Happiness is important for everyone. Most people want to be happy,  (1)  few know how to find happiness. Money and success alone do not   (2)  lasting happiness. Happiness depends on ourselves. In other words, we make our own happiness. Here are  (3)  ways help you be happier.

  (4)  secret of happiness is to enjoy the simple things in life. Too often, we spend so much time thinking about the future-- for example, getting into college or getting a good job--that we fail to enjoy the   (5)  . You should enjoy life’s simple pleasures, such as   (6)  a good book, listening to your favorite music, or spending time with close friends. People who have several close friends tend to live happier and healthier lives.

The second secret to leading a happy life is to be active. Many people experience this dancing, or playing a sport. You can forget about your problems, and  (7)  think about the activity.

Finally, many people find happiness in helping   (8)  . According to studies, people feel good when they volunteer their time to do many meaningful things for other people. If you want to feel happier, do   (9)  for someone. You can help a friend   (10)  his or her studies, go shopping to get food for an old neighbor, or simply help out around the house by washing the dishes.

One day, a donkey (驴) and a monkey were talking together about how unhappy they were.

“My ears are so long that all the animals laugh at me,” said the donkey. “I wish that I had two beautiful horns (角) on my head.”

“You look well enough,” said the monkey. “But just look at me. Every time I turn my back, the other animals laugh at me.”

“Why do the other animals laugh at you?” asked the donkey. “You look all right to me.”

“They laugh at my funny-looking tail (尾巴),” said the monkey. “In fact, if I have a great tail, I will be a beautiful animal!”

A mole (鼹鼠) heard the talk between the donkey and the monkey.

“Hold your tongues (舌头), both of you,” said the mole. “You should be thankful for what you have. How would you like to be a mole? The moles have no horns at all. The moles have no tail to speak of. The moles live in the dark most of the time. The moles are almost blind (失明的).”

The donkey and the monkey said no more about the things they did not have.

We should be satisfied with what we have. There are always others not as well off (处境好的) as ourselves.

    Once there was a relative who offered a man and his three sons two baskets of peaches（桃子）. One basket of peaches were just ripe（成熟）while the other were already overripe and would go bad at once.

    The father asked, “Which way of eating can avoid wasting a peach?”

    The eldest son said, “Of course, we should eat those overripe peaches, for they can’t be kept for three days.”

    “But after you eat up those, the peaches in the other basket will go bad!” Certainly, the father was not satisfied with the eldest son’s advice.

    The second son thought for a while and said, “We should eat the peaches just ripe. Choose the good ones!”

    “If so, won’t the overripe peaches be wasted? Don’t you think it is a pity?”

    The father turned to the youngest son, “What good idea do you have?”

    “I feel,” thinking for a while, the youngest son said, “we’d better mix them together, give some of them to the neighbors, and let them help us eat, so that we won’t waste a peach at all.”

    Hearing this, the father nodded and said with a smile, “OK. It is really a good way. Then let’s do it by your way.”

There is an old saying: “Take the time to stop and smell the flowers.” I think we should also take the time to  (1)  flowers.

My grandmother knew just  (2)  to do that. She grew flowers with earth, water and love, so her back garden was full of beautiful flowers. She would smile when she saw the  (3)  shine down on them. In her front garden she planted flowers,  (4)  . You could see red, white, and yellow flowers in it. My mum and I liked to walk  (5)  them and enjoy their smells. Grandma also cared for the wild flowers. She would send   (6)  and my brother out to pick flowers and would then turn into delicious wine.

Grandma not only planted flowers in the gardens   (7)   also planted flowers in our hearts. She made delicious dinners with love for us. Her sweet smile always made us   (8)  . Her hugs and kisses were the sunshine that kept our own love  (9)   day after day.

Take the time to plant a few flowers yourself today. Show your smiles, kindness and love. Plant your wishes, abilities and happiness. Make this  (10)  brighter and brighter with your sunshine.

