Many people become successful because they pay attention to the lessons that life teaches them. 【小题1】 However, by learning to deal with the challenges, one can come out of the experience, wiser, stronger and more able to face whatever else lies ahead.

Life lessons can occur in any area. Although we learn many things each day, we don’t always learn something that we feel will affect our behavior for the rest of our lives.【小题2】It is usually something we are greatly changed by.

For example, if we respond in a certain way to something and then face unpleasant consequences, we’ll rethink how we handled the situation. This can serve as a life lesson so that when we’re faced with similar circumstances, we can consciously change our behavior. 【小题3】

Such lessons in relationships are as varied and unique as each relationship, yet there are common themes. 【小题4】 Some of us learn a major life lesson when a loved one dies, and we wish we had spent more time with that person. This lesson can result in us spending more time with our remaining loved ones.

【小题5】 Since the lesson is learned through the consequences of our actions or reactions, in this way we can gain insight into how we think, act and react in certain situations. Perhaps one of the biggest lessons we can finally learn is that while we can’t control everything, we can control our response to things.

Learning doesn’t have to stop at the schoolhouse door. In fact, it shouldn’t. 【小题1】 It’s one thing to read a book about a foreign country; it’s quite another to go there and befriend its people, eat its foods and learn its language. 【小题2】 My husband Gabriel and I use it to engage with our love of history. We can’t travel to the past in exactly the same way we would go to a foreign country, but we can bring history to us by including as many of its details as possible into our daily lives.

【小题3】 Our house was built in 1888 and 1889. Very little had been added over the past century—although many things had been removed or replaced. Settling in was a long, slow process of bringing back systems and appliances which would have been standard at the end of the nineteenth-century.

Years ago, we started collecting everyday items from the past. We love things people like us were interacting with on a daily basis back in the Victorian (维多利亚时期的)era. Most textbook history focuses on extreme cases: politics, war, and Great Names. We’ve never been privileged to keep company with kings and presidents in the modern world, so we’ve always been drawn far more strongly to people we ourselves can relate to. We love simple stories of approachable people. 【小题4】

【小题5】 When we get them, most are worn out. Some people wouldn’t think twice about getting rid of such low-quality items. We fix them up and put them back to the use for which they were originally intended. As we interact with them, they become our teachers.

Moral excellence, as Aristotle says, is a result of habit. By practising the following virtues, your life can completely improve in the form of better relationships, performance, and fulfillment of your dreams.

►Commitment（致力于、承诺）

Without commitment, we have little direction or purpose in life.【小题1】The moment we commit to something, thoughts become action and with true commitment, we become unstoppable. Our commitments either move us towards our goals or further away from our goals.【小题2】We can continue committing to things that are not working for us or to nothing at all.

►Faith

How hard is it to have faith when things are not going well in life?【小题3】People have lost their jobs, foreclosed（取消抵押品赎回权）on their homes and lost their insurance. Yet, without faith, it’ s tough to even get through another day. Having faith provides a spiritual foundation that allows us to push through difficulties again and again.

►Forgiveness

Forgiveness can change the course of our lives. It allows us to place our attention on other things in life. 【小题4】If there is someone you have not forgiven, think about how your lack of forgiveness is affecting your life and consider making an apology to the person so that you can live your best life.

►Gratitude

Gratitude is one virtue that, if practiced, our lives can improve right away. Our natural tendency is to think negatively, which can hurt our well-being. Gratitude helps us to shift negative thoughts to positive ones.【小题5】