A Cry for Gentleness
　　—By Deborah Simmons

　　If there’s one thing in this world I can address with a fair amount of confidence and mounds of past experiences, it’s self-improvement ... or rather the pursuit of it. I’ve been chasing down the perfect Deb for years, and while I may have succeeded in some areas (not the perfect part, just some improvement here and there), there are many others in which I have failed miserably. Still, I’ve managed to muddle1 through thus far and so, armed with the knowledge that nothing worthwhile comes without honest effort, and I continue my quest.

　　如果这世上有一件事能让我满怀信心地去追求，并有我自己的大量经历作依据，那就是自我完善，或者说是对它的追求gESj3a(V8LE。我已经对完美的自我追求很多年了，尽管我在某些方面取得了成功(当然谈不上完美，只是一些方面的提高和改善)，但我还是在许多方面败得一塌糊涂crkkb1Oy.,f。一直以来，带着世上不存在不劳而获的信念，我设法应对追求过程中的各种问题，我将继续我的追寻oS-yqt=WK-c~fJTZy。

　　Self-improvement comes in many forms and while physical, mental and emotional development are important (and believe it or not, I’ve worked diligently on all of those for the past half century), the passing years have convinced me that a person’s temperament2 is another important piece of that complicated puzzle we call fulfillment.

　　自我完善有很多种，尽管体魄、精神和情感上的完善很重要(信不信由你，过去的这半个世纪以来我一直在这些方面坚持不懈地努力着)，可是岁月却让我确信一个人的性情也是我们称之为“成就”这一复杂问题的一个重要方面b0PlTKZl19.-iMH。