Life is filled with challenges. As we get older we _________ to realize that those challenges are the very things that _________ us and make us who we are. _________ is the same with the challenges that come with friendship.

When we are faced with a challenge, we usually have two _________. We can try to beat it off, or we can decide that the thing _________ the challenge isn’t worth the _________ and call it quits. Although there are certainly times when calling it _________ is the right thing to do, in most _________ all that is needed is commitment and _________.

When we are devoted to something, it means that no matter how __________ or how uncomfortable something is, we will always choose to __________ it and work it through instead of running away from it. Communication is making a space for discussion and talking about how you feel __________ just saying what the other person did wrong. __________ you can say to a friend, “I got my feelings hurt,” __________ “You hurt my feelings,” you are going to be able to solve the problem much faster.

In dealing with many challenges that friendship will bring to you, try to see them for __________ they are: small hurdles you need to __________ or get through on your way through life. Nothing is so big that it is __________ to get over, and hurt only __________ to make us stronger. It’s all part of growing up, it __________ to everyone, and some day you will __________ all of this and say, “Hard as it was, it made me who I am today. And that is a good thing.”

As a teenager, I was pretty lazy when it came to doing things for my family. I found myself refusing to _______ out at home with even the simplest things.

Every Wednesday afternoon, for example, my mother _______ me to another town for a piano lesson. During my two-hour lesson, she’d rush to the nearby store and buy a week’s worth of_______. Given the fact that my mom had driven me twelve miles there, twelve miles back, and _______for my lesson, you’d think I’d be very _______ to help her bring the groceries into the house. But I wasn’t. I generally just brought in an arm-load and disappeared into my room, leaving the _________ for my mom.

Don’t get me wrong. Back in my room, I felt _______ about not helping my mother more. Deep inside, I wanted to change my _______. But I also realized that once I took on more responsibility, my parents would start _______ more from me. At age fifteen, I ________ that this one small change would mark something much bigger: my personal change from a spoiled child to a more ________ young man.

I’ll never forget the Wednesday when I made a decision to ________ and see what happened. Returning home from the lesson I disappeared into my room as usual. But once inside, I felt that deep ________. I headed back to the garage to help my mother. How happy I felt that day!

Surely, over time, I continued to help out with more housework. As Mom and Dad realized they could depend on me more, our trips became far less ________, too. Sometimes the little things we put off doing the longest ________ to be the simplest things to complete.

My children gifted me a stainless steel coffee plunger (咖啡壶). I couldn’t _________ to use it, looking forward to coffee making for a peaceful day.

As I poured my first cup of coffee the plunger spilled (洒出) all over the table. _________ no one was around to see my disappointed face! I kept trying, but each morning would see me _________ the coffee. Then I realized that if I poured very slowly there would be no spilling. This was at first a very _________ experience. My normal _________ was to rush through breakfast so that I could get on with my day.

But _________ I learned not only to pour slowly but to enjoy the _________ the smell, the taste, and the stillness of a new day. It helped me to _________ on whether there were other areas of my life I was rushing through. Most of life, it seemed.

I started to leave extra time to do even the most _________ tasks. When shop owners would __________ for keeping me waiting, I’d say, “Not a problem, I'm not in a hurry.” __________ hanging out wandering became pleasurable when listening to the birds singing in the trees became part of my __________. Besides, one of my favorite experiences was spending time with strangers. We sat on the steps, with a cup of coffee in hand, listening to each other’s stories. It was one of the __________ things about living in a busy city, as if the world slowed to a __________ we could both handle.

Stillness and quietness not only slow the pace of life, but also__________ the soul, helping us to enjoy the world's small pleasures.