最美的心(The Most Beautiful Heart)
One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered, and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a flaw in it.

一天，一位年轻人站在城镇的中央，宣布他的心是整个山谷中最美丽的心。围观的人很多，他们都称赞年轻人的心的确是完美无缺，并没有一点伤痕瑕疵。

Suddenly, an old man appeared and said, "Why, your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine."

突然，一位老人出现在人群中，说：“你的心不如我的美丽。”

The crowd and the young man looked at the old man's heart. It was full of scars, it had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but they didn't fit quite right, and there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing.

围观者和年轻人都朝老人的心看去：它布满了伤疤，有的地方被挖去又重新填补上，但修补得不甚完整，留下一些参差不齐的疤痕。实际上，有的地方缺失了整块，甚至露出很深的豁口。

The young man laughed. "Comparing your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars."

年轻人笑了起来：“我们两人的心相比，我的是那么完美，而你的却是一堆伤疤。”

"Yes," said the old man, "Yours looks perfect but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love. I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often they give me a piece of their heart that fits into the empty place in my heart. But because the pieces aren't exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared.

“是的，”老人说，“你的心从表面来看很完美，但我绝不会跟你交换。你看，每个伤疤都代表我为别人献出的一份爱——我掏出一块心给他们，他们常常会掏出自己的一块回赠给我，以填补我的空缺。但由于这两块不完全一样，伤口的边缘就留下了疤痕，不过我十分珍惜这些疤痕，因为它们使我想起我们共同拥有的爱心。”

"Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn't returned a piece of his or her heart to me. These are the empty gouges -- giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for those people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?"

“有时我送出了一瓣心，其他人并没有回赠给我，因此就出现了这些豁口——献出爱也是需要冒风险的。尽管这些豁口很疼，我还是让它们敞开着，因为它们能使我想起我付出的爱。我希望有一天，得到爱的人们能够回来填补上我心里的空间。你现在明白什么是真正的美丽了吧？”

The young man walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man.

年轻人默默走近老人，把手伸进自己完美的心中，撕下一块来，把它献给这位老人。

The old man placed it in his heart, then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man's heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.

老人接过馈赠，把它放进自己的心里。然后他从自己疤痕累累的心里掏出一块，放在年轻人心里的那个伤口上。正好放进去，但不是特别吻合，也出现了一些疤痕。

The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man's heart flowed into his.

年轻人看着自己的心，看起来不再完美但比以前更美丽了，因为老人心中的爱也流淌到了他的心里。

They embraced and walked away side by side.

他们拥抱着，肩并肩离开了。

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　　人生的大石头(Big Rocks)
One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget.

一天，时间管理专家为一群学生讲课。他现场做了演示，给学生们留下了一生都难以磨灭的印象。

As he stood in front of the group of overachievers he said, "OK, time for a quiz." He pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouth jar and set it on the table in front of him. He also produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?"

站在那些高智商高学历的学生前面，他说：“我们来做个小测验”，拿出一个一加仑的广口瓶放在他面前的桌上。随后，他取出一堆拳头大小的石块，仔细地一块放进玻璃瓶。直到石块高出瓶口，再也放不下了，他问道：“瓶子满了？”

Everyone in the class yelled, "Yes." The time management expert replied, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar, causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. He then asked the group once more, "Is this jar full?"

所有学生应道：“满了！”。时间管理专家反问：“真的？”他伸手从桌下拿出一桶砾石，倒了一些进去，并敲击玻璃瓶壁使砾石填满下面石块的间隙。“现在瓶子满了吗？”他第二次问道。

By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"

但这一次学生有些明白了，“可能还没有”，一位学生应道。“很好！”专家说。他伸手从桌下拿出一桶沙子，开始慢慢倒进玻璃瓶。沙子填满了石块和砾石的所有间隙。他又一次问学生：“瓶子满了吗？”

"No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good." Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?" One eager student raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!"

“没满！”学生们大声说。他再一次说：“很好！”然后他拿过一壶水倒进玻璃瓶直到水面与瓶口平。抬头看着学生，问道：“这个例子说明什么？”一个心急的学生举手发言：“无论你的时间多少，如果你确实努力，你可以做更多的事情！”

"No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is if you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all. What are the 'big rocks' in your life? Time with your loved ones, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching or mentoring others? Remember to put these big rocks in first or you'll never get them in at all."

“不！”时间管理专家说，“那不是它真正的意思，这个例子告诉我们：如果你不是先放大石块，那你就再也不能把它放进瓶子了。那么，什么是你生命中的大石头呢？也许是你的道德感、你的梦想？还有你的---切切记得先去处理这些大石块，否则，一辈子你都不能做！”

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　　竹子的启示（The Lesson of the Bamboo Trees）
One of my fondest memories as a child is going by the river and sitting idly on the bank. There I would enjoy the peace and quiet, watch the water rush downstream and listen to the chirps of birds and the rustling of leaves in the trees. I would also watch the bamboo trees bend under pressure from the wind and watch them return gracefully to their original position after the wind had died down.

When I think about the bamboo tree's ability to bounce back or return to its original position, the word "resilience" comes to mind. When used in reference to a person this word means the ability to readily recover from shock, depression or any other situation that stretches the limits of a person's emotions.

Have you ever felt like you are about to snap? Have you ever felt like you are at your breaking point? Thankfully, you have survived the experience to live to talk about it.

During the experience you probably felt a mix of emotions that threatened your health. You felt emotionally drained, mentally exhausted and you most likely endured unpleasant physical symptoms.

Life is a mixture of good times and bad times, happy moments and unhappy moments. The next time you are experiencing one of those bad times or unhappy moments that take you close to your breaking point, bend, but don't break. Try your best not to let the situation get the best of you.

A measure of hope will take you through the unpleasant ordeal. With hope for a better tomorrow or a better situation, things may not be as bad as they seem to be. The unpleasant ordeal may be easier to deal with if the end result is worth having.

If the going gets tough and you are at your breaking point, show resilience. Like the bamboo tree, bend, but don't break!