We come by business naturally in our family. Each of the seven children in our family worked in our father's store._________we worked and watched, we learned that work was about more than_________and making a sale.

One lesson stands out in my _________. It was shortly before Christmas. I was in the eighth grade and was working evenings, straightening the toy section. A little boy, five or six years old, came in. He was_________a brown torn coat with dirty sleeves. His shoes were scuffed (磨破) and his one shoelace was torn. The little boy looked poor to me — too poor to_________to buy anything. He looked_________the toy section, picked up this item and_________, and carefully put them_________in place.

Dad came down the stairs and walked over to the boy. His steel blue eyes_________and the dimple (酒窝) in his cheek stood out as he asked the boy what he could do for him. The boy said he was looking for a Christmas______________for his brother. I was impressed that Dad treated him with the same respect as any adult. Dad told him to take his______________and look around. He did.

After about 20 minutes, the little boy carefully picked up a toy______________, walked up to my dad and asked, “How much for this, Mister?”

The little boy held out his hand and______________it. His hand was creased (起皱) with______________lines of dirt from holding his______________too tightly. In his hand______________two dimes, a nickel and two pennies-27 cents. The price on the toy plane he'd picked out was $3.98.

"That'll just______________it." Dad said as he______________the sale. Dad's reply still______________in my ears. When the little boy walked out of the store, I didn't notice the dirty, worn coat or the single torn shoelace. What I saw was a happy child with______________.

To escape my mother's firm grasp, I rushed forward. However, I made a vain _______. She insisted it would only_______for a second, and then it would be all over. But inside my four-year-old mind, I could only_______ great pain. Fearful tears streamed down my light pink cheeks_______ she slowly lifted up mu shirtsleeve. I attempted to break _______again, but she was clever and held me tight. She stared at the Band-Aid(创可贴) on my skin, urging me to _______, and she placed her hand on my pale skin, and in one quick movement, _______ the Band-Aid. I screamed.

Ever since that _______day twelve years ago, I have not been a fan. of Band-Aids. Their _______is to protect a wound, but is it really worth the suffering one ________at the end of it? Life gave me the ________I have been called “the indecisive one” in my family for years. Whether I am asked to make simple decisions about what to have for dinner or what movie to watch, my________is typically a meaningless shrug(耸肩).

One day, while I was driving a car, I came across a ________Superheroes by The Script filled me with a powerful feeling,________ me not to be afraid of decisions. I realized that in past years, the trust bonds I formed with others had been broken, which led me to being________. The faith and love I placed in a friend ________ after he repeatedly betrayed me. I built a firm wall around myself. The situation was like Band-Aids that________ pain.

Replaying the song over and over again, I made the ________to rip off(撕掉) the Band-Aids. It was. ________ that it would not be easy and that ________ did exist, but it had to be done.

When young, I loved going on trail runs. It was my favorite way to _________ stress. So, when I was back in my hometown after a _________ first year of my Ph. D. program. I thought a trail run was just what I needed. But instead of helping me relax, the run did just the _________.

After I moved to the city for college, where my runs were on flat concrete paths instead of _________ dirt trails, I used a GPS watch. When I went on trail runs again in the country, it constantly reminded me of the fact that I wasn’t _________ up with my usual pace. I _________ my watch, thinking that would allow me to enjoy my _________ and find the peace I expected, but I found myself under performing. “Why can’t I let go and just enjoy myself?” I wondered. But after some _________, I realized why I was _________ both on trail runs and in graduate school.

Going into my Ph.D., I had thought that I would do well. To my surprise, I was wrong. I __________confidence in my research abilities which I-thought stopped me performing well and I constantly felt my progress was too slow. Other students’ self-confidence and their excellent results made me feel __________.

Then came my visit home. I was having __________ because I hadn’t properly __________ my expectations to the differences between an urban run and a trail run.

A Ph. D. is like a trail run. Sometimes you can run fast. Sometimes you might climb at snail’s pace. And that’s OK. Barriers are __________. Sometimes it’s best to take a deep breath and do your best to __________ the challenge.