This story is about Mrs. Jones, an 82-year-old lady.   (1)   her life was hard, she was always nicely dressed every day.

This morning Mrs. Jones was moving to the nursing home（养老院）．The nursing home was very      (2)  . After hours of waiting, Mrs. Jones still smiled sweetly when she was told that her room was ready.      (3)   the way to her room, I told her what the room was like.

Suddenly she said, “I love  (4)  !”

“But Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room yet!” I was surprised at her reply.

She stopped and said, “Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture(家具) is   (5)  . It depends on how I decide to   (6)   the room. I have already decided to love the room before I actually see it.”

Then she continued, “I have a   (7)  . I can spend the day in bed and consider how tiny my room is. Or I can just get out of bed and be thankful that I can   (8)   enjoy a new day. Each day is a      (9)   , I’ll enjoy my life and all the happy memories that I have stored in my bank account（账户）before.”

    Life is like a bank account. You can take out what you’ve put in. If you have put a lot of   (10)     in your bank account, you can take out some of it when you feel sad.

Attitude（态度）is everything.

A man lived in a village. He had an old cat at home. The cat counldn’t run fast, and she couldn’t bite, because she was so old. One day, when she saw a mouse, she jumped and caught it. But she could not bite it. The mouse got out of her mouth and ran away.

Then the man became very angry and began to beat the cat. The cat said, “Don’t beat your old servant. I know I’m old and can’t kill a mouse. But I have worked for you for many years, and I still want to work for you. Be kind to the old, and remember what good work they did when they were young.”

When the man heard that, he realized that he was wrong.

Very often, newly born babies are not beautiful. They are wrinkled (多皱纹的) or hairless, or they have an angry look on their faces. They seem to say, "Get away! I hate everybody." But to a parent, that hairless, wrinkled, angry-faced baby is the most beautiful and perfect baby in the world. When that proud father or mother asks you, "Well, what do you think of my baby? Isn't she beautiful?" What are you going to say? is it the time for the truth? Of course not!

    You look at that proud father and say, "Yes, she is! She is really a beauty. She is one in a million. She is going to be a movie star! I can tell, she is as beautiful as a picture."

    In English, this is a white lie. White lies don't hurt people. They are not cruel or angry words. People use them to make a difficult thing a little easier. When people don't want to meet someone, or eat something new that they really don't like at a friend's house, they tell a white lie. They are trying to be kind. They don't want to hurt anyone.

    It's important to be honest, but many people feel that being kind is sometimes more important. What do you think, my friends?

I moved to a new neighborhood two months ago. A taxi driver lived in the house with a large garage (车库) across the road. He is   (1)   single parent with two school-aged children. At the end of the day, he would   (2)   his taxi on the road. “Why not in the garage” I asked myself.

Then one day, I learned that he had another car in his garage. In the afternoon he would come home   (3)   work, leave his taxi and go out for his personal business in his   (4)   car, not in his taxi. I felt it was   (5)  .

I was curious (好奇的) to see his personal car but didn’t make it   (6)   I happened to be outside one evening two weeks later, when the garage door was   (7)   and he drove out in his “own” car: a Rolls-Royce (劳斯莱斯)! It shook me   (8)   when I realized what that meant. You see, he was a taxi driver. But deep inside, he saw himself as something else: a Rolls-Royce owner and a father. He drove others   (9)   his taxi but himself and his children in his Rolls-Royce. The world looked at his taxi and called him a taxi driver. But for him, a taxi was   (10)  something he drove for a living. Rolls-Royce was something he drove for a life.

We go to bed every night and  (11)  every morning as parents or children, not as bankers, CEOs or professors. We go for a party as close friends or go for a vacation as a family. We love life as it is. Yet often, we base our happiness and   (12)   on how high we climb the social ladder (梯子)—how much bigger and better a   (13)   we have. And we fail to notice Rolls-Royce, by   (14)   it dirty in our garage. We should pay more attention to   (15)   we are than what we do!