nose for a while, then becomes amorphous as it slips on north. Other clouds follow, big and little and tiny on their march toward whereness. Wisps of them lead or droop because there must always be leading and drooping.

The trees seem to laugh at the clouds while yet reaching for them with swaying branches. Trees must think that they are real, rooted, somebody, and that perhaps the clouds are only tickled water which sometimes blocks their sun. But trees are clouds, too, of green leaves-clouds that only move a little. Trees grow and change and dissipate like their airborne cousins.

And what am I but a cloud of thoughts and feelings and aspirations? Don't I put out tentative mists here and there? Don't I occasionally appear to other people as a ridiculous shape of thoughts without my intending to? Don't I drift toward the north when I feel the breezes of love and the warmth of compassion?

If clouds are beings, and beings are clouds, are we not all well advised to drift, to feel the wind tucking us in here and plucking us out there? Are we such rock-hard bodily lumps as we imagine?

Drift, let me. Sing to the sky, will I. One in many, are we. Let us breathe the breeze and find therein our roots in the spirit.

I close the curtain now, feeling broader, fresher. The act is over. Applause is sweeping through the trees.

You are asking, "Is it possible to be married and to be free?"

If you take marriage non-seriously, then you can be free. If you take it seriously, then freedom is impossible. Take marriage just as a game -- it is a game. Have a little sense of humor, that it is a role you are playing on the stage of life; but it is not something that belongs to existence or has any reality -- it is a fiction.

But people are so stupid that they even start taking fiction for reality. I have seen people reading fiction with tears in their eyes, because in the fiction things are going so tragically. It is a very good device in the movies that they put the lights off, so everybody can enjoy the movie, laugh, cry, be sad, be happy.

If there was light it would be a little difficult -- what will others think? And they know perfectly well that the screen is empty -- there is nobody; it is just a projected picture. But they forget it completely.

And the same has happened with our lives. Many things which are simply to be taken humorously, we take so seriously -- and from that seriousness begins our problem.

In the first place, why should you get married? You love someone, live with someone -- it is part of your basic rights. You can live with someone, you can love someone.

Marriage is not something that happens in heaven, it happens here, through the crafty priests. But if you want to join the game with society and don't want to stand alone and aloof, you make it clear to your wife or to your husband that this marriage is just a game:

"Never take it seriously. I will remain as independent as I was before marriage, and you will remain as independent as you were before marriage. Neither I am going to interfere in your life, nor are you going to interfere in my life; we will live as two friends together, sharing our joys, sharing our freedom -- but not becoming a burden on each other.

And any moment we feel that the spring has passed, the honeymoon is over, we will be sincere enough not to go on pretending, but to say to each other that we loved much -- and we will remain grateful to each other forever, and the days of love will haunt us in our memories, in our dreams, as golden -- but the spring is over.

Our paths have come to a point, where although it is sad, we have to part, because now, living together is not a sign of love. If I love you, I will leave you the moment I see my love has become a misery to you. If you love me, you will leave me the moment you see that your love is creating an imprisonment for me."

Love is the highest value in life: It should not be reduced to stupid rituals. And love and freedom go together -- you cannot choose one and leave the other. A man who knows freedom is full of love, and a man who knows love is always willing to give freedom.

If you cannot give freedom to the person you love, to whom can you give freedom? Giving freedom is nothing but trusting. Freedom is an expression of love.

So whether you are married or not, remember, all marriages are fake -- just social conveniences. Their purpose is not to imprison you and bind you to each other; their purpose is to help you to grow with each other. But growth needs freedom; and in the past, all the cultures have forgotten that without freedom, love dies.

You see a bird on the wing in the sun, in the sky, and it looks so beautiful. Attracted by its beauty, you can catch the bird and put it in a golden cage.

Do you think it is the same bird? Superficially, yes, it is the same bird who was flying in the sky; but deep down it is not the same bird -- because where is its sky, where is its freedom?

This golden cage may be valuable to you; it is not valuable to the bird. For the bird, to be free in the sky is the only valuable thing in life. And the same is true about human beings.