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Count Me Out

　　Call me old-fashioned．Call me old．Call me what you want, but I refuse to become part of this new Internet world．

　　I do not possess a computer at home or at the office．Actually, I stopped going to an office 35 years ago, when all communications were done with a pen, a typewriter, or, if the matter was of world-shaking importance, over the telephone．Likewise, if you like something advertised in a newspaper or magazine, you visited the shop selling it at the given address, or you phoned the number shown．Then you spoke to the fellow and asked for further details．

　　Tell me what you think of the following ad that appeared the other day in the newspaper．It was for a cure for cancer and this is what it said：“Awareness is the key．Visit spfulford．com at the awareness site．” There was no address or telephone number for the site．So what do unfortunate people without a computer do if they are seeking a cure for their illness?

　　There are, I am told, certain advantages in having access to the Internet．You can, for example, send love messages across the world or even get married to someone that you meet online．This bit doesn’t interest me; I have been happily married for 60 years．There are, of course, other activities for Internet users besides finding love．They can pay bills, order groceries, or discuss with their doctors．

　　And this is by no means all．More amazing things are yet to come in the near future．I read a newspaper report recently that quoted Stephen Hawking, an important British scientist．“The complexity of a computer as it exists today is probably less than the brain of an earthworm,” he said．“But, as technology advances, computers will become more complex, and a time may come when the Internet may develop ‘consciousness．’ In other words, the Internet will be able to think, have feelings, and may well be able to act on its own．”

　　If Professor Hawking is right, I may change my attitude to computers．As I grow older each day, I would like one of those that not only thinks for me but also accepts responsibilities for all my mistakes．

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　　When other nine-year-old kids were playing games, she was working at a petrol station．When other teens were studying or going out, she struggled to find a place to sleep on the street．But she overcame these terrible setbacks to win a highly competitive scholarship and gain entry to Harvard University．And her amazing story has inspired a movie, “Homeless to Harvard：The Liz Murray Story”, shown in late April．

　　Liz Murray, a 22-year-old American girl, has been writing a real--life story of willpower and determination．Liz grew up in the shadow of two drug--addicted parents．There was never enough food or warm clothes in the house．Liz was the only member of the family who had a job．Her mother had AIDS and died when Liz was just 15 years old．The effect of that loss became a turning point in her life．Connecting the environment in which she had grown up with how her mother had died, she decided to do something about it．

　　Liz went back to school．She threw herself into her studies, never telling her teachers that she was homeless．At night, she lived on the streets．“What drove me to live on had something to do with understanding, My understanding was that there was a whole other way of being．I had only experienced a small part of society,” she wrote in her book Breaking Night．

　　She admitted that she used envy to drive herself on．She used the benefits that come easily to others, such as a safe living environment, to encourage herself that "next to nothing could hold me down"．She finished high school in just two years and won a full scholarship to study at Harvard University．But Liz decided to leave her top university a couple of months earlier this year in order to take care of her father, who has also developed AIDS．"I love my parents so much．They are drug addicts．But I never forget that they love me all the time．"

　　　　Liz wants moviegoers to come away with the idea that changing your life is "as simple as making a decision"．

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　　During his life Dr James Naismith worked as a doctor, taught P．E and wrote several books．While he never thought it very important, Dr Naismith is today best known for one thing．He was the inventor of basketball．

　　Dr James Naismith was born in Canada in 1861 and his first job was at a special sports school in the USA．One day the school principal told James he was having a problem with the students．Because of heavy snow, the students could not go outside．He told James that they needed a sport the boys could play indoors and gave the teacher two weeks to think of something．

　　It was on the very last day that James came up with his idea．The “birth of basketball” is said to be on December 21, 1891, when two teams from the school played the first game．It was quite different from the basketball games of today．It had 9 players on each team and footballs were used instead of basketballs．Soon after, the game changed to 5 players on each side, using special “basketballs” through nets．

　　Although Dr Naismith did not live to see basketball become the worldwide game it is today, in 1936, just three years before his death, basketball became an Olympic sport at the Games in Berlin．

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　　Why should I teach my children history? That sounds like a stupid question to even ask．But, as I hear different home schooling teachers discuss history, I get the idea that there may be different reasons for teaching history．Let me briefly explain the three good reasons for studying history and two bad reasons for studying history．

　　The major reason I see for studying history is that we can learn from the past．I am convinced that the world would be a much better place if more people understood the successes and failures of the past and the things that made these successes and failures．However, as the unfortunately true statement goes "the one thing we seem to learn from history is that we don't seem to learn from history．" Perhaps at least in teaching history to my children I can do a small part in changing this．

　　A second major reason for studying history is that it is hard to understand the current political climate in the absence of an understanding of its historical context．We cannot even understand why we are and where we are without history, much less(更不必说)try to figure out where we are going or how we should get where we want to be．

　　I teach my children history, for one more reason．I purchased a set of historical audio(录音机)tapes for our children．My seven-year-old son listened to them over and over．It was my hope that he would become inspired by the accomplishments of people like the Wright brothers to accomplish things by himself．I think that it is good that we celebrate the accomplishments of people like Martin Luther King Jr．if, in doing so, young people are called on to stand for the principles that he stood for and accomplish what he accomplished．I also think that by studying people like Adolph Hitler, people can learn to stand against the things that he stood for．

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　　Once upon a time there was a wise man that used to go to the ocean to do his writing．He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work．

　　One day he was walking along the shore．As he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer．He smiled to himself at the thought that someone would dance on the beach．So he began to walk faster to catch up．

　　As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn’t dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean．

　　As he got closer he called out, “Good morning! What are you doing?”

