“Your mind is a garden; your thoughts are the seeds. The harvest can either be flowers or weeds,” wrote William Wordsworth, who suggested that the process of gardening mirrors human life. Depending on what we “plant” in our lives, we bloom (茁壮成长) or don’t.

Before you start to work in your garden, it is necessary to have an idea for it. Thinking of what you want to grow in your garden and how to arrange it is a good first step in making your idea a fruitful reality. In life, you should consider what you want to create and what you want to achieve, because your mind garden is like a piece of white paper and the possibilities are endless.

No matter what plants you choose, poor soil isn’t suitable for growth. This is why gardeners take the time and energy to improve the soil before planting. So, creating right soil is important to the realization of your goals and dreams. Luckily, there are countless ways to make your personal bedrock (基石) better. Getting an education is one of the most effective ways, which can help you enrich your life’s soil.

You don’t have to be an expert gardener to understand the meaning of “You harvest what you sow”. When a gardener wants tomatoes, they just need to plant tomato seeds. It is a very clear act that produces an expected result. Each of us has the power to decide which “life seeds” to plant. For example, if you plant ill seeds, it’s likely that you’ll experience pain in return; however, if you plant seeds of kindness and understanding, your life will bloom with happiness and love.

A gardener’s truly hard work begins after the seeds are in the ground because a garden requires a lot of care and attention. Regular watering and weeding are required for a healthy garden. So, to ensure your dreams take root, you should be devoted, aware, and present. After countless hours and energy spent, the crops will grow well and be finally ready to be harvested.

One day when I was 5, my mother blamed me for not finishing my rice and I got angry. I wanted to play outside and not to be made to finish eating my old rice. When angrily opening the screen door (纱门) with my foot, I kicked back about a 12-inch part of the lower left hand corner of the new screen door. But I had no regret, for I was happy to be playing in the backyard with my toys.

Today, I know if my child had done what I did, I would have blamed my child, and told him about how expensive this new screen door was, and I would have delivered a spanking (打屁股) for it. However, my parents never said a word. They left the corner of the screen door pushed out, creating an opening, in the defense against unwanted insects.

For years, every time I saw that corner of the screen, it would constantly make me think about my mistake. For years, I knew that everyone in my family would see that hole and remember who did it. For years, every time I saw a fly buzzing (嗡嗡) in the kitchen, I would wonder if it came in through the hole that I had created with my angry foot. I would wonder if my family members were thinking the same thing, silently blaming me every time a flying insect entered our home, making life more terrible for us all. My parents taught me a valuable lesson, one that a spanking or stern (严厉的) words perhaps could not deliver. Their silent punishment for what I had done delivered a hundred stern messages to me. Above all, it has helped me become a more patient person and not burst out so easily.

On my granddaughter Mary’   s 21st birthday，I sat with her and her expired (过期的)driver’   s license on a hard wooden bench at the DMV (the Department of Motor Vehicles)，waiting for our number to be called. The broadcast system announced numbers to call ticket holders to reach the desk to take an eye test or renew a registration. I felt as though we were staying at a bingo game，waiting for the winning number to be called so we could jump up and collect the prize.

And on that bench，I had a thought:The seemingly ordinary events I’   ve shared with my granddaughter were both my adventures and my rewards for just showing up. I grew up in an immigrant (移民)family in the suburb of Boston. A vacation for us was a bus trip to Central Square，with shopping bags filled with delicious foods like hard boiled eggs，followed by the muddy sand sucking our toes.

I looked forward to these small outings. It sounded boring to seek out the simple pleasures，but it was not. I traveled to remote islands，to Europe，and to many of America’   s cities. Those trips were refreshing，but they were breaks. I prefer the mainstream of the ordinary.

I like the day trips. But the most wonderful time was when Mary and I stayed in the reading room. We talked about her homework，and played the roles of two thinkers discussing the Enlightenment (启蒙运动). We had our private book club，reading A Prayer for Owen Meany and copying the voice of the main character.

All of these ordinary moments are more valuable than the time it will take to travel around the world. Many people love adventures，like skydiving or climbing Mount Everest. But that is not who I am. I don’t need those adventure experiences. In the end，it turns out that just showing up is enough for me.