I was excited to take my rescue Beagle (比格犬) to the river the other day, as it’s within walking distance of our new home. Having spent her first six years in a cage, Georgie had never seen a body of water, and I wanted to get there before sunset to watch her experience it.

I was growing increasingly impatient about all the stops her little Beagle nose required. She inspected the grass, dirt, and trees, and licked (舔) whatever was stuck to the road. These were all new discoveries for her, and she took her time studying them.

When I accepted that it was fruitless to hurry her along, I whipped out my cell phone and began texting. I thought that I needed something to do while Georgie was slowing us down. Then, for some reason, I heard the cicadas (蝉) ,and I remembered that the sound of cicadas is my favorite sound in the world. That awakened something buried within me that longed for the simple pleasures that had been replaced by technology.

I made a conscious decision to be present, and to enjoy the journey to the river Just like Georgie. Now, I admired the flowers and the winding ivy on our path. I smelled the grass and the flowers, and the dirt and the air. I treasured each one equally, as if discovering them for the first time.

As we neared our destination,1 realized something even more important: It didn’t matter if we even reached the river. Why must there always be a destination? Georgie had no idea that we had a destination. She was present for the journey, and she savored every bit of that sweet experience. There was no race and no finish line.

Now I’m not sure who rescued whom.

MOST of us pay a lot of attention to others.But we forget to look deeper into ourselves.

If you're not feeling good about your life, wake up now.You can change the course of your life by becoming your own life coach.

Life coaching is a profession in some Western countries.It helps people identify and achieve personal goals in life, work and relationships.Clients hire a life coach and speak to them each week.The coach usually examines what is going on in the person's life to find out what the obstacles or challenges might be.The coach helps them choose a course of action to make their life what they want it to be.

Start by writing down decisions you've made that turned out OK.Next, list decisions you've made that you regret.

As you make your lists, notice the power of a decision.Sit down and take time to think about the different decisions you might make.Decision-making power constitutes most of the power you have in life.

Coach yourself with words of self-encouragement that give you strength.

Talk to yourself to focus your energy in the right direction.

Jeff Brunson is a professional life coach.

"Everything you choose in life should be based on what you value." he says."It takes time to look with in to figure this out."

Jeff’s philosophy is this: If you value sincerity and honesty, don't hang out with dishonest people.

If you value home life, don't marry a party animal.

Coaching yourself is about choosing better thoughts to make sure you have personal power.

You can choose better thoughts by "reframing".This is where you go back in life to heal something from the past.

It works like this:

-Select something negative that happened to you.Choose an event you would not want to live through again.

-Try to find good things from the bad event.For example, if your home was lost in a flood, write down all the good deeds your neighbors performed.

-Now revisit a bad event and see how much of it you can "reframe".

When I think of the word “perfect”, I think of something only a few can achieve, like high beauty standards (标准), the super smart girl in my class, or anything that I can compare myself to.

For a few weeks now, I have been noticing this one girl. She has wonderful long dark brown hair, big blue eyes, and the most beautiful face. She always wears the prettiest clothes and seems to be the most popular girl in school, at least from my point of view. It seems like she has a perfect life, lost of friends, all A’s, and everything anyone could ever want.

One day, I was in language arts talking to my teacher about one of the upcoming tests, when I saw the girl staring at me in a strange way. I immediately started to be anxious and think, “Why is she looking at me? Did I do something wrong? Is my hair messed up?”

When the class was over and everyone was rushing to their next class, she caught up with and said, “I think you are really pretty.” I replied, “Oh my god, thank you!” I then watched her as she walked away and thought, “She thinks I am pretty?”

The whole day, I ended up thinking about one thing. That was, “Why does she think that?” After thinking about that topic in my head through each second of the day, I came to learn one big lesson: Everyone has their own insecurities (不安全感) even though it may not seem like in on the outside. In this case, I was thinking that she was everything I wanted to be and she thought the same of me.

We are just us and that’s OK. When I really look at myself, not from my point of view but a fresh one’s, I do see everything I want to be. I see a beautiful, smart, kind girl who is unique.