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something about college


One of my friend said :”high school student celebrate happily after the university entrance examination. They think they have ean away from the hell.But in fact they leave the heaven.”

College,in the eyes of most people, indeed means “easy , free , forgiving , attentive , comfortable , interesting , unchallengeing fun “.However, it leads to only “pas” or even “fail” at last .Gradually we adapt to this kind of life : too much freedom , unorganized , careless , like a frog in the warm water , which is heating.When the water become too hot , we are unable to escape from it .The “ comfortable” life makes us forget how intelligent we were in the past . Now we are accustomed to the low mark ,do thing perfunctorily and mediocre words.Even when we fail , we will be accustomed to the life full with fails in the unfar future when we set foot in the cruel society .

In my mind . college is place where has a chance with both advantages and disadvantages . When we pay all attention to organize our college life and balance the study and relax reasonably, we can catch  the chance with advantages; while we miss in the “colorful” world of entertainment we meet all the disadvantages and fall into hell.So all of all is depent on yourself , we do a choice—a big choice full of challenges.

 

Achieving contentment

Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.” – Socrates

There were many reasons that we chose to become minimalist and simplify our lives. We were frustrated with clutter. We discovered the time that was wasted managing our possessions. We realized that joy was not found in our possessions. And we determined that we value other things far more than physical belongings. This initial process of simplifying our home required energy, effort, and encouragement.

But the process of remaining minimalist and living this counter-cultural lifestyle against all odds requires something completely different. It requires contentment. Contentment is the lifeblood of minimalism. And without it, the journey towards minimalism is short-lived. Discontent will always rear its ugly head and become the great obstacle to fully thriving in a simple life.

Not only does contentment provide the opportunity for minimalism, it also reduces your stress level, improves your outlook, relaxes your body, and makes your life enjoyable. There is an unmistakable freedom that follows contentment: a freedom to be who you are, enjoy who you are, and live the life you were destined to live.

Yet in our consumeristic-culture where discontent is promoted and material gratification is encouraged, learning to be content can be very difficult. It is certainly a personal journey that we all must travel and nobody's journey will look the same. Truly, there is no one-size-fits-all, seven-step program to fully-attain contentment in your life… but here are six keys that have helped us further develop contentment in our lives:

 

英语美文:Achieving contentment 知足常乐

 

1. Become grateful.

It is impossible to develop contentment without gratitude – they are inseparable. And a grateful person is one who has learned to focus on the good things in their life, not the things that they lack. When you begin to question what you have to be grateful for, just start making a list – a literal list of all the good things in your life. Don't worry about finishing, you don't need to. The simple discipline of beginning the exercise will undoubtedly shift your focus back to the many good things you already have.

2. Take control of your attitude.

A person who lacks contentment in their life will often engage in "when and then thinking" – "when i get _______, then i will be happy." instead take control of your own life. Remember, your happiness is not reliant on the acquisition of any possession. Your happiness is based solely on your decision to be happy – and this may be one of the most important life lessons you can ever learn.

3. Break the habit of satisfying discontentment with acquisitions.

For many of us, it has been ingrained into our lives that the proper way to diffuse discontent is to purchase the outward item that is seemingly causing the discontentment. Almost no energy is spent determining the true root of the discontent. Are you dissatisfied with your wardrobe? Go buy new clothes. Not content with your vehicle? Go buy a new one. We have gotten into the habit of satisfying our discontent by simply spending more money. We must break that habit. Understand that material possessions will never fully satisfy the desires of your heart (that's why discontent always returns). The next time you recognize discontentment surfacing in your life, refuse to give into that bad habit. Instead, commit to better understand yourself and why the lack of that item is causing discontent. Only after you intentionally break this habit will true contentment begin to surface.

4. Stop comparing yourself to others.

Comparing your life with someone else's will always lead to discontentment. There will always be people who "appear" to be better off than you and seemingly living the perfect life. But be advised, we always compare the worst of what we know about ourselves to the best assumptions that we make about others. Their life is never as perfect as your mind makes it out to be. You are unique. You are special. And it's always better that way.

5. Help others.

When you begin helping others, sharing your talents, time and money, you will find yourself learning to be content. The practice will give you a finer appreciation for what you own, who you are, and what you have to offer.

