My Definition of Success
“Once upon a time， there was a king who had a daughter as beautiful as a blooming rose. To all the suitors who came to the king's palace to ask for the hand of the princess, the old king assigned three tasks to be accomplished, each next to wow power leveling,impossible. One day, into the king's palace came a handsome young prince..." Well, you know the rest. The three tasks may be different in different versions, but the main plot is always the same, with the prince claiming the princess's hand triumphantly. maple story mesos,
And the ending is always the same, finishing with the line "And they live happily every after."
Why aren't we tired of something so fanciful, so unrealistic, and, I would say, so unimaginative? How can a story like that endure generations of repetition`? Because, I think, it is a typical success story. It is highly philosophical and symbolic. By implication, we see a 4-step definition of success: 1 ) a goal to be set. as represented by the beautiful princess; 2 ) challenges to be met, as represented by the three tasks; 3 ) the process of surmounting difficulties, as represented by the ordeals the youth goes through; and 4 ) the reward of success, as represented by the happy marriage.
The story not only caters to everyone's inward yearning for success,(maple story mesos,) but also emphasizes the inseparability of the process and the result. The reward of success will be much amplified if the path leading towards it is treacherous, and vice versa. If a person inherits his father's millions and leads an easy life, he is not a successful person even in material terms, because there are no difficulties involved in his achieving affluence. The term "success", to be sure. will not sit still for easy definition. But as I understand it, the true meaning of success entails a combination of both the process and the satisfactory result of an endeavor. To clarify my view, let me give another analogy. maple story mesos,
If we changed the rules of football, greatly enlarged the goal and sent away David Seaman or any other goal keeper, so that another David, namely David Beckham, could score easily, then scoring would not give him the thrill of accomplishment and the joy that it brings. If we further changed the rules by not allowing Arsenal's defenders to defend, so that Beckham needed only to lift a finger,(WOW Power leveling,) actually a toe, to score, then there would be no game at all, because the meaning of winning would have disappeared. In accepting the challenge, in surmounting the difficulties and in enduring the hardship, success acquires its value. The sense of attainment varies in proportion to the degree of difficulties on overcomes.
The concept of success is not constant but relative because the nature of difficulty is also relative. Something you do effortlessly might pose a great difficulty for a handicapped person.(WOW Power leveling,) In acquiring the ability to do the same as you can, he or she achieve success. That's why we greatly admire Stephen Hawking, because, though confined to a wheel chair, he has contributed greatly to the field of science.
I myself, a rather shy person by nature who easily suffer from stage fright, had to pluck up great courage to take part in a speech contest like this. I could have stayed away and had an easy time of it by not entering the university level contest.But I chose to accept the challenge and to face the difficulties. WOW Power leveling,Now here I am. If I come out first, it will be a great success for me. If I come out last-I hope this will not be the case-but if I come out last, I will not call my attempt a failure, but will also celebrate it as a true success, because part of my goal is my own character training-to do more assertive, to be brave in face of difficulties. For me, it is a meaningful step forward, small as it is, in the long journey toward the final success in my life, because I have truly gained by participating.
Let us return to our handsome young prince and the 4-step definition of success.WOW Power leveling, You my have noticed that the usual worldly criteria of wealth, position and fame were not mentioned as part of the story, but rather, it emphasized the process of overcoming difficulties. The ancient wisdom had already defined the meaning of success, and this is my definition, too
American-made chocolate and cocoa products number in the hundreds. There is a fascinating story behind these wonderful
products.
Chocolate through the years
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The story of chocolate, as far back as we know it, begins with the discovery of America. Until 1492, the Old World knew
nothing at all about the delicious and stimulating flavor that was to become the favorite of millions. The Court of
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella got its first look at the principal ingredient(原料) of chocolate when Columbus
returned in triumph (胜利) from America and laid before the Spanish throne a treasure of many strange and wonderful
things. Among these were a few dark brown beans. They were cocoa beans, today’s source of all our chocolate and cocoa.
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The King and Queen never dreamed how important cocoa beans could be, the great Spanish explorer, to grasp the
commercial possibilities of the New World offerings.
Food of the gods(极受崇敬的人)
During his conquest of Mexico, Cortez found the Aztec Indians using cocoa beans in the preparation of the royal drink,
“chocolate,” meaning warm liquid. In 1519, Emperor Montezuma served chocolate to his Spanish guests, treating it like
a food for the gods.
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For all its royal importance, however, Montezuma’s chocolate was very bitter, and the Spaniards did not find it to
their taste. To make it more agreeable to Europeans, Cortez and his countrymen conceived the idea of sweetening it with
cane sugar（蔗糖）.
