I was driving to the grocery store on a warm morning in May. I smiled as I watched the golden sunshine ______ off the leaves. It was such a ______ and heavenly time.

My calm was broken, ______， as I rounded a curve (拐弯处). A huge U­Haul truck was coming my way several feet over the center line. I swerved as far onto the side of the road as I could to ______ it. It was followed by not one but two other U­Haul trucks just as ______. I wondered if all the stuff inside of them ______ the same person. I slowed down my car and waited for my heart rate to ______. It was then that I ______ a self­storage business along the side of the highway, building new units for all the people who couldn’t fit their ______ into their houses. I saw a(n) ______ couple carrying boxes into one of the units. It seemed ______ that a couple just out of their teens could already have too much stuff.

I lost my own ______ for owning stuff when a house fire in the middle of the night destroyed everything my family owned. The only thing I had left was the underwear I was wearing. Yet, our whole family had awakened ______ to escape. In the weeks that followed friends and family gave us a lot of stuff to get us back on our feet, but none of it seemed as ______ any more. What was important was seeing Mom’s smile, giving Nana a hug and a kiss, and watching Dad snooze (打盹) in his chair ______ a hard day’s work. What was important was the stuff of ______， not the stuff of this world. Since then I have tried to limit the things I would ______.I didn’t want too much stuff to ______ my life. I wanted to only buy what I needed and to spend my days in learning, growing, and ______ my family and others.

I assumed that only by doing so could I make my ______.

Most people are anxious about the unfamiliar or unknown while some are thrilled. I am one of the latter. The idea of skiing to the North Pole had never crossed my mind until I saw a(n)________ in a newspaper looking for people to join a team that would ski 350 miles to the magnetic North Pole.

Back in 1996, a woman from the UK had never ________ this challenge. I wondered what it would be like to ________ in temperatures that cold, so I sent off for the application form. When the application form arrived, it said “Are You Man Enough for the Ultimate Challenge ” and it was full of pictures of ________ explorers. I was angry and decided that women could do it too, so it made me even more ________ to get on the team.

Over 500 individuals(个体) ________ for a place in the team, and the selection process included physical and psychological tests designed to ________ the best group. Our test was to complete the Sandhurst military assault course, where the UK’s best officers are trained, and it’s not for everyone. We had to climb a huge rope ladder, and I stopped at the top because I have a fear of ________. I thought all hope was lost. But two others helped me over, and later I found out that the organizers were not looking for amazing individuals, ________ great team players, and this moment had shown them who would ________ others in the team.

I had also shown my real self, and in a place like the Arctic, you have to be yourself, ________ there is nowhere to hide. These ________ of asking for help and showing your real self are necessary for women to master.

I realized that by being myself, I could succeed. I was chosen for the team, and as a result became the ________British woman to ski to the Magnetic North Pole. I realized that I could achieve more than I ever ________ was   possible﹣but more importantly, by sharing my story with others, I could ________ them to take a step into the unknown.

When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings. Week by week her list ______: I was very thin; I wasn’t a ______ student; I talked too much; I was too _____, always feeling superior to（胜过）others, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as I could. _____, I became very angry. I ran to my father with _____ in my eyes.

He listened to me ______, and then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder _____ you’re really like? Well, you now have that girl’s ______. Go and ____ a list of everything she said and mark the points that are ______. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”

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

I brought the list back to Daddy. He ______ to take it. “That’s just for you,” he said. “You know _____ than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to ______, not just close your ears in anger, feeling _____ when something said about you is true, you’ll find it of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your affairs. Don’t shut your ______. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”

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