Rick was a nice young boy who had a very bad habit of getting angry at everylittle thing. He would easily get angry at anyone and would even use foul languagesometimes. His parents and teachers often suggested him control his anger andimprove his behavior. Rick always replied，“Stop irritating1 me.

He had a soft corner for painting. So on his seventh birthday， his mom giftedhim a canvas2 and a palette3 of colors. He asked his mother， “What’s this for？”

“It’s to help you. Whenever you feel angry， just try drawing your feelings onit，”his mother said. “Just paint about whatever you feel inside and whatever youthink you want to do.”

Rick took a sheet and started painting on it. By the weekend， there wereseveral paintings in his room about his anger. One day， his mom went into his roomand found those paintings hanged on the wall. She collected some of them and tookthem to the garden and asked him about it. Then she asked him to find out thecommon thing in all of them.

Rick replied to his mother， “In all the paintings I was angry at all of them.”Mom said exactly， “You reacted to each person who said something bad about you.Your anger is their power to tease4 you.”

He said， “You are right， Mom， but what should I do？ My anger always overpowers5 me.”

His mother said， “Controlling anger is simple. If you want， I will give you anadvise. Whenever you feel angry at anyone， just take a deep breath and countnumbers in 10 to 1 order before you react. Think good thoughts and divert6yourself， you will be able to control your anger.”

Rick thanked his mother and said， “I will try this and also paint it.”Afterfollowing this Rick’s behavior changed and he was a much happier kid than beforeand started treating everyone with love.

里克是一個可愛的小男孩，但他有一個很不好的習(xí)慣，那就是遇到一點(diǎn)小事就生氣。他很容易對任何人發(fā)火，有時甚至?xí)f臟話。他的父母和老師經(jīng)常建議他控制自己的憤怒，改善自己的行為。里克總是回答：“別再惹我了?！?/p>

他對繪畫情有獨(dú)鐘。因此，在他七歲生日那天，他的媽媽送給他一塊畫布和一個調(diào)色板。他問媽媽：“這是干什么用的？”

“這是為了幫助你。每當(dāng)你感到憤怒時，試著把你的感受畫在上面?！彼膵寢屨f，“只要畫出你內(nèi)心的感受和你想做的事情。”

里克拿了一張紙，開始在上面畫畫。截至周末，他的房間里出現(xiàn)了好幾幅關(guān)于他的憤怒的畫。一天，他的媽媽走進(jìn)他的房間，發(fā)現(xiàn)墻上掛著這些畫。她拿了幾張畫帶到花園里，問他這件事。然后她讓他找出所有畫的共同點(diǎn)。

里克對媽媽說：“在所有的畫中，我都對它們感到憤怒?！眿寢寽?zhǔn)確地指出：“你對每個說你不好的人作出了反應(yīng)。你的憤怒是他們?nèi)⌒δ愕牧α俊！?/p>

他說：“你是對的，媽媽，但我該怎么辦？我的憤怒總是使我難以忍受?！?/p>

他媽媽說：“控制憤怒很簡單。如果你愿意，我會給你一個建議。當(dāng)你對任何人感到憤怒時，只需深呼吸，從10 數(shù)到1，然后再作出反應(yīng)。往好的方面想，轉(zhuǎn)移自己的注意力，你就能控制住自己的憤怒。”

里克感謝了媽媽，說：“我會試試這種方法，也會畫出來?！边@樣做之后，里克的行為發(fā)生了變化，他比以前快樂多了，開始用愛對待每個人。

▏Notes

1. irritate 激怒；引起不愉快

2. canvas 畫布

3. palette 調(diào)色板

4. tease 取笑，嘲笑

5. overpower 壓倒；使無法忍受

6. divert 分散，轉(zhuǎn)移