I worked on boats for twenty five years.Now I am a docking pilot (码头领航员). My job is to ______in the large luxury liners (邮轮) and stay with them until they are______ stopped in the harbour. Sometimes this requires two tugs (拖船),sometimes many more,______the tide and the weather.

I felt very______ after I had docked several of the large liners. I realized I was in______ of a great ship worth millions of dollars and the______ were depending on me to bring her safely to the port. These tugs,whether one or ten, ______about in accord with whistle signals I ______them from the bridge of the big liner. These signals make up a language that is just as______ as the spoken word,or even more so, ______our docking signals are hardly misunderstood.The captain of each tug does his work according to the signals he______.He never asks questions. He takes everything faithfully,and it always works out.

Working around tugboats,where so much depends on______,has had its effect on what I believe.I believe that if I am to attain a(an)______ place in the world I must have the help of my fellow men just as the great transatlantic liners depend on the______ of the little tugs to bring them safely to the______.

Standing on the shore of a lake, I can’t help but feel surprised at the thousands of small rocks that surround my boots. They were all created from hard surfaces, their edges softening over time. I wonder, “Can we learn from a pile of _________?”

Even the tallest mountains have _________; none are as tall as they were 1,000 years ago. And much like a rock, I’ve found my _________ has softened and my desire to better understand others has expanded with each trip around the sun.

_________, I was also a sharp rock covered in pointy edges. Today, after decades of the waters of life coursing over me, my edges are softer and and I’m more _________. I’m less likely to judge and more interested in learning how we can _________ together.

But I’m not a rock. I’m a _________ filled with all the drama built into my DNA.

Two years ago, while traveling in the Pacific Northwest, I watched a restaurant owner ask several young men to _________ for not wearing masks. Not _________ and not rude. On the door read a sign, “Please wear a mask before entering our restaurant. We don’t like it either, but let’s all do what we can to __________ this together.”

The group of young men wanted to __________ about the note. I sat at the restaurant watching, understanding both sides. I’ve been one of them before, using my youthful edges to chip away at the world. What I lost, __________, was the ability to grow from __________ by looking through the eyes of others. In learning to be more __________, I’ve also found more happiness and success.

You can fit more rounded rocks in a jar than those with sharp edges. The former look for ways to __________ and make room for others, while the latter never give an __________ to accommodate others.

__________, like the waters rolling against once sharp stones, changes us by washing away our resistance to __________ the world from someone else’s point of view.

I placed a __________ stone into my jacket pocket. Mother Nature is holding a __________ again.

In my late teens, I was often told by my parents that success and failure go hand in hand. It may be right, but the point didn’t _________ me much then. I had a(n) _________ that if you keep on climbing every step of a ladder, you will _________ your goals. _________, it was when I began climbing those steps that I _________ you may go up two steps and end up falling back three. In fact, _________ is a very basic part of every success story.

When I started my work in SEO (搜索引擎优化), I was helpless. I spent many _________days solving different problems. The time finally came when I started to have _________ in what I had done. Then came the day when I saw everything I did was _________ because of my carelessness. I knew I’d have to __________ once again. I worked harder this time. Finally, I __________. Now I’ve become one of the best SEO experts in our country because I chose not to __________.

Now I have truly believed my parents’ words. You might __________ ups and downs in your life, but your __________ is most important. You must always be __________ for any failure on your way. Work hard and never give up. You will move forward with more power.