I learned how to accept life as it is from my father. _____ he did not teach me acceptance when he was strong and healthy, but rather when he was _____ and ill. My father was once a strong man who loved being active, but a terrible illness _____ all that away. Now he can no longer walk, and he must sit quietly in a chair all day. Even talking is ______.

One night, I went to visit him with my sisters. We started talking about life, and I told them about one of my beliefs. I said that we must very often give up ______ we grow — our youth, our beauty, our friends — but it always seems that after we give something up, we gain something new in its place. Then suddenly my father ______, “Son, I gave up everything! What have I gained?” I couldn’t ______ anything to say. ______, he answered his own question, “I gained the love of my family.” I looked at my sisters and saw tears in their eyes, along with hope and ______. I was also touched by his words.

After that, when I began to feel angry at someone, I would remember his words and became ______. If he could replace his great pain with a feeling of love for others, then I should be able to give up my small anger. In this way, I learned the power of acceptance.

An Older Brother’s Gift

It was the Christmas season of 2022. Nine-year-old Jaron and his six-year-old brother, Parker, were excited. They had entered a reading _________ sponsored (赞助) by a store in their hometown. The two students who read the most books would each win a new bicycle. All they had to do was to have their parents and teachers _________ for each book they read. Two bikes were to be awarded (颁发), one for the first-to-third grade levels and one for the fourth-to-sixth grade levels.

Parker was especially excited because this was a great way for him to earn (赢得) a bike by reading books. He really _________ one. So he started to read books as fast as he could. But no matter how many books he read, someone in his grade level had read more.

Jaron had not been all that enthusiastic (狂热的) about the competition. When he went to the store and checked the chart (排行榜) with all the readers listed and how many books each had read, however, he could see that his younger brother had _________ chance of winning the competition.

Touched with the true meaning of Christmas, the joy of _________, he decided to do for Parker what he could not do for himself. He read and read. He read as much as eight hours a day. The excitement of perhaps having such a wonderful gift to give kept him going.

The _________ came when the final lists were to be turned in. Jaron’s mother took him to the store, and he turned in his list.

By reading 280 books, Jaron had won! With his parents’ help, he _________ the bicycle in his grandma’s basement (地下室) until Christmas Eve. He could hardly wait to give Parker his gift!

On Christmas Eve, the whole family gathered (聚集) at Grandma’s home for a special family home evening. They talked and laughed. Then Jaron ran to the basement where Grandma had moved the bike. The rest of the family _________ smiled while he wheeled out the two-wheeled treasure he had earned for his younger brother. Parker ran over to the bike, and the brothers hugged (拥抱) over the top of it.

I’ll always remember the first time I tried ballet (芭蕾). My mother was a dancer and I wanted _________ more than to be like her, but after making mistakes during my first class, I felt like I wanted to give up right away. _________ it was only my first day, however, I told my mom I couldn’t wait to dance again.

Weeks passed and my dancing didn’t get any better. Then my dance teacher announced (宣布) that we were going to perform in a show. I was scared of falling on my _________ in front of hundreds of people and letting my mom down.

Even though I practiced hard for the show, I _________ quite learned to do it well. Finally, I went to mom to tell her how I felt. She simply laughed and told me she would teach me all she knew about ballet.

Mom quickly discovered how bad at ballet I was, but she still taught me with the greatest patience, love and _________. When I jumped and fell, she was there to catch me. When I lost my balance, she _________ me up. By the time the show arrived, I was as prepared as I could be.

The music began and my heart started to race. Breathing _________, I began moving to the music without missing a step. When the music stopped, I _________ the stage and laughed in excitement.

My mom found me and gave me a huge hug, telling me _________ proud she was. I looked my mom in the eye and told her that there was no way __________ could have happened without her. Through the experience, I realized one important fact: My mom will always be there to catch me if I fall.