When my daughter was diagnosed with a rare disease in 2015, I lost myself in the endless pursuit to save her. I began to dive into different communities to find anything and everything I could to help her. I spent most of my time researching and making phone calls. We would end up traveling to Philly every year, sometimes many times a year.

We were not prepared for everything that was to come in the following years. At 2 years old, Jordyn gave her first step. She had her first disease attack, but it didn’t seem to affect her development. But in the summer of 2018, Jordyn had a horrible attack. She hasn’t been the same since. She gradually lost her ability to crawl, walk and even sit up on her own. She now struggles to hold her head up and her energy level has dropped too low.

I’ve gotten really good at dealing with my emotion. Looking back, I guess I’ve always been that way. It takes a lot of energy for a mother when she knows that only a miracle will keep her daughter. The truth is, though, sometimes I just want to scream. It’s the lie I tell myself that I can keep moving forward.

Hug your babies tight and appreciate them for every little thing they can do. Be in the moment and try to give them space when they make a mistake. It’s not a sign of weakness, but rather, a sign of bravery.

Rules of Life

Imagine life as a game in which you are playing some five balls in the air. You name them: work, family, health, friends and spirit, and you're keeping all of these balls in the air. You will soon understand work is a rubber ball. 【小题1】 But the other four balls are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be worn off, marked, damaged, or even broken into pieces. They will never be the same. 【小题2】 How?

Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself to others. It is because we are different and each of us is special.

Don't set your goals by what other people consider important. 【小题3】

Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart. Hold on to them as you would to your life, for without them, life is meaningless.

Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us each together.

【小题4】 It is by taking chances that we all learn how to be brave.

Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been, but also where you are going.

Don't forget that a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated. Don't be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily. Don't use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved (挽回).

Yesterday is a history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. 【小题5】

The secret to happiness is keeping busy, research has found. Keeping the mind occupied with tasks—no matter how meaningless—keeps off negative emotions, the study found.

However, the bad news is that humans are seemingly born to be lazy in order to save energy, according to Professor Christoper Hsee, a behavioral scientist at Chicago University.

In a study, 98 students were asked to complete two surveys. After they had completed the first, they were made to wait 15 minutes to receive the next one. They were given a choice of either handing in the first survey nearby or a more distant location they had to walk to. Whichever option they chose, they received a chocolate bar. It turned out that about two-thirds (68 students) chose the lazy option. Those who had taken the walk reported feeling happier than those who had stayed put.

Professor Hsee concluded that keeping busy helped keep people happy. He said the findings, reported in the journal Psychological Science, had policy implications (暗示).

“Governments may increase the happiness of idle (无所事事的) citizens by having them build bridges that are actually useless,” he proposed.

At the personal level, he advised, “Get up and do something. Anything. Even if there really is no point to what you are doing, you will feel better for it. He added, Incidentally, thinking deeply or engaging in self-reflection counts as keeping busy, too.

“You do not need to be running around. You just need to be engaged, either physically or mentally.”