When they came closer to me, I turned my head toward the girl and gave her a wink. As I took the money from her grandparents, I looked back at the girl, who was giving me the prettiest, largest smile I had ever seen.

About ten years ago when I was a student in college, life was hard for me then. Both my parents had lost their jobs, so I worked at my University's Museum in my spare time. One day while working in the gift shop, I saw an old couple come in with a little girl in a wheelchair.

As I looked closer at this girl, I found that she had no arms or legs, just a head, neck and torso. She was wearing a pretty white dress, also a little red cap.

All of a sudden her handicap was gone and all I saw was this perfect girl. I was deeply moved by her smile, and almost immediately she gave me a completely new sense of what life is all about. She took me from a poor, unhappy college student and brought me into her world: a world of smiles, love and warmth.

That was ten years ago. I'm a successful business person now and whenever I am in low spirits and think about the troubles of the world, I'll think about that little girl and the lesson about life that she taught me, so I will never lose courage.