One day when I was 15 years old, I had some friends over to hang out. While we were making food in the kitchen, my brother came in. He placed his beef next to my ______ one and said, “Courtney, your beef is bigger than mine. You don’t need to ______; you’re already fat enough.” Then he walked out laughing.

Unpleasant ______ on my physical appearance were nothing new. Something inside me gave in to his idea that my legs were ______, and that became the last day that I ever willingly wore ______ until I was 30 years old. For the next 15 years, I spent summer after summer ______ in long pants.

But then I met Ragen Chastain, and she ______ everything. I couldn’t believe that this woman who, like myself, weighed almost 300 pounds was so ______ and happy in her own skin. I ______ as she shared her own journey to recovery and self-love. She talked about how amazing our ______ are, simply because of the things they do every day—like breathing, ______ blood to every cell, blinking and walking.

Walking! I was suddenly ______ how foolish I’d been for so long. There’re people who are born without legs, or who lack ______ working legs, or who lose their legs, and I’d been hiding my perfectly strong, healthy, beautiful legs ______ because I had ______ someone to convince me that they weren’t good enough. The next day, I bought three pairs of shorts and a sundress and spent the entire summer letting my legs ______ the sun and feel the breeze.

The next time anyone comments on your body in a ______ way, look them straight in the eye, smile and say, “If what you see ______ you so much, feel free to practice the ancient art of looking ______ else.” That’s Ragen’s own   ______, but I don’t think she’ll mind if you use it.

More than 700 years ago，Scotland was fighting with England.The king of England wanted to ______ Scotland.He had a strong army so it was ______ for the Scots to fight.They lost many times，King Robert of Scotland had to run from the English army.

One rainy day，King Robert lay in an old house.He thought that he was not good enough to be king.He was so ______ that he didn't even see a spider（蜘蛛）near him.He ______ when he saw the spider climbing.It was trying to climb up its web at the top of the house but it fell down.

"How sad," thought King Robert."The spider is like me.It's not ______ enough."He watched while the spider climbed up again.It fell down a second time.

"Be careful，little spider，or you might die，"he said."Life is so hard.You'll never get back to your web."But the spider ______ again and again.King Robert watched while it ______ climbed back to its web.After an hour，the spider got to the web.

"You are such a great ______，"he said."If you can keep trying.I can too.I must keep on fighting.I won't let the English win."His ______ grew strong and they ______ the English army.Scotland was free.

Nobody knows if this is a true story.Many parents tell it to their children because they want them to keep trying.

Several years ago, a neighbor kid kicked a football and broke a basement window of my house. Due to financial problems, I _________ it up, thinking I’d get to it someday.

Over the years, I had planned to upgrade to energy-efficient windows. But with the frame rusted (锈) and firmly _________ in the foundation, whoever did it would need to chisel (凿) it out by hand. It would be a _________ process and there were six of those windows in the house. The cost was estimated at $15,000. It was simply _________ .

Honestly, the thought of that window _________ me for years. I knew I needed to fix it, but I had built up the _________ so much in my mind that I put it off again and again.

Then I had a job change and needed to sell the house before moving away. But it was almost _________ to find a buyer if there was a broken window. So I pulled off the boards to face this thing head-on. I grabbed some rust remover, _________ it around the frame of the window, and gave it a pull. To my astonishment, it easily _________ . I took the window downtown. It only cost me $12. I could have __________ the problem for only $12 when it occurred, but I let it bother me for five years!

__________ , this isn’t just about my window. Many of us live with broken windows of one type or another. They are things that seriously affect our __________ of life. If you recognize your broken window, don’t __________ to mend it. It may turn out to be __________ than expected. Usually we suffer more in __________ than in reality.