Someone said “we are reading the first verse of the first chapter of a book, whose pages are infinite”。 I don’t know who wrote these words, but I’ve always liked them as a reminder that the future can be anything we want it to be. We are all in the position of the farmers. If we plant a good seed ,we reap a good harvest. If we plant nothing at all, we harvest nothing at all.
We are young. “How to spend the youth?” It is a meaningful question. To answer it, first I have to ask “what do you understand by the word youth?” Youth is not a time of life, it’s a state of mind. It’s not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips or supple knees. It’s the matter of the will. It’s the freshness of the deep spring of life.
A poet said “To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour. Several days ago, I had a chance to listen to a lecture. I learnt a lot there. I’d like to share it with all of you. Let’s show our right palms. We can see three lines that show how our love.career and life is. I have a short line of life. What about yours? I wondered whether we could see our future in this way. Well, let’s make a fist. Where is our future? Where is our love, career, and life? Tell me.Yeah, it is in our hands. It is held in ourselves.
We all want the future to be better than the past. But the future can go better itself. Don’t cry because it is over, smile because it happened. From the past, we’ve learnt that the life is tough, but we are tougher. We’ve learnt that we can’t choose how we feel, but we can choose what about it. Failure doesn’t mean you don’t have it, it does mean you should do it in a different way. Failure doesn’t mean you should give up, it does mean you must try harder.
As what I said at the beginning, “we are reading the first verse of the first chapter of a book, whose pages are infinite”。 The past has gone. Nothing we do will change it. But the future is in front of us. Believe that what we give to the world, the world will give to us. And from today on, let’s be the owners of ourselves, and speak out “We are the world, we are the future.”
（二）
Learn How to Say No
We've all been taught that we should help people. It is the right thing to do and will make us popular with others. It may even win us favors in return. However, we must be realistic. We can't say yes to every request. If we did, we would fail or go crazy for sure. Sometimes we simply don't have the time to help. In this case, we must know how to say no politely.
When we need to say no, here is one method we can try. First, we should tell the truth. If we really can't do something, we should just say so. Second, we should remember to refuse requests politely. We must communicate clearly, but must also be sincere and sympathetic. A true friend will understand. Finally, we must not feel guilty about saying no. Sometimes refusing others is the right thing to do. It can save ourselves, and them, a lot of trouble. In short, we cannot please everyone all the time. Refusing favors is a part of life.
（三）
I received a devastating blow to my self-confidence in the first interview of my college years. I applied to be a host in our Student Acting Troupe and felt confident that I would be accepted. But one of the panel members told me: "You seem inadequate and you are a little vertically-challenged." My life has never been the same since. I used bigger heels to complement my height and psychological maneuvers and tricks to hide my lack of confidence. But no matter how hard I tried to look the part, there was still something missing.
As president of English Club, I organized the rehearsal of Snow White for an English party. Unfortunately, we could not find an actor to be the last dwarf. It had to be someone who was humorous by nature and fluent in English. Suddenly, all eyes turned to me, and I knew I would have to be the dwarf. To my great surprise and delight, once on stage, I was totally absorbed in the performance and my humorous nature was put to full use. As the dwarf, I was a big hit.
Yes, each of us is only one among millions of others, but each of us is an individual and each of us is unique. Cultivating our individuality will transform our lives, making of them a kaleidoscope of new colors and textures.
A world deprived of diversity would be a bland and boring place. The real tragedy is not being short or shy or ugly, but having your identity lost in a world in which everyone is a clone of a model cool boy or a flawless charming girl.
Given a choice, I would rather be ugly than live in such a world. I'd rather be a genuine dwarf accompanying a Snow White than be a Snow White among nothing but Snow Whites. I would rather be myself. I would contribute my individual and unique colors to create a more diverse universe. Please, be yourself.