Feed Your Mind

  Since the pre-historic times, man has had an urge to satisfy his needs. Be it hunger, shelter or search for a mate, he has always manipulated the circumstances to the best of his advantages. Probably this might be the reason why we human are the most developed of all living species on the earth, and probably also in the universe. As we climbed the steps of evolution with giant leaps, we somehow left behind common sense and logical thinking — we forgot that we have stopped thinking ahead of times.

   If you are hungry, what do you do? Grab a piece of your favorite meal and stay quiet after that? Just like your stomach, even your mind is hungry. But it never lets you know, because you keep it busy thinking about your dream lover, favorite star and many such absurd things. So it silently began to heed to your needs and never let itself grow. When mind looses its freedom to grow, creativity gets a full stop. This might be the reason why we all sometimes think "What happens next?", "Why can't I think?", "Why am I always given the difficult problems?" Well this is the aftermath of our own karma of using our brain for thinking of not-so-worthy things.

   Hunger of the mind can be actually satiated through extensive reading. Now why reading and not watching TV? Because reading has been the most educative tool used by us right from the childhood. Just like that to develop other aspects of our life, we have to take help of reading. You have innumerable number of books in this world which will answer all your “How to?” questions. Once you read a book, you just don't run your eyes through the lines, but even your mind decodes it and explains it to you. The interesting part of the book is stored in your mind as a seed. Now this seed is unknowingly used by you in your future to develop new ideas. The same seed if used many times, can help you link and relate a lot of things, of which you would have never thought of in your wildest dreams! This is nothing but creativity. More the number of books you read, your mind will open up like never before. Also this improves your oratory skills to a large extent and also makes a significant contribution to your vocabulary. Within no time you start speaking English or any language fluently with your friends or other people and you never seem to run out of the right words at the right time.

  Actually, I had a problem in speaking English fluently, but as I read, I could improve significantly. I am still on the path of improvement to quench my thirst for satisfaction. So guys do join me and give food for your thoughts by reading, reading and more reading. Now what are you waiting for? Go, grab a book, and let me know!

充实你的思想

自史前时代起，人类就已有满足自己需求的强烈欲望。无论是饥饿、避难或寻觅配偶，人类总是操纵着环境使其达到最利于自己的状态。这或许解答了为什么人类是地球上甚至是宇宙中最高级的现存物种。然而在进化的阶梯上取得巨大飞跃之时，我们却不知何故将一些常识和逻辑思维抛诸脑后了——我们忘记了自己已经停止了超前思维。

如果你饿了，你会怎么做？抓起你最喜爱的美食饱餐一顿，然后静静地呆在那里？而你的大脑也像你的胃，是会感到饥饿的，但它却从不让你知道，因为你让它一直想着你的梦中情人、你最喜爱的明星和许多诸如此类的荒唐事。因此它只是默默地留意着你的需要却从不让自己成长。当思维恣意成长时，创造力就嘎然而止。这也许就是为什么我们有时会想“下一步该如何”、“为什么我想不到？”、“为什么我总是碰到难题？”的原因吧。这也是我们的大脑总在考虑那些毫无价值的事情产生的后果。

事实上，思维的饥荒可以通过广泛的阅读来满足。为什么是阅读而不是选择看电视呢？因为自孩提时代起，读书就已经是最具教育性的工具了。正如人生发展的其他方面一样，我们不得不求助于阅读。世界上有无数书籍可以回答你“如何做”的问题。读书时不仅要用眼睛浏览文字，还要用脑去解读、诠释。书中有趣的部分就会像种子一样贮存在你的脑海里。将来你会不自觉地运用这粒种子引发新的想法。多次运用这粒种子将有助于你把许多事情联系起来，即使你做梦都想不到这些！这不是别的，就是创造力！你读的书越多，你的心智就会前所未有地开阔。而且这还会大幅度地提高你的演讲能力、丰富你的词汇量。你很快就能用流利的英语或别的语言与你的朋友或别人交谈，而且你再也不会在适合的场合缺少适合的词语。

  实际上，我的英语还是不够流利，但只要我阅读，我就会取得显著进步。现在我仍在“自我提高”、为头脑“解渴”的长路上跋涉。请加入到我的行列吧！通过阅读、阅读、再阅读来为你的思想“喂食”。你还在等什么？现在就拿起一本书让我瞧瞧！

If the Dream is Big Enough

I used to watch her from my kitchen window, she seemed so small as she muscled her way through the crowd of boys on the playground. The school was across the street from our home and I would often watch the kids as they played during recess. A sea of children, and yet to me, she stood out from them all.

