At the age of forty-five, my usually well-ordered life became full of changes. After twenty-two years of working in a bank, a plan to use less staff led to the unemployment of over one hundred people. Unluckily, I was one of them.

My once secure future became uncertain. However, I was not a single parent, so the family did not depend only on my income and my husband can support the family. My motto has always been, “Change is good; change is progress”, but when it affected my livelihood, I had to change it. “Accept change and make the most of it.” From the beginning, I chose to look at this matter not as bad luck, but as a welcome chance. I refused to become sorry; instead, I actively planned to do something new and different.

Having a positive attitude made all the difference in the way I pursued the future. First, I decided to return to college and graduate many years later than I should have. Doing this at my age took more than a little courage. Not being a graduate had never held me back in my career in the bank, but now it’s a personal goal I longed to achieve. With a lot of determination, I went to evening classes and became an adult student. In the class, I became more and more confident. During this time, I realized that no matter what life throws in our way, nothing can hinder our personal growth.

The second thing I did to improve my inner self was to reevaluate my past life. It used to be filled with endless, and sometimes meaningless events. But now, my heart and life are completely around people I care for.

The loss of my job led to some positive changes in my life. Revisiting the past made room for the future. I realize that I have accepted the change, and am making the most of it.

Mr.Bean is an internationally recognized comedy character on TV and in films. He constantly gets into awkward and absurd situations, which greatly amuses audiences regardless of their nationalities or culture. The humor is always made clear through a series of simple and funny acts that rely purely on body language, which is universal.

One of the remarkable shows is that Mr.Bean has a meal in a fancy restaurant. After being seated at his table, Mr.Bean takes out a card, writes a few words on it, seals(密封) it in an envelope and places it on the table. After a moment, he looks back at the envelope but this time he looks surprised, as if he did not know it was there. He opens it to find a birthday card and delightedly puts it on the table for everyone to see.

When he looks at the menu, an astonished look swiftly appears on his face. He takes all the money out of his wallet, counts it and puts it in a saucer(茶托)．He then looks from the menu to the money with concern until he finds one thing that makes him smile. Then he orders a dish called "steak tartare". When the dish arrives, he is shocked to discover that "steak tartare" is actually raw hamburger. He makes an attempt to eat it, but it is clear from the look on his face that he finds the taste truly disgusting. He cannot hide his feelings, except when the waiter asks if everything is all right. When this happens, he smiles and nods, indicating that everything is fine. When the waiter is not looking, however, he busies himself hiding the raw meat anywhere he can reach-the sugar bowl, the tiny flower vase, inside a bun(小圆面包) and under a plate. He becomes so desperate in the end that he even hides some inside the purse of a woman sitting near him and throws some down the trousers of the restaurant's violinist!

Most of us are familiar with the Sunday scares. Marisa Jo Mayes knew those feelings all too well. Sick of the “instant panic” she felt upon waking up, in 2022, she decided Mondays didn’t have to be so stressful. She started a routine (常规) of Bare Minimum Mondays, which has become a hit on TikTok. The idea is to focus on just two or three important things on Mondays, while looking after your mental health.

Writing in Insider, Mayes explained she doesn’t do any work for the first two hours on Monday mornings — no meetings, no technology — while instead focusing on starting the day feeling good. When she starts work tasks around 10 a.m., she makes sure they’re creative tasks she enjoys. She does that for about an hour, and then takes a break. After that, it’s time to work, meaning no distractions until she gets her main work tasks done, which usually takes two or three hours.

Mayes said Bare Minimum Mondays has changed her life after experiencing burnout (过度劳累) from her old work routine. “Giving myself actual permission to just do the least amount of work possible that day was extremely relaxing, because I’d got used to believing that my worth is directly tied to my productivity and output,” she said. “So relieving that pressure and choosing to let myself off the hook (摆脱困境) was a much-needed change of mindset going into the beginning of the week, which suddenly allowed me to be productive again.”

David Yadush is a doctor. He said Bare Minimum Mondays could help reduce stress and burnout by giving people time to focus on their mental health. He added that burnout decreases the quality of work, so sometimes reducing how much we work could actually have better results.

Of course, not everyone can do this every Monday. But Yadush said just taking breaks often at work and going to bed early on Sundays could help, too.