We can reduce the importance of the contradictory information- “All kids (孩子) get into mischief (顽皮) . Taking a book from the bookstore isn’t such a big deal. ” We can change the meaning of the contradictory information-”It wasn’t shoplifting because he was going to pay for it later.”…

Alex Elman runs a big business—something hard to imagine after she lost her sight in her twenties. But Elman says that losing her sight helped her focus on finding success.

Elman’s father planted a hillside vineyard in western Massachusetts in 1981. It’s where Elman fled during the darkest period of her life. When she was 27 years old, she went blind due to complications from juvenile diabetes (幼年型糖尿病) 17 years ago. She recalled, “I hid in my home. I hid in the place, to me, that was the safest place in the world.”

Elman is now the founder of Alex Elman Wines, a growing portfolio (股份) of organic wines from all around the world: Chianti from Italy, Torrontes from Argentina. Elman doesn’t work alone. Her assistant a guide dog named Hanley, is something of a wine snob, and quite a beggar. Hanley travels to all of the wineries that Elman does, from South America to Europe.

At first, Elman resisted the idea of a seeing-eye dog. Now it’s hard to imagine her life, or her business, without him. She said, “When someone tells me something is organic and I don’t really believe it because I taste something funny on it, I’ll put it in front of his face and if he likes the wine, he’ll actually go in and sniff (嗅) it. If it’s not right, he’ll turn his head away...He gets in the dirt with me. He scratches around. He makes sure that we see earthworms and butterflies. That’s how we know that the soil is actually organic, that there are no chemicals.”

Elman told CBS News she believes the loss of her vision was a gift. She said, “It allowed me to pay attention to what I thought was important and also to be able to teach people that the broken hang nail is not a big deal, you know what I mean? Don’t sweat the small stuff. Don’t sweat the big stuff either.”

Dreams come true through actions, and the best action is to set and achieve goals. Realizing your goals is important. As you realize your goals, you will find relief from many problems that seem to trouble you. 【小题1】 With the following of plans and actions come achievements, success, and accomplishments.

Self-realization is an understanding of your direction in life. If you understand your direction, you will see what you must do to achieve your goals. 【小题2】 This action of achievement makes you feel satisfied and complete. Even if only for a few hours, it still feels good.

【小题3】 If a person doesn’t have goals, he often feels a lack of purposes, wondering what the purpose of life is. The real meaning of life is growth. When something is growing, it is alive. For us humans we stop physically growing around the age of 21, so after that milestone we can only continue to grow mentally, spiritually, and psychologically. 【小题4】 Having a purpose in life provides principles, ideas, motivation and a reason to live. If you have a purpose, you will feel competent and confident. This takes you to your goals since you focus on your objective in life.

【小题5】 For instance, a short-term goal is to walk around the block without stopping, then to run around the block without stopping, and then to increase the distance every time a goal is reached until the final goal of running a marathon is accomplished. If you start by trying to run the marathon, you will fail, but by starting with smaller goals, you will succeed.