Last year I decided to do some volunteer work. I began to1on the Internet and discovered Volunteer USA. Three months later I2myself on a plane to Phoenix, Arizona. I was3at the thought of living with loads of new people for three months. However, within fifteen minutes of4, my worries had gone. Everyone was so5and like-minded that it was very6to feel at home.

I was sent to the Coronado National Forest for my first 8-day7. We had to8everything we needed and walk three miles to where we worked. It may not seem like a9way but in 35℃ heat and with a heavy pack, my legs were on fire.

My job was to10a stairway out of rock. This11climbing up and down the side of a mountain inhabited (栖息) by mountain lions, although I should say they were only heard,never12.

Three days later, a beautiful stairway came into being. The13of knowing that my14will be on that mountainside for years to come is massive.

But on the last night we were15in a thunderstorm. I woke up at midnight to find a swimming pool in my tent. The temperature was close to16. I had to spend the rest of the night trembling in the only17part of my tent.

18, I suffered a lot. But I know whatever I have to face in my life I was there and I19. I think I am much20for having taken part in the project.

    Since our twins began learning to walk, my wife and I have kept telling them that our sliding glass door is just a window. The 1 is obvious. If we 2 it is a door, they'll want to go outside 3. It will drive us crazy. The kids apparently know the 4. But our insisting it's 5 a window has kept them from 6 millions of requests to open the door.

    I hate lying to the kids. One day they'll 7 and discover that everything they've always known about windows is a 8.I wonder if 9 should always tell the truth no matter the 10. I have a very strong 11 that the lie we're telling is doing 12 damage to our children. Windows and doors have 13   metaphorical (比喻) meanings. I'm telling them they can't open what they absolutely know is a door. What if later in 14 they come to a metaphorical door, like an opportunity (机会) of some sort, and 15 opening the door and taking the opportunity, they just 16 it and wonder, "What if it isn't a door?" That is, "What if it isn't a 17 opportunity?"

    Maybe it's an unreasonable fear. But the 18 is that I shouldn't lie to my kids. I should just 19 repeatedly having to say, "No. We can't go outside now." Then when they come to other doors in life, be they real or metaphorical, they won't 20 to open them and walk through.

       Since finishing my studies at Harvard and Oxford. I've watched one friend after another land high-ranking, high-paying Wall Street jobs. As executives(高级管理人员) with banks, consulting firms, established law firms, and major corporations, many are now1on their way to impressive careers. By society's2 , they seem to have it made.

        On the surface, these people seem to be very lucky in life. As they left student life behind, many had a 3 drink at their cheap but friendly local bar, shook hands with Longtime roommates, and4 out of small apartments into high buildings. They made reservations at restaurants where the cost of a bottle of wine 5 a college year's monthly rent. They replaced their beloved old car with expensive new sports cars.

The thing is, a number of them have  6 that despite their success, they aren't happy. Some 7 of unfriendly coworkers and feel sad for eight-hour workweeks devoted to tasks they  8 . Some do not respect the companies they work for and talk of feeling tired and9. However, instead of devoting themselves to their work, they find themselves working to support the 10to which they have so quickly become 11 .

People often speak of trying a more satisfying path, and 12 in the end the idea of leaving, their jobs to work for something they 13 or finding a position that would give them more time with their families almost always leads them to the same conclusion; it's 14 . They have loans, bills, a mortgage（抵押贷款）to 15 , retirement to save for. They recognize there's something 16 in their lives, but it's 17 to step off the track.

         In a society that tends to  18  everything in terms of dollars and cents, we learn form a young age to consider the costs of our 19   in financial terms. But what about the personal and social costs  20  in pursuing money over meaning? These are exactly the kinds of us tend to ignore — and the very ones we need to consider most.