I learned how to accept life as it is from my father.______, he didn't teach me acceptance when he was strong and healthy, but rather when he was ______ and ill.

My father was ______ a strong man who loved being active, but a terrible illness ______ all that away.Now he can no longer walk, and he must sit quietly in a chair all day.Even talking is ______ One night, I went to visit him with my sisters.We started talking about life, and I told them about one of my ______ .I said that we must very often give things up as we grow — our health, our beauty, our friends —but it always ______ that after we give something up, we gain something new in its place.Then suddenly my father ______ up.He said, “But, Peter, I gave up everything! What did I gain?” I thought and thought, but I couldn't think of anything to say.______, he answered his own question: “I ______ the love of my family.“I looked at my sisters and saw tears in their eyes, along with hope and thankfulness.

I was also ______ by his words.After that, when I began to feel angry at someone, I would remember his words and become ______ .If he could replace his great pain with a feeling of love for others, then I should be able to give up my small anger.In this ______, I learned the power of acceptance from my father.

It had just been an average working week at the hospital, really.I’m a critical care ____, and we were coming off the back of the winter pressure, so we were all very busy and feeling tired, but no more than ____.

It was Thursday 19 March, the week before lockdown(封闭), we knew that Covid was about to ____ and we were preparing for it.But there was quite a lot of ____ because we weren’t sure exactly what to expect.After working a 48 hour shift, I thought, “I’m back at work tomorrow so I’ll just go and get my ____ in”.But it wasn’t to be.You walk into your usual supermarket and automatically know where everything is, but that day it was quite ____ in some way.

I’d seen about the ____ buying of toilet rolls(卷纸)on social media and I remember thinking, “I’ve got quite a few toilet rolls, it will be fine”.____ , when I got to the supermarket, the fruit and vegetable aisles(通道)were just bare.

___ I was shocked.I was wandering around the shop—I couldn’t ____ what was happening and why there was no food available for me to buy.I came out, sat in my car and started to cry.I thought I should ____, on the media, how I’m feeling right now—anxious and exhausted, so people would know about what was happening here, which might ____ their worry.I shared it on Facebook.Unexpectedly, my post went ____. It had been viewed over 630, 000 times in the first week．

It’s hard to ____ whether there’ll be a second spike(激增)because we’re working with a virus.I’m managing to work extra shifts at the moment, because I think we can all ____ change and it can start from something small or as simple as walking down a street and smiling at somebody.And I’d like to make a difference on a bigger scale than I’m currently doing with my nursing.

I was waiting in a checkout line. A woman and two boys were ahead of me. At the cash desk, a white-haired man had begun to _________ his goods. Then came the question. Sometimes it’s a customer with multiple coupons (优惠券), or someone who forgot to _________ a piece of fruit. Fair enough. One waited.

But today, it was something else. The man didn’t have _________ money. So he began the process of choosing which _________ to keep and which to hand back. He paused over each one before keeping or _________ it. We waited. Longer lines surged ahead.

_________, his _________ came to an end. The man turned back to us as he left, _________ and apologetic. We waved off his chagrin (懊恼). It could happen to anyone.

But I had no idea just how _________ the family of three ahead of me were until their turn came. The woman asked the cashier to add all the __________ goods to her bill as quickly as possible. Then the two boys __________ through the exit with the small bag of groceries. When they returned, it was clear that their mission had been __________.

Then I __________ all it took to witness this flash of __________ was waiting a little longer in a checkout line. I could have caught the bus. But I felt so __________ on my feet that I walked home instead.