Our peers(同辈)usually have a great influence on our lives. However, when it comes to learning valuable lessons about life, we learn much more from older people than our peers.

Unlike our peers, older people have a better understanding of life. 【小题1】 So we can learn more from their seasoned knowledge. Many of my friends spend little time on their lessons and they just use their time to have fun. However, my uncle has taught me that if I focus on studying instead of playing all the time, my life will be more fulfilling(有成就的)later on. 【小题2】

Also, older people can point us in the right direction and away from the mistakes they have already made. If we simply follow our peers, we will often run into similar problems. 【小题3】 My brother tried out for the football team last year and did not make it. Many of his peers told him to give up on the sport forever. But my father helped him realize that giving up was not the answer. Then my brother practiced harder. 【小题4】 In the end, older people can help us make the right decisions when we are in difficulties.

【小题5】 Older people have more life experience, and they can give us excellent advice.

When everything goes wrong, always look at what you have, instead of what you have lost. Because it’s not what the world takes away from you that counts; it’s what you do with what you have left. 【小题1】

Pain is part of growing.

【小题2】 That’s a good thing because we often won’t move unless life forces us to. When times are tough, remind yourself that no pain comes without a purpose. Remember that there are two kinds of pain: pain that hurts and pain that changes you. When you roll with life, instead of resisting it, both kinds help you grow.

【小题3】

Every time you get hurt, you heal. After darkness there is always light – you are reminded of this every morning, but still you often forget, and instead choose to believe that the night will last forever. It won’t. Nothing lasts forever.

Complaining changes nothing.

Those who complain the most, accomplish the least. 【小题4】 It’s not over if you’ve lost; it’s over when you do nothing but complain about it. If you believe in something, keep trying. Don’t let the shadows of the past darken the doorstep of your future.

The best thing you can do is to keep going.

Don’t be afraid to get back up -- to try again, to love again, to live again, and to dream again. Don’t let a hard lesson harden your heart. Life’s best lessons are often learned at the worst times and from the worst mistakes. There will be times when it seems like everything that could possibly go wrong is going wrong. 【小题5】

We can probably all agree that it is good to be kind, nice to be kind, but does it lead to success in life? After all, isn’t kindness about putting other people’s interests first? Doesn’t it require self-sacrifice?

Yet consider these well-known people: James Timpson, boss of the Timpson chain of shoe repairers; Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand. These two are clearly “winners” in their fields, and yet both put kindness at the heart of their strategies for success. What they have found is that taking a more sympathetic and apparently “softer” approach to business, politics and sports management brings positive results, not just for the benefit of people who work for them, but for their own benefit. The traditional idea that you have to be cruel, driven and focused on number one if you want to achieve success is becoming less popular.

It’s notable that in the field of business research, kind leadership is more often referred to as “ethical” (有道德的) leadership, maybe because it sounds less soft. But whatever you decided to call it, studies have shown that it can result in a more positive atmosphere at work and that employees perform better too. There’s evidence that even small acts of kindness and cooperation by anyone can make a difference in a workplace. An example might be getting the printer mended, rather than leaving it broken for the next person to find, or watering the plants in the office. These actions aren’t required as part of the job, but if we carry them out, the working environment is a little better for everyone.

Of course, there are still plenty of examples of people who do well in life, but they are self-centered and unkind to others. But the point is that despite what we might see, you don’t have to be hard-nosed (不讲情面的) to get on in business or other highly competitive walks of life. You can’t be a winner simply through being kind of course — you need motivation, devotion and skills too —but there’s more and more evidence that showing some kindness as you go after your goal is no barrier to success.