As I look back on my life, I cannot help but wonder: why me?

At birth, I weighed less than one pound and I ______ . I ask: why me? Based on all the statistics, I ______ have made it out of the gang (帮派) ridden streets of Upstate New York, without at least some type of ______ record attached to my name. ______ , I did.Why me? After graduating from college, I ______ to join the U.S. Air Force and it got my mother's permission. I ______ for 4 years and chose to ______ the military with an honorable discharged.

With a young family to support, very little money and even less ______, I applied for an entry-level position at a Wall Street investment firm. ______ , the big firm, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, ______ me. After all, there were more seemingly qualified ______. I worked continually for two years, earning a ______ wage, with the only hope of one day becoming a stockbroker, so I stayed. Sure enough, when someone decided to give me a(an) ______ , I grabbed it with both hands. Again, I asked: why me?

My first year in the work, I was considered the most ______ rookie (新手) in my training class. Later I was ______ by the president of the firm and offered an executive-level position. My efforts impressed people around me. Now______ I've approached 40, when I have had a firm myself, I find I am ______ the question: why me? However, as a result of my own ______ lessons, I have come to realize the answer to that question.

It all boils down to one simple fact — How many people have you helped ______ the way? Once you make that your life's ______ you'll never have to ask yourself “why me” again! And indeed, I have helped many people, which pays off.

Three years ago, a group of researchers at Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab had a guess. They knew that many apples being _______ to kids as part of the National School Lunch Program were ending up in the trash, almost untouched. But unlike others, they wondered if the reason was more complicated than simply that the kids didn’t want the _______.

They thought the fact that the apples were being served _______, rather than sliced (切成片的), was doing the fruit no favor. And they wanted to _______ this idea.

They carried out a pilot study (初步研究) at eight _______ and found that fruit consumption _______ by more than 60 percent when apples were served sliced. They _______ made a follow-up study at six other schools, which not only showed the same result, but further _______ it. Both the overall apple consumption and the percentage of students who ate more than half of the apple served to them were more than 70 percent higher at schools that served _______ apples.

Based on these ________, it seems that even the simplest forms of ________ can influence us. Sliced apples just make more sense for kids. The hardest part is getting kids to start eating fruit, and that’s exactly why sliced apples are the way to go. A child holding a whole apple has to break the skin, eat around the core (果核), and ________ the inconvenience of holding a large fruit. These ________ might seem silly or unimportant, but they’re important when you’re ________ teeth or have braces (牙箍), as so many kids do.

It’s one of those situations where what seems like a really ________ inconvenience actually makes a huge difference.

About six years ago I started having panic attacks( 恐慌症 ). I began my journey to________ them with traditional tools, all of which were a great help. ________, a year later treatment was no longer needed.

Frustratingly, about a year after that, I started to develop________ and began to have panic attacks once again. I tried what I knew best and went back to my previous________, but I was still ________ and far from feeling well again until I got some new advice.

I loved to sing when I was young. My childhood had been________ with creativity,   yet for most of my adult life it was________. A therapist told me that mental health issues are common   among the________ minds of the world when creativity is suppressed(压制). To regain it, I decided to get back into singing. Then I joined a group called Sound, a pop choir. Much better, I found the________ to audition( 试音 ).     I was amazed that I managed to________ such a risky   situation and not have a panic attack. The audition itself was a________ for me, never mind how I did.

I have now been a member of the choir for three years. I love the community and the performances. It________ me of who I was at school. My path back then was always “do what you love”. My entire________ was filled with fond memories because of that, and I was starting to build that back into my________ life.

Now, I am feeling a lot better. When I am anxious, distraction(分散注意力) is key and singing does help. It sends me into a state in which my body works with pure passion and joy. More importantly, I will have exercised my creativity and________ my anxiety.