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The new drink quickly won friends. Spain wisely proceeded to plant cacao in its overseas colonies. Remarkably enough,
the Spanish succeeded in keeping the art of the cocoa industry a secret from the rest of Europe for nearly a hundred
years.
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Chocolate spreads to Europe
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Spanish monks, who had been sent to process the cocoa beans, finally let the secret out. It did not take long before
chocolate was popular throughout Europe as a delicious, health-giving food. Chocolate drinking spread across the
Channel to Great Britain, and in 1657 the first of many famous English Chocolate Houses appeared.
The 19th century marked two more revolutionary developments in the history of chocolate. In 1847, an English company
introduced solid “eating chocolate” through the development of soft chocolate, which formerly controlled the world
market. The second development occurred in 1876 in Switzerland, when Daniel Peter thought out a way of adding milk to
the chocolate, creating the product we enjoy today known as milk chocolate.
Chocolate comes to America
In the United States of America, the production of chocolate proceeded at a faster pace than anywhere else in the
world. It was in 1765, to be exact, that the first chocolate factory was established in this country.
There was once a little girl who was very pretty and delicate, but in summer she was forced to run about with bare feet, she was so poor, and in winterwear very large wooden shoes, which made her little insteps quite red, andthat looked so dangerous!
In the middle of the village lived old Dame Shoemaker; she sat and sewedtogether, as well as she could, a little pair of shoes out of old red stripsof cloth; they were very clumsy, but it was a kind thought. They were meantfor the little girl. The little girl was called Karen.
"Here, give me the little girl. I will adopt her!"And Karen believed all this happened on account of the red shoes, but the oldlady thought they were horrible, and they were burnt. But Karen herself wascleanly and nicely dressed; she must learn to read and sew; and people saidshe was a nice little thing, but the looking-glass said: "Thou art more thannice, thou art beautiful!"Now the queen once travelled through the land, and she had her little daughterwith her. And this little daughter was a princess, and people streamed to thecastle, and Karen was there also, and the little princess stood in her finewhite dress, in a window, and let herself be stared at; she had neither atrain nor a golden crown, but splendid red morocco shoes. They were certainlyfar handsomer than those Dame Shoemaker had made for little Karen. Nothing inthe world can be compared with red shoes.
Now Karen was old enough to be confirmed; she had new clothes and was to havenew shoes also. The rich shoemaker in the city took the measure of her littlefoot. This took place at his house, in his room; where stood largeglass-cases, filled with elegant shoes and brilliant boots. All this lookedcharming, but the old lady could not see well, and so had no pleasure in them.
"That must be patent leather!" said the old lady. "They shine so!""Yes, they shine!" said Karen, and they fitted, and were bought, but the oldlady knew nothing about their being red, else she would never have allowedKaren to have gone in red shoes to be confirmed. Yet such was the case.
Everybody looked at her feet; and when she stepped through the chancel door onthe church pavement, it seemed to her as if the old figures on the tombs,those portraits of old preachers and preachers' wives, with stiff ruffs, andlong black dresses, fixed their eyes on her red shoes. And she thought only ofthem as the clergyman laid his hand upon her head, and spoke of the holybaptism, of the covenant with God, and how she should be now a maturedChristian; and the organ pealed so solemnly; the sweet children's voices sang,and the old music-directors sang, but Karen only thought of her red shoes.
In the afternoon, the old lady heard from everyone that the shoes had beenred, and she said that it was very wrong of Karen, that it was not at allbecoming, and that in future Karen should only go in black shoes to church,even when she should be older.
The next Sunday there was the sacrament, and Karen looked at the black shoes,looked at the red ones--looked at them again, and put on the red shoes.
The sun shone gloriously; Karen and the old lady walked along the path throughthe corn; it was rather dusty there.
And all the people in the church looked at Karen's red shoes, and all thepictures, and as Karen knelt before the altar, and raised the cup to herlips, she only thought of the red shoes, and they seemed to swim in it; andshe forgot to sing her psalm, and she forgot to pray, "Our Father in Heaven!"Now all the people went out of church, and the old lady got into her carriage.
Karen raised her foot to get in after her, when the old soldier said,"Look, what beautiful dancing shoes!"And Karen could not help dancing a step or two, and when she began her feetcontinued to dance; it was just as though the shoes had power over them. Shedanced round the church corner, she could not leave off; the coachman wasobliged to run after and catch hold of her, and he lifted her in the carriage,but her feet continued to dance so that she trod on the old lady dreadfully.
The congregation sat in cushioned seats, and sang out of their Prayer-Books.
And the organ pealed, and the children's voices in the choir sounded so sweetand soft! The clear sunshine streamed so warmly through the window into thepew where Karen sat! Her heart was so full of sunshine, peace, and joy, thatit broke. Her soul flew on the sunshine to God, and there no one asked afterthe RED SHOES.
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