Life can bring us down from time to time. At some point, you may find yourself in what you will consider as your darkest hour. As you try to find your way out of that bad situation, you should try to remind yourself that there will always be a reason to be grateful.

If you look at your situation now and compare it with someone else who is in much deeper trouble than you, I am sure that you’ll find something to be thankful for. We all have our share of problems, but complaining about them so much only makes us blind to the fact that there are the miracles (奇迹) which happen around us each day.

When all your needs are provided, then you should be content and happy. If you have a roof over your head, some proper clothes to wear, enough food on the table, a comfortable place to sleeping, clean water to drink and you are free to make your own choices, then you should be happy and grateful. Many people all around the world especially those who are at war or those in very poor countries, would give anything to be in your shoes.

Even if you lose all your money or possessions and your heart is broken for some reason, as long as you are still alive, then everything you have lost can be regained. If you have a few good friends who will be there to support or help you, then you will be glad because true friends are hard to find. As long as you have someone to love and someone to love you back, then you are a very fortunate person. Remember to be patient and trust that things will get better.

In September, I received a message from my third-grade son's school that he was reading at a second-grade level. I was a bit alarmed by the news. For one, my son is old for his class; for another, I am a reading lover and believe in the power of books.

So the fact that my own son - who is bright and scores extremely high in math - was struggling in reading hit me a little, but it was not a surprise. Like many children, he fell behind during the pandemic, and our efforts to make him get caught up at home were pretty ineffective. For example, as parents, we didn't do a good enough job of finding the right books to naturally arouse his interest and curiosity. Another issue was that at some point he began to feel self-conscious about reading, which created a strong dislike of books.

About two months ago, I had just finished reading a story to my 6-year-old son who shares a bedroom with his older brother. I went to flick the light off when my older son said something I'd never heard before

“Can I read for just ten more minutes?” he asked, showing me his book on professional football players.

I of course readily gave my approval and told this to my wife. “They're doing a reading competition at school, which is about boys against girls,” she said. “Every minute of his reading is now added to their score. So now he wants to read - because it's a competition.” Over the next several weeks. my son leapt nearly two reading levels.

I don't doubt that some will look at this strategy with disdain (鄙视). We're taught today that competition is stupid, even harmful. This is nonsense, of course. It's the force that drove Roger Bannister to break the four-minute mile. It's given us the achievements of Michael Phelps and Michael Jordan. We should recognize that competition is a healthy force. It's capable of not only lifting tens of millions of people from poverty but also galvanizing (激励) a 9-year-old child into pushing himself to read. That's power.

In 1971 a young man who grew up very poor was traveling across the country，trying to make a new start for himself. Along the way he had completely run out of money and was forced to spend the night in his car.

This continued until one morning，after a week of sleeping in his car，he walked nervously into a diner and ordered a big breakfast. After eating his first good meal in weeks，he found himself lying to the waiter，telling him he had lost his wallet. The waiter，who was also the owner，walked behind the chair where the young man had been sitting.

He bent down，and took out a $20 bill that looked as if it had fallen on the floor. “Son，you must have dropped this，” the owner said. The young man couldn't believe his ear! He quickly paid for the breakfast，left a tip，bought gas with the bill，and headed West.

On the way out of town，he understood. “Maybe nobody dropped the money at all. Maybe that owner just knew I was in trouble and he helped me in a way that didn't embarrass(使困窘) me. I'd been praying for a few days before that，and right then I just made an engagement．I said，‘If ever I have a chance to help other people，I will do it.’”

Now older，the man lives in Kansas City. Each year he gives away thousands of dollars. He is known as the “Secret Santa(圣诞老人)，” because at Christmas time each year，he personally hands money out to those on the street，and at diners. Last year，he gave more than $50，000 away in Kansas City.