An old woman had two large pots, one on each end of a pole（扁担）. She _______ with the pots on her shoulder. One of the pots had a crack（裂缝）in it, while the other pot was perfect and was always _______ of water. At the end of the long walk from the local well（井） to the woman’s house, the cracked pot arrived only half-full.

This happened daily for two years, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was _______ . But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection（不完美）.

One day, the cracked pot spoke to the woman while they were at the well. “I am ashamed of myself _______ this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house, ” it said. The old woman smiled and said, “ Did you _______ that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pots side? That’s because I have _______ known you were cracked. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path. And every day while we walk back, you water _______ . ”

“ For two years, I have been able to _______ these beautiful flowers to decorate my dining table. Without you being just the way you are, I would not have this _______ . ”

Each of us has our own cracks. But it’s these cracks that make our lives so ________ and beautiful.

One day, a mother duck and her ducklings were on their way to a lake. All of a sudden, the mother duck saw a fox. She became ________ and shouted, “Children, hurry to the lake. There’s a fox! ”       

The ducklings hurried ________ the lake. The mother duck began to walk back and forth, dragging (拖拽) one of her ________ along the ground. When the fox saw her, he was quite pleased. He said to himself, “It looks like she’s hurt and can’t fly! I can ________ catch and eat her!” He ran towards her.

The mother duck led the fox away from the lake. The fox ________ her. Now he wouldn’t be able to harm her ducklings. The mother duck ________ her ducklings and saw that they had reached the lake. She was relieved (放心的). She stopped and took ________. The fox thought she was tired and he came closer. ________ the mother duck quickly spread her wings and flew into the air. She landed ________ the lake and her ducklings swam to her.

The fox was very upset. The mother duck had tricked him. Now he could not ________ them because they were in the middle of the lake.

I was the tallest girl in my class when I started school. It made me feel _______ and I believed that I looked very fat and ugly. The small girls were seen as smarter, so they were more popular and got more _______ from teachers. I began to hate myself _______ not being small when I was seven years old, and by adulthood, I felt sad about my appearance(外表).

I didn't dare to look into the mirror _______ one day my friend pulled me to the mirror to let me see that I had a good figure. It's true that I was in good shape. Then I did something kind for _______ —I bought a beautiful dress for myself. I felt very happy! I always thought following others could make me more popular. But it's hard to be happy when you don't see your own _______.

Each small kindness I did for myself made me _______ myself more. I'd do something loving and feel happier. That focus on myself grew into deep self-love.

Today my self-love is very _______. It has helped me develop self-confidence and helped me _______ myself from an unhappy school teacher to a popular writer. Now I am seen as a very beautiful woman.

Please join me in taking steps to develop self-love. Every little loving act you do for yourself helps you build ________.