Perseverance (坚持)

What's the key to perseverance? Putting one foot in front of the other will get you the finish line, but there are tools you can use to help you face down challenges, meet your goals and truly enjoy the process, rather than just getting by. 【小题1】

Know what you want. Maybe your goal is specific. 【小题2】 Or maybe it's a more general goal, like aiming to be a happier person. Either way, the path toward meeting your goals will be much clearer if you know what you really want.

【小题3】 The first challenge you likely meet is improving your self-confidence. It's really difficult to make progress unless you believe you're capable of persevering. However difficult your goals may seem to reach now, you have the intelligence and power to make it.

Face reality. Having the ability to stare life's challenges in the face is a big advantage. 【小题4】 When a big problem arises, it's so much easier to ignore it or put off making a decision. Practice seeing challenges for what they are so you can figure out the best way around, over or through them.

Learn from your mistakes. You won't always find your way on the first try. Wisdom is gained by making lots of mistakes and trying something different the next time around. Think about what has happened. 【小题5】

Even now, almost a year after their astonishing act of group heroism, the dozens of people who risked their lives to save two boys from drowning in Panama City Beach, are still remembered.

The story began on July 8, 2017. Members of the Ursrey family, eight in total, were enjoying an evening together at the beach. As the sun sank lower on the horizon（地平线）, the two boys—Noah, 11, and Stephen, 8—took their skateboards and walked into the waves without the grown-ups noticing. When the boys were about 70 yards from shore, they realized that the ocean pulled them out to sea. After trying and failing to paddle（涉水）back, they started waving and screaming for help. But the lifeguards had clocked out for the evening.

The boys had been struggling for several minutes when Brittany and Tabatha Monroe, a married couple from Georgia, wandered by. They didn’t see the boys at first, but they heard them.

They jumped into the water and easily reached the brothers, who were still in fairly shallow water. The woman reassured the frightened boys and seized their skateboards, telling them they would be safe and then discovered that they, too, were now in a world of trouble. They couldn’t get back to shore and could barely and only occasionally hit the sandy bottom with their feet. After a few minutes, it was clear to the woman that they were all trapped in a terrible whirlpool.

Then scores of tourists were walking to them, hand in hand, forming a line. Soon the first person held the woman’s hand. In turn, her husband and the two boys joined her. The long line moved slowly until they were back to the safety of the beach.

The rescuers call it the Human Chain. But it was the deeply “human” aspect of the rescuers’ cooperation（合作）that made it so astonishing and successful.

Our news is constantly filled with the reality of death and dying. And each of us, if we live long enough, experiences the loss of persons we loved. Children ages eight through ten were asked what they thought about death,and these are some of their answers:

“When you die,God takes care of you like your mother did. When you were alive,only God doesn’t yell at you all the time.’’(Beth,9)

“When you die,they bury you in the ground and your soul goes to heaven,but your body can’t go to heaven because it’s too crowded there already.” (Jimmy, 8)

“Only the good people go to heaven. The other people go where it’s hot all the time like in Florida. ” (Judy,9)

“Doctors help you so you won’t die until you pay their bills.”(Stephanie,9)

I've observed that the loss of a loved one can be one of the most difficult things we humans can face. I’ve known friends of sick and dying people to sit by a bedside or in a hospital room for hours,even days, at a time. I've seen food in homes of people who are dying overflow from kitchen to dining room—food brought by comforting friends from church and con cerned neighbours. And I've observed friends just listen for as long as it takes.

When U.S. Congressman Sam Rayburn (1882—1961) discovered that he was ill,he announced to the House of Representatives he was going home to Texas for medical tests. Some wondered why he did not stay in Washington where there were excellent medical facilities. His answer was a beautiful tribute (颂词) to friendship:"Bonham is a place where people know it when you’re sick,and where they care when you die. ”

No one wants to go through difficult times alone. So Rayburn traded the best of medical technology for the closeness of loving friends. He knew that good friends are good medicine. Often the best.