　　The young man paused, looked up and replied, “Throwing starfish in the ocean．” “I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?” “The sun is up and the tide is going out, and if I don’t throw them in they’ll die．”

　　“But, young man, don’t you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it．You can’t possibly make a difference!”

　　The young man listened politely, then he bent down, picked another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said, “It made a difference for that one．”

　　There is something very special in each and every one of us．We have all been gifted with the ability to make a difference．And if we can know that gift, we will gain through the strength of our visions the power to shape the future．

　　We must each find our starfish．And if we throw our starfish wisely and well, the world will be better．

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　　The day was Thankful Thursday．It's a weekly tradition that my two little girls and I began years ago．Thursday has become our day to go out and make a positive contribution．On this particular Thursday, we had no idea exactly what we were going to do．At noon, I drove to a McDonald’s with my daughters because they kept complaining that they hadn’t had enough to eat at breakfast．There we saw some homeless people in the street and we bought lunch for them．

　　We were about to complete when we found a small woman standing at the corner, asking for change．We handed her some food, and then started to head home．Suddenly from the mirror of the car, I saw the woman waving at us, so I had to turn around and stopped where the small woman stood．She walked to our car, and said, "Thank you, lady! No one has ever done anything like this for me before．" I replied, "Well, I'm glad that we were the first．" Feeling uneasy, and wanting to move the conversation along, I asked, "So, when do you think you'll eat your lunch?"

　　She just looked at me with her huge, tired brown eyes and said, "Oh honey, I'm not going to eat this lunch．" I was confused, but before I could say anything, she continued．"You see, I have a little girl of my own at home and she just loves McDonald's, but I can never buy it for her because I just don't have the money．But you know what…tonight she is going to have McDonald's!"

　　I don't know if the kids noticed the tears in my eyes．So many times I had questioned whether our Acts of Kindness were too small to have effect on those poor people．Yet at that moment, I realized the truth of Mother Teresa's words："We cannot do great things－only small things with great love．"

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　　In a book called Magnificent Obsession, by Lloyd C．Douglas, a description is given of people helping others but doing it secretly．When difficult problems worried an individual, friends nearby would meet to discuss possible solution without the individual knowing their actions．When a solution was agreed upon, one or two of the friends would carry out the plan and solve the problem secretly, to the great delight of the worried individual．The helpers would stand by privately, content with their success．No reward was given to the problem solvers, not even a sincere “thank you”, because they were never known．

　　This concept is popular today but in a different way．The phrase “pay it forward” is now used when one person helps another．However, the person helped may not be able to repay the person or group that helped them．So rather than return the favor to their helpers, they are supposed to help someone else in the future, which means they pay it forward．It is a sense of responsibility which makes us want to give back in equal measure to the one who has helped us．But, in this case, the responsibility turns to helping someone in the future．

　　Suppose your elderly grandmother pays part of your schooling．She may tell you there is no need to repay her because it is a gift from someone who loves you very much．Nothing would please her more than to have you use her money to get a good education．

　　You may never be able to repay her for such a gift．However, she not only gave you some money, but she provided you with an example that you should also help other people who need it．

　　People with serious needs are everywhere．Many are children who need better clothes, more books and even better schools．Some are elderly people who can’t afford their medicine or a doctor’s care．Consider how you can “pay it forward” rather than pay money back to your grandmother．

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　　It may help you to know that there is no such thing as a perfect speech．At some point in every speech, every speaker says something that is not understood exactly as he has planned．Fortunately, the moments are usually not obvious to the listeners．Why? Because the listeners do not know what the speaker plans to say．They hear only what the speaker does say．If you lose your place for a moment, wrongly change the order of a couple of sentences, or forget to pause at a certain point, no one will be any the wiser．When such moments occur, don’t worry about them, Just continue as if nothing happened．

　　Even if you do make an obvious mistake during a speech, that don’t really matter．If you have ever listened to Martin Luther King’s famous speech－“I have a dream”, you may notice that he stumble(结巴)his words twice during the speech．Most likely, however, you don’t remember．Why? Because you were fixing your attention on is message rather than on his way of speech-making．People care a lot about making mistakes in a speech because they regard speech-making as a kind of performance rather than as an act of communication．They feel the listeners are like judges in an ice-skating competition．But, in fact, the listeners are not looking for a perfect performer．They are looking for a well-thought-out speech that express the speaker’s ideas clearly and directly．Sometimes a mistake or two can actually increase a speakers’ attractiveness by making him more human．

　　As you work on your speech, don’t worry about being imperfect．Once you free your mind of this, you will find it much easier to give your speech freely．

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　　It is a matter of common observation that although incomes keep going up over the years，people never seem to become much better off! Prices are rising continuously．The condition is termed(称作)one kind 0f inflation, the money supply is becoming inflated so that each unit of it becomes less valuable．People have got used in recent years to higher and higher rates of inflation．

　　What could be bought ten years ago for one dollar now costs well over two dollars．It seems that this rate of inflation is tending to rise rather than to fall．If in the real world our money incomes go up at the same rate as prices，one might think that inflation does not matter．But it does when money is losing value，it lacks one of the qualities of a good money---stability(稳定)of value．It is no longer acceptable as a store of value；and it becomes an unsuitable standard of deferred(延期)payments．Nobody wants to hold a wasting possession，so people try to get rid of money as quickly as possible．Inflation therefore stimulates people spending，and prevents people from saving．

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