When I was a kid in Minnesota, watermelon was expensive. One of my father′s friends, Bernie, was a rich businessman who owned a large store in St. Paul.

Every summer, when the first watermelons arrived, Bernie would call. Dad and I would go to Bernie′s place. We′d sit on the edge of the dock(码头), feet dangling(摇晃), and got ready for a big meal.

Bernie would take his knife, cut our first watermelon, hand us both a big piece and sit down next to us. Then we′d bury our faces in watermelon, eating only the heart—the reddest, juiciest, firmest, sweetest, most seed-free part—and throw away the rest.

Bernie was my father′s idea of a rich man. I always thought it was because he was such a successful businessman. Years later, I realized that it was not Bernie′s wealth itself but his way of dealing with it that my father liked. Bernie knew how to stop working, get together with friends and eat only the heart of the watermelon.

What I learned from Bernie is that being rich is a state of mind. Some of us, no matter how much money we have, will never be free enough to eat only the heart of the watermelon. If you don′t take the time to dangle your feet over the dock and enjoy life′s small pleasure, your work is probably hurting your life.

For many years, I forgot that lesson I′d learned as a kid on the loading dock. I was too busy making all the money I could.

Well, I′ve relearned it. I hope I have time left to enjoy the success of others and to take pleasure in the day. That′s the heart of the watermelon. I have learned again to throw the rest away.

Life is like the four seasons. Now I am very old, but when I am young, it is the spring of my life. I play a lot, and then I start school. I learn many new things. Like a flower, I grow bigger and bigger day by day. There are happy days and heartbroken days. Some days the Sun shines, the other days it rains. When I am twenty years old, I have a good job. I am strong and happy. Then I marry and have a child. In those days, I don’t have much time to think or to play. Every day, I am busy and work hard. I start to get white hair. It’s the summer of my life and it passes quickly.

Then the days get shorter. Leaves fall down from the trees. My child is a university student and then an engineer. My home is much quieter. I start walking more slowly. One day I stop working, and I retire （退休）. I have more time. I know is my autumn, a beautiful time when the trees change colour and give people delicious fruit. But the days are getting shorter and colder. Winter comes. I am older and weaker. I know I do not have many days, so I will enjoy them to the end.

You may have many dreams. Those dreams can be very big like getting a Nobel Prize, or very small like just becoming a top student in your class.

What do you do with your dream? Do you try your best to make it come true? Follow Your Heart is a book by Andrew Matthews. It tells us it’s the biggest difficulty to make our dreams come true.

There will be many problems on the way to dreams, but you must never give up because the biggest problem comes from yourself.   

Everyone can make his or her dream come true. The first thing you need to do is to remember your dream. Don’t let it leave your heart. Keep telling yourself what you want and keep working hard. Your dream will come true one day.