Gillian Lynne never did well at school as a child. She couldn’t keep sitting quietly for long. Her mother was worried and took her to a doctor. For twenty minutes, the mother talked about the problems Gillian had at school. Finally, the doctor said to Gillian, “I need to speak to your mother privately (私下). Wait here, and we’ll be back soon.” Then the doctor turned on the radio on his desk. When they got out of the room, he said to Gillian’s mother, “Just stand here and watch her.” The minute they left the room, Gillian began to dance to the music.

They watched for a few minutes and the doctor said to the mother, “Mrs. Lynne, Gillian isn’t sick. She’s a dancer. Take her to a dance school.”

So she did. Gillian’s new dance school was full of people like her. They loved to move to think. Later Gillian went to the Royal Ballet School and became a great dancer. After leaving the school, she worked for some successful musicals (音乐剧).

It’s hard to believe that years ago, somebody would let her take medicine to keep quiet.

A young man with excellent grades wanted to get a job in a big company. He met the manager for the interview. The manager asked, “Who paid for your education?”

“My parents.” The young man replied.

“Where do they work?”

“They work as clothes cleaners.”

Then, the manager asked the young man to show his hands. He found the young man’s hands were so smooth, and asked, “Have you ever helped your parents wash the clothes?”

“Never.”

“Now go home and clean your parents’ hands, then see me tomorrow morning.”

The young man felt upset. When he got home, he asked his parents to let him clean their hands. They felt strange but happy. While the young man was cleaning their hands, he found his parents’ hands were so wrinkled (起皱的), and there were so many bruises (瘀伤) in their hands. His tears fell. After cleaning his parents’ hands, he quietly washed all the rest of clothes.

The next morning, he went to the manager’s office. The manager asked him, “Can you tell me what you did and learned yesterday in your house?” He told the manager all he did with tears in his eyes and added, “Now I know what appreciation (感激) is. Without my parents, I would not be who I am today... By helping my parents, I realize how much they’ve done for me. And I also realize the importance and value of helping one’s family.”

The manager smiled and said, “This is what I’m looking for.”

One day, two boys were fighting badly over a toy. Their father saw this. He pulled (拉) them apart, and said, “Did you know how the hunter caught monkeys long ago? The hunter would put a small-neck jar (小口颈的罐子) on the ground. Then, inside the jar, he would put the monkeys’ favorite food.”

As the children listened carefully, the father went on, “The hunter would hide somewhere, waiting for monkeys to come over.”

“When a monkey found the jar,” the father said, “it would reach inside jar, take the food, and try to pull it out. But here’s the clever part: The small-neck jar stopped the monkey from getting its hand out without giving up the food.”

“No matter how hard the monkey pulled,” the father continued, “it couldn’t free its hand without letting go of the food. But do you know what happened next?”

The children shook their heads, asking, “What?”

The father said, “The monkey always refused to let go. It held onto the food, never giving up.”

One child asked, “What happened to the monkey, Dad?”

With a smile, the father said, “The hunter would then come over and catch the monkey, my dear. So, my little sons, remember this story. In life, you must choose your battles (战斗) wisely. Know when to give up, when to move on, and when to let go of whatever is holding you back. Just like the monkey, sometimes, it’s better to give up and find a better way to reach your dreams.”