After a tearless farewell with my daughter, we left her new dorm room, but then in the campus we saw her jogging against the August heat. I quickly ________ down the car window and Sarina turned, nodded at us and merrily waved goodbye. I was in ________ why the tears hadn’t come when we ________ on her first day in university.

Our first ________, the day she left my body, was a nightmare of pain and suffering. However, our togetherness following the birth was so ________ that I felt her small body still seemed to be ________ to mine. In the years to come, the sound of her feet running around our house was like the gentle pounding that ________ me that my little girl was here and that someday she would run to the ________ I couldn’t follow.

Last year Sarina turned 16 and decided to ________ art in college. She was in excitement about college life with so much to anticipate, but I was ________ because it would be a long plane ride away from home. I tried to imagine what separation would be like, but I couldn’t. Separation, although on the horizon, ________ felt distant.

Until the next morning when I awoke in a house ________ of her footsteps, the ________ ultimately came and wouldn’t stop. I understood that Sarina had left the house, and I held onto the memory of her ________. When the tears stopped, I was relieved that with our love and support, she had the courage to ________ an unfamiliar distance, to glance back, yet to keep moving forward.

Margie was the best hostess. She greeted everyone at the door, and she _____ candies and offered drinks. Margie _____ that everyone had a good time and that absolutely everything was _____ . But this was not Margie’s party. She was a _____   at the party like everyone else, and yet she acted as if she owned the _____ . She wants to be _____   and needs to be in control. I used to be like Margie, _____   to control the uncontrollable. I felt _____ the feelings and actions of the people around me. My body ached due to the weight I put on my own _____ .

One day while I was out with a friend, I realized how far my desire for _____   had gotten. As I talked to my friend, a stranger’s towel was blown away. I _____ in vain for the towel. My friend called me on it and I _____   realized the extent (程度) my sense of responsibility had gotten. Realizing I was _____   living my life, I had to make a(n) _____ .

If we turn to _____ ,we see that it does not fight for control. A stream does not try to _____   its own course; water simply flows the path of least resistance (阻力). A _____   does not create an exact flight plan; a plane trusts its inner guidance system and adapts _____ to new wind currents (气流).

Next time you try to control the uncontrollable, take a breath. ____   and wait. You will find things can be better, with less effort, and in _____ ways you could not have imagined. And you will find a love of life again.

I was excited for being invited to my friend Tom's birthday party. But two days later, my best friend called and invited me to go to Disneyland with her family. I loved Disneyland so I was ________ to go. So I ran to ask my mom. That's when my mom ________ me that Tom's party was on the same day. She said I couldn't change my ________ just because of something better.

I was mad. My ________ about going to the birthday party was gone. Tom's party would be ________ but not as fun as a whole day at Disneyland. I cried and ________ my mom. She said no. I tried every ________ I could think of. But my mom asked me to think about how I would feel if someone did that to me. Although I didn't want to ________ it, my mom was right. It would ________ my feelings if someone did that to me.

So on Tom's birthday, my mom ________ me off at Tom's home. I went inside ________. But something ________ happened after I got there. ________ the fact that I hadn't wanted to go, I had a great time!

On my way home, I told my mom all about the fun things. She was glad that I'd had a good time and told me that she was ________ of me for understanding the importance of ________ promises. Not only did I have a great time, but I learned an important lesson.