6. Be content with what you have, never with what you are.

Never stop learning, growing, or discovering. Take pride in your personhood and the progress that you have made, but never become so content that you cannot find room for improvement. Contentment is not the same as complacency. As soon as you stop growing, you start dying

The salty coffee

英语美文:The salty coffee 咸味咖啡

He met her at a party. She was so outstanding, many guys chasing after her, while he was so normal, nobody paid attention to him.

At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee with him, she was surprised but due to being polite, she promised. They sat in a nice coffee shop, he was too nervous to say anything, she felt uncomfortable, and she thought to herself, "Please, let me go home..."

Suddenly he asked the waiter, "Would you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee." Everybody stared at him, so strange! His face turned red but still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it. She asked him curiously, "Why you have this hobby?" He replied, "When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea, I liked playing in the sea, I could feel the taste of the sea, just like the taste of the salty coffee. Now every time I have the salty coffee, I always think of my childhood, think of my hometown, I miss my hometown so much, I miss my parents who are still living there." While saying that tears filled his eyes. She was deeply touched. That's his true feeling, from the bottom of his heart. A man who can tell out his homesickness, he must be a man who loves home, cares about home, has responsibility of home... Then she also started to speak, spoke about her faraway hometown, her childhood, her family.

That was a really nice talk, also a beautiful beginning of their story. They continued to date. She found that actually he was a man who meets all her demands; he had tolerance, was kind hearted, warm, careful. He was such a good person but she almost missed him! Thanks to his salty coffee! Then the story was just like every beautiful love story, the princess married to the prince, and then they were living the happy life... And, every time she made coffee for him, she put some salt in the coffee, as she knew that's the way he liked it.

After 40 years, he passed away, left her a letter which said, "My dearest, please forgive me, forgive my whole life's lie. This was the only lie I said to you - the salty coffee. Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous at that time, actually I wanted some sugar, but I said salt. It was hard for me to change so I just went ahead. I never thought that could be the start of our communication! I tried to tell you the truth many times in my life, but I was too afraid to do that, as I have promised not to lie to you for anything... Now I'm dying, I'm afraid of nothing so I tell you the truth, I don't like the salty coffee, what a strange bad taste... But I have had the salty coffee for my whole life! Since I knew you, I never feel sorry for anything I do for you. Having you with me is my biggest happiness for my whole life. If I can live for the second time, still want to know you and have you for my whole life, even though I have to drink the salty coffee again."

Her tears made the letter totally wet. Someday, someone asked her, "What's the taste of salty coffee?" She replied, "It's sweet."

A Fat Tax for America?

An obese man running
The proposal aims to encourage people to be healthy.

 

If a new idea in America becomes a law, people who suffer from obesity could suffer financially too.

The US state of Arizona wants to charge overweight citizens $50 (325 Yuan) annually if they fail to follow their doctors' advice. People with children or who are overweight because they suffer from a medical condition would be exempt.

If the idea is approved by Congress, smokers and diabetics who fail to stick to a healthy lifestyle will also have to pay.

Medicaid, the organisation which provides healthcare to the poor in the USA, costs the government $339bn (2.2 trillion Yuan) a year. Monica Coury, assistant director at Arizona's Medicaid programme, said that this proposal would ask people to give something back.

She said that Arizona would take a carrot and stick approach to the problem. As well as penalising people who go against their doctor's wishes, incentives would be offered for following advice, possibly a keep-fit video.

Arizona's senator Kyrsten Sinema has not backed the plans, saying that there isn't a system to decide whether someone is or isn't following medical advice. Other critics claim that people don't need the government to look after them; if they want to be fat and smoke, the 'nanny state' shouldn't try to stop them. Wes Benedict of the Libertarian Party said:

"If you want to save the state money... cut Medicaid across the board, but don't single out overweight people and smokers."

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My late view

 I need to say sorry first.It is a bit late for me to make this comment. After reading Jacob Neusner's commencement,I have to say it sounds like a joke.W hat he describes is wrong in my mind~He ignores the pressures and hard time students go through to make it at college.Especially when students are confronted with midexam and final exam.He doesn't necessarily knows that students face mountain pressure.They have to review their lessons.When they fail in the exams,theie is no doubt that that's the worst news.It means they have to take a make-up test ,which wastes time~ Worse still,if they fail the make-up test,it will become a stain in their college life.

  All in all,I don't agree with Jacob Neusner