From 2003 to 2007, I gained all the weight back, plus an additional 25 pounds-I hit 180 pounds. I _______ with depression and anxiety, and I was very _______. I knew a change needed to be made, but wasn’t sure how.

So, in July of 2017, a month away from my 32nd birthday, I _______ up to do a mud run with friends. After this run, I remembered how happy I was when I ran. I decided to _______ going, and began running in the mornings. I had to constantly _______ myself not to make excuses and signed up for a half marathon for motivation.

By November 2017, I had finished the half marathon. My motivation now was to take up that marathon I had _______ years ago. Finally, I was able to complete my _______ full marathon in May 2019.

In 2020, _______ races were canceled, my running was not. I kept training, and in April 2020, I completed my second marathon. Next, I took on the 4×4×48 _______, where you run four miles every four hours for 48 hours. Now. I get up at 4 a.m. most mornings, six days a week, and run average about 30 miles a week. I create my own plans suited to my current __________, which is to complete my third 26.2 miles at the 2021 Chicago Marathon. And __________ I will run my first 50 km the week after. I now try to run one __________ each month to always have something fun to __________.

Overall, I have lost 40 pounds. Running helps clear my __________. For me, running is more focused on keeping my mental health than physical health. But you have to have balance between __________. Besides, accomplishment at the end of each goal is wonderful.

When Freddie arrived to perform in the hospital room,Pam worried it was already too late. Her 88-year-old stepfather, Strobel, had _______ been moved to the palliative (保守疗法) care unit. Pam could tell that something had changed in him. A nurse told her Strobel’s _______ was near.

“You’re probably wasting your time,” Pam told Freddie. But Freddie _______ with her what medical professionals had told him: Hearing may be the last sense to go.

“Let me go in and _______,” Freddie said. “It’s as much for you as it is for him.”

Freddie is a country and folk musician. When he was in his childhood, his mother encouraged her young son’s _______ talent. When she was dying of cancer, he put their _______ of songs to its greatest use. He would crawl into her hospital bed with his guitar and sing her favorites. His mother seemed to relax, a (n) _______ look crossing her face.

“That moment allowed her and me to _______ like we used to when I was singing as a kid,” Freddie recalled. It emphasized to him the _______ of music. When he ________ a non-profit organization called Swan Songs which arranged free musical last wishes, Freddie signed up for the ________.

That was the case with Pam’s stepfather who enjoyed ________ music, and Swan Songs sent Freddie. That was why Freddie arrived at the hospital that day, when Strobel seemed ready to say ________. Freddie played some songs and after 45 minutes, Pam asked for just one more song. Freddie ________ Love Me. He sang the last note (音符) and Strobel took his last breath.

“Oh my, we just experienced one of the most magical moments in our lives. It was a gift for us all. At a really sad time, it was ________ ,” says Pam.

On my way home, I saw a poor old man selling soaps. I was moved by his condition—perhaps he was the only one _________ his family? But I soon shook off the _________ —there’s nothing I can really do for him.

Just then, a lady went up and bought every bar of soap he was carrying. The old man’s eyes lit up and he left happily.

The woman, on the other hand, crossed the road and _________ the bag full of soaps on the street with a sign saying “For Free”. Then she boarded the same bus as I did and took the seat next to mine. The curious incident _________ me so I couldn’t help but ask her about the strange act.

“Excuse me, may I ask why you did that near the bus stop?” I said.

“Oh, I walk this road every day and noticed this man many times. I tried to offer him some money but he _________. He said he wanted to earn it through hard work and not _________. He’s a very honest man. He was content with whatever he earned for the day. So I bought all his soap bars to help him in a way that _________ his dignity(尊严). I left them on the road in order that those who need them can _________ themselves.”

I reached home feeling a lightness and hope that humanity is not _________ after all. A little thought and a little ____________ are often worth more than a great deal of money.