Once upon a time there was a child ready to be born. So one day he asked God, “They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?”

God replied, “Among the many angels, I chose one for you. She will be waiting for you and will take care of you.”

　But the child wasn*t sure he really wanted to go. “But tell me, here in Heaven, I don*t do anything else but sing and smile, that*s enough for me to be happy.”
　　“Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you every day. And you will feel your angel*s love and be happy.”

“And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me,” the child continued, “if I don*t know the language that men talk?”
　　God patted him on the head and said, “Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak.”

“And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?”
　　But God had an answer for that question too. “Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray.”
　　“I*ve heard that on earth there are bad men, who will protect me?”
　　“Your angel will defend you even if it means risking her life!”
　　“But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore,” the child continued warily.
　　God smiled on the young one. “Your angel will always talk to you about me and will teach you the way for you to come back to me, even though I will always be next to you.”
　　At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from earth could already be heard. The child knew he had to start on his journey very soon. He asked God one more question, softly, “Oh God, if I am about to leave now, please tell me my angel*s name.”
　　God touched the child on the shoulder and answered, “Your angel*s name is not hard to remember. You will simply call her Mommy.”

A Faraway Friend is someone you grew up with or went to school with or lived in the same town as until one of you moved away. Without a Faraway Friend, you would never get any mail addressed in handwriting. A Faraway Friend calls late at night, invites you to her wedding, always says she is coming to visit but rarely shows up. An actual visit from a Faraway Friend is a cause for celebration and binges of all kinds. Cigarettes, Chips Ahoy, bottles of tequila.the Former Friend. A sad thing. At best a wistful memory, at worst a dangerous enemy who is in possession of many of your deepest secrets. But what was it that drove you apart? A misunderstanding, a betrayed confidence, an unrepaid loan, an ill-conceived flirtation. A poor choice of spouse can do in a friendship just like that. Going into business together can be a serious mistake. Time, money, distance, cult religions: all noted friendship killers.

A New Friend is a tonic unlike any other. Say you meet her at a party. In your bowling league. At a Japanese conversation class, perhaps.
　　Wherever, whenever, there*s that spark of recognition. The first time you talk, you can*t believe how much you have in common. Suddenly, your life story is interesting again, your insights fresh, your opinion valued. Your various shortcomings are as yet completely invisible.

The thing that goes the farthest toward making life worthwhile,
　　That costs the least and does the most, is just a pleasant smile.
　　The smile that bubbles from the heart that loves its fellow men,
　　Will drive away the clouds of gloom and coax the Sun again.
　　It*sfull of worth and goodness, too, with manly kindness blent;
　　It’s worth a million dollars, and it doesn’t cost a cent.
　　There is no room for sadness when we see a cheery smile;
　　It always has the same good look; it’s never out of style;
　　It nerves us on to try again when failure makes us blue;
　　The dimples of encouragement are good for me and you.
　　It pays the highest interest — for it is merely lent;
　　It’s worth a million dollars, and it doesn’t cost a cent.
　　A smile comes very easy — you can wrinkle up with cheer,
　　A hundred times before you can squeeze out a salty tear;
　　It ripples out, moreover, to the heartstrings that will tug,
　　And always leaves an echo that is very like a hug.
　　So, smile away! Folks understand what by a smile is meant;
　　It’s worth a million dollars, and it doesn’t cost a cent.

　Everybody has blue days.
　　These are miserable days when you feel lousy, grumpy, lonely, and utterly exhausted.Days when you feel small and insignificant, when everything seems just out of reach.You can’t rise to the occasion.Just getting started seems impossible.On blue days you can become paranoid that everyone is out to get you.This is not always such a bad thing.You feel frustrated and anxious, which can induce a nail-biting frenzy that can escalate into a triple-chocolate-mud-cake-eating frenzy in a blink of an eye!On blue days you feel like you’re floating in an ocean of sadness.You’re about to burst into tears at any moment and you don’t even know why.Ultimately, you feel like you’re wandering through life without purpose.You’re not sure how much longer you can hang on, and you feel like shouting,“Will someone please shoot me!”It doesn’t take much to bring on a blue day.You might just wake up not feeling or looking your best,find some new wrinkles, put on a little weight, or get a huge pimple on your nose.You could forget your date’s name or have an embarrassing photograph published.You might get dumped,divorced, or fired, make a fool of yourself in public, be afflicted with a demeaning nickname,or just have a plain old bad-hair day.Maybe work is a pain in the butt.You’re under major pressure to fill someone else’s shoes,your boss is picking on you, and everyone in the office is driving you crazy.You might have a splitting headache,or a slipped dish, bad breath, a toothache,chronic gas, dry lips, or a nasty ingrown toenail.Whatever the reason, you’re convinced that someone up there doesn’t like you.Oh what to do, what to do?

Indeed, for a living being there is no such thing as true silence, for silence itself is a revelation of the mind and the heart, an echo of the soul of a different form.
　　Some people use silence as a disguise of the emptiness of the head.
　　Some use it as a means to depict their disorientation and melancholy.
　　And some use it as a way of expressing their angers and sorrows.
　　...

Silence usually is ephemeral. It reminds one of the bronze bells dangling from a pagoda*s eaves; on windless days they are a decoration upon the age-weathered beauty, but with wind they give out wonderful tinkling and jingling metallurgic sounds, as if echoing age-old stories of long, long ago...
　　Do you not think the same of silent people?

They say that "silence is golden", but of what nature is this "gold"? It can include integrity, honesty and kindness; it can stand for indifference to and detachment from fame and fortune; but it can also act as an excuse for hypocrisy, slyness and cowardice... the glittering of gold may not necessarily be the most brilliant lustre in the world.
　　Can it be that permanent silence is only represented by death?

Perhaps even death cannot represent true silence, for the carrier of the soul can turn into dust, so that the sincere and wise voices from the bottom of the heart will trigger long-lasting echoes in the seas of human hearts...

　The only problem unconsciously assumed by all Chinese philosophers to be of any importance is: How shall we enjoy life, and who can best enjoy life? No perfectionism, no straining after the unattainable, no postulating of he unknowable; but taking poor, modal human nature as it is, how shall we organize our life so that we can woke peacefully, endure nobly and live happily?

　Who are we? That is first question. It is a question almost impossible to answer. But we all agree with the busy self occupied in our daily activities is not quite the real self. We are quite sure we have lost something in the mere pursuit of living. When we watch a person running about looking for something in a field, the wise man can set a puzzle for all the spectator to solve: what has that person lost? Some one thinks is a watch; another thinks it is a diamond brooch; and others will essay other guesses. After all the guesses have failed, the wise man who really doesn*t know what the person is seeking after, tells the company:" I*ll tell you. He has lost some breath." And no one can deny that he is right. So we often forget our true self in the pursuit of living, like a bird forgetting its own danger in pursuit of a mantis which again forgets its own danger in pursuit of another.