What to Do when You’re Falling Behind

When I was a kid, it took me longer to learn how to ride a bike. I kept using a bike with training wheels and I didn’t _______ much, so of course I didn’t learn how to balance.

One day I _______ that my sister, 2.5 years younger than me, was getting close to _______ how to ride a bike. She wasn’t quite there yet, but she was _______ much closer to balancing than I was. I couldn’t let her _______ me to it!

So I took my bike, _______ it out to the street, and decided that I was going to learn how to ride it right now. I _______ the training wheels, jumped on, and swerved (突然转向) all over the place like an out-of- control madman. I tried to stay near the grass when I could get some degree of _______, so when I fell, I’d _______ fall to the lawn instead of the street or sidewalk.

After many attempts, I finally learned how to ________ Then I rode my bike a lot that summer and have had the ________ ever since.

Up until that point, I’d been making a big deal out of the whole process. It seemed ________ and discouraging. I was afraid of falling. But once I began to face the fear and ________ the courage to risk getting hurt, I quickly showed my ________ ability on the other side with a whole new skill. From the moment of making the decision to the time I ________ to get the basic skill it probably took me less than an hour.

What finally ________ me to face the fear and take action? It was the ________ that I was falling behind. My sister was leaving me in the dust. She could ride ________ I couldn’t. I really didn’t want that to happen.

I had no idea that I could learn to ride a bike so quickly. The feeling of falling behind served as a powerful motivator (动力). ________ trying to hide the disappointment, I allowed myself to feel the weight of that pressure. I used the ________ feeling to motivate myself to take action.

Window

Bill and John, both seriously ill, lived in the same room at Marie Hospital. John lived next to the only window of the room and was allowed to _________in his bed and watch for an hour every day. But Bill had to spend all his time ________on his back.

They became friends soon and talked for hours every day. They spoke of their families, their children, their hobbies, and their _________ in the American army. Each day John would sit up and ________ to his roommate Bill what he could see outside the window.

Through John’s description, Bill’s world was ________ and brightened by all the activities and colors of the outside world. The window overlooked a beautiful park with a lovely________, John told Bill. Ducks played on the water _________ children sailed their model boats. And a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As John described all these ______, Bill would close his eyes and ______the picturesque scene. Bill was recovering ________. However, John became weak day by day.

Late one night, Bill was lying in bed _______the ceiling when John began to cough seriously. Then doctors and nurses rushed to the room. Thirty minutes later, John __________ coughing. Now, there was only silence --- ________.

The following morning, Bill was moved to the bed next to the window at his request. Slowing and ________ , he supported himself up on one elbow to take the first look. But to his _________ , he could see nothing but a _________wall.

Only at that moment did he begin to realize that the pursuit of happiness was a matter of ________. It was a positive attitude we chose to express. It was not a gift that got _________to our doorstep each morning, nor did it come through the window. It was an inward journey. Whether a man is happy or not depends on his own thoughts ________ anything outward.

So Bill began to describe the _______world to his new roommate that he saw through the only window of the room.

My mom is an awesome human being just like all other moms. She knowingly and unknowingly __   me   a   whole   lot of things about the world. The __ which I'm going to share today determined the way I __ everybody.

I was four years old. One fine afternoon , my mom and I were __ outdoors, she reading and I watching a line of   __ . I was never a naughty kid: __ I was known for keeping quiet even when things were not going my way. So I don't remember why I did this but I broke off the lines of ants and I liked it when they looked so ___ .I even went ahead and stepped on a couple of them! My mom saw this and she wasn't __ with me but she said something I still __ today. She said, "Ybu should never be __ to anybody however little they are. Everybody is different and we shouldn't treat them ___

I got upset when I heard this because I thought I had __ my mom. __ my little heart started thinking about the family of ants I had killed. It has been more than 25 years now and I've __ so many things that have happened in my life:___, I still do my best to be kind to everybody.

We should teach our young kids never to be mean to anybody. It makes a     _____when people praise other people for their efforts __ being envious, we're proud of people achieving their goals however __ they may be. When you're kind to other people, it's a __ that goes on.     It's the kind of chain reaction that uplifts the whole world— one heart at a time. I believe in the magic of.____ !