I remember the first day I saw her playing basket ball. I watched in wonder as she ran circles around the other kids. She managed to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the net. The boys always tried to stop her but no one could.

I began to notice her at other times, basketball in hand, playing alone. She would practice dribbling and shooting over and over again，sometimes until dark. One day I asked her why she practiced so much. She looked directly in my eyes and without a moment of hesitation she said, “I want to go to college. The only way I can go is if I get a scholarship. I like basketball. I decided that if I were good enough, I would get a scholarship. I am going to play college basketball. I want to be the best. My Daddy told me if the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.” Then she smiled and ran towards the court to recap the routine I had seen over and over again.

Well, I had to give it to her—she was determined. I watched her through those junior high years and into high school. Every week, she led her varsity team to victory.

One day in her senior year, I saw her sitting in the grass, head cradled in her arms. I walked across the street and sat down in the cool grass beside her. Quietly I asked what was wrong. “Oh, nothing,” came as oft reply. “I am just too short.” The coach told her that at5’5”she would probably never get to play for a top ranked team—much less offered a scholarship—so she should stop dreaming about college.

She was heartbroken and I felt my own throat tighten as I sensed her disappointment. I asked her if she had talked to her dad about it yet.

She lifted her head from her hands and told me that her father said those coaches were wrong. They just did not understand the power of a dream. He told her that if she really wanted to play for a good college, if she truly wanted a scholarship, that nothing could stop her except one thing — her own attitude. He told her again, “If the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.”

The next year, as she and her team went to the Northern California Championship game, she was seen by a college recruiter. She was indeed offered a scholarship, a full ride, to a Division I, NCAA women’s basketball team. She was going to get the college education that she had dreamed of and worked toward for all those years.

  It’s true: If the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.

心中有目标，风雨不折腰

我以前常常从厨房的窗户看到她穿梭于操场上的一群男孩子中间，她显得那么矮小。学校在我家的街对面，我可以经常看到孩子们在下课时间打球。尽管有一大群的孩子，但我觉得她跟其他的孩子截然不同。

我记得第一天看到她打篮球的情景。看着她在其他孩子旁边兜来转去，我感到十分惊奇。她总是尽力地跳起投篮，球恰好越过那些孩子的头顶飞入篮筐。那些男孩总是拼命地阻止她，但没有人可以做得到。

　　我开始注意到她有时候一个人打球。她一遍遍地练习运球和投篮，有时直到天黑。有一天我问她为什么这么刻苦地练习。她直视着我的眼睛，不加思索地说:“我想上大学。只有获得奖学金我才能上大学。我喜欢打篮球，我想只要我打得好，我就能获得奖学金。我要到大学去打篮球。我想成为最棒的球员。我爸爸告诉我说，心中有目标，风雨不折腰。”说完她笑了笑，跑向篮球场，又开始我之前见过的一遍又一遍的练习。

　　嘿，我服了她了——她是下定了决心了。我看着她这些年从初中升到高中。每个星期，她带领的学校篮球代表队都能够获胜。

　　高中那会儿的某一天，我看见她坐在草地上，头埋在臂弯里。我穿过街道，坐到她旁边的清凉的草地上。我轻轻地问出什么事了。“哦，没什么，”她轻声回答，“只是我太矮了。”原来篮球教练告诉她，以五英尺五英寸的身材，她几乎是没有机会到一流的球队去打球的——更不用说会获得奖学金了——所以她应该放弃想上大学的梦想。

　　她很伤心，我也觉得自己的喉咙发紧，因为我感觉到了她的失望。我问她是否与她的爸爸谈过这件事。

　　她从臂弯里抬起头，告诉我，她爸爸说那些教练错了。他们根本不懂得梦想的力量。他告诉她，如果真的想到一个好的大学去打篮球，如果她真的想获得奖学金，任何东西也不能阻止她，除非她自己不愿意。他又一次跟她说：“心中有目标，风雨不折腰。”

　　第二年，当她和她的球队去参加北加利福尼亚州冠军赛时，她被一位大学的招生人员看中了。她真的获得了奖学金，一个全面资助的奖学金，并且进入美国全国大学体育协会其中一队女子甲组篮球队。她将接受她曾梦想并为之奋斗多年的大学教育。

　　是的，心中有目标，风雨不折腰