"By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity — another man's, I mean," wrote Mark Twain.

If you're reduced to human resources, there's wisdom as well as wit in Twain's quip. Severe personal adversity has a way of undoing us. The self-assured masks we love to wear become difficult to maintain.

Taylor, age 10, knows what it's like to be embarrassed: "Once I remember I was not doing good in my baseball game. I really wasn't batting or fielding well, so I ...

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