When I was about 12, I didn’t like a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings (缺点). Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn’t a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to bear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to Daddy with tears in my eyes.

He listened to me quietly. Then he asked, “Are the things she says true or not? Allen, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like? Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”

I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I got a clear picture of myself.

I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it. “That's just for you,” he said. “You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feel hurt. When something said about you is true, you'll find it will be of help to you. Don't close your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”

Daddy’s advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.

A heart-stopping video shows that a group of hikers were able to keep their cool as a curious black bear approached them—and one even stayed composed enough to snap a selfie （自拍）.

The black bear pulls one of the women by the leg with its paws（爪子）,moving towards her across the path as she tries to remain completely still. When the frightening animal stands up on its legs to smell her, the fearless walker can be seen taking a photo with the wild animal as it breathes down her neck.

The incident is reported to have happened on a path in Chipinque Ecological Park, Mexico, and the clip （剪辑片段）has had millions of views since being shared on social media. With the bear particularly interested in one member of the group, another walker remains frozen with her back to the animal as she stares still into the trees.

A third can be seen nervously fearing as the bear begins to approach her and shakes her hand in fear, but it circles back around to check out the first hiker for a second time. It pushes her off balance with its head before twice pawing at her legs as onlookers shout to try and warn the bear off.

The woman remains fearless as the animal isn't into her and continues walking up the path, giving the group an opportunity to make a swift exit.

It was shared on Twitter by former basketball player Rex Chapman, getting 2.7 million views, with the caption: "Oh, my goodness. She's a rock."

A quick walk onto a frozen pond (池塘) could have been a disaster for these two boys.

Cruz Genet, 11, and Anthony Skopick, 10, couldn’t agree more. Were the birds out on the ice ducks or geese? There was only one way to find out. So on a cold January evening last year, the two friends walked onto the frozen pond near their homes to get a better look.

First, they threw a rock onto the ice to test it. Believing the ice would hold their weight, Anthony took a few steps, and then he crashed through the seemingly frozen surface. “There was no sound and no crack”, he told the reporter. “I just fell through immediately.”

Cruz rushed to help his frightened friend. And he fell in the pond, too. Cruz managed to lift himself out of the water and onto a harder part. He then carefully worked his way toward Anthony, but he fell in the pond again. This time, he couldn’t get out.

The two boys were in icy cold water and quickly losing feeling in their limbs (四肢). Cruz was sure that he was going to die.

Anthony’s older sister had seen the boys fall through the ice and started shouting for help. John Lavin, a neighbor driving nearby on his way to the store, heard her. He quickly pulled over. Seeing the boys, he took a nearby buoy (浮标), kicked off his shoes, and ran into the water. Lavin made his way to Cruz and Anthony and drew them back to land. They were taken to hospital, where doctors discovered that their five-minute stay in the water had lowered their body temperature nearly ten degrees.

Luckily, the boys have fully recovered, though they are still a little awestruck (敬畏的) by their fearless neighbor. “Just to think,” says Cruz, “if he hadn’t been there, I could have died.”