Are you happy? Do you remember a time when you were happy? Are you seeking happiness today?Many have sought a variety of sources for their feelings of happiness. Some have put their heart and effort into their work. Too many have turned to drugs and alcohol. Most of their efforts have a root in one common fact，People are looking for a lasting source of happiness.

   Unfortunately，I believe that happiness escapes many because they misunderstand the process and journey of finding it. I have heard many people say，“I'll be happy when 1 get my new promotion,”or“I’ll be happy when I lose that extra 20 pounds.”The list goes on and on,

  This thinking is dangerous because it presupposes that happiness is a“response”to having, being or doing something. In life, we all experience stimulus (刺激) and response. Stimulus is when a dog barks at you and bares his teeth. Response is when you prepare to run. Today, some people think that an expensive car is a stimulus. Happiness is a response. A great paying job is a stimulus. Happiness is a response. A loving relationship is a stimulus. This belief leaves us thinking and feeling，“I'll be happy when…”

 It has been my finding that actually the opposite is true. I believe that happiness is a stimulus and response is what life brings to those who are truly happy. When we are happy, we tend to have more success in our work. When we are happy，people want to be around us and enjoy loving relationship. When we are happy, we more naturally take better care of our bodies and enjoy good health. Happiness is NOT a response—rather, it is a stimulus.

 Happiness is not something that happens to us after we get something we want—we usually get things we want AFTER we choose to be happy.I have made only one simple rule for my own happiness: Every day above ground is a good day. Therefore, I tend to have a lot of good (and happy) days continually.

Every year on my birthday, from the time I turned 12, a white gardenia（栀子花）was delivered to my house. It did not come with a card or note of any kind, but I loved the beauty and sweet smell of the flower.

But I never stopped imagining who the giver might be. My mother helped me to imagine. She’d ask me if I had done something kind for anyone. Perhaps the neighbor I’d helped carry heavy bags for. As a teenage, though, I had more fun thinking that it might be a boy I liked at school.

One month before I graduated from high school, my father died . I lost interest in graduation, the senior class play and the prom (毕业舞会). But my mother would not hear of me skipping any of those things. She wanted her children to have a sense that there was beauty in the face of adversity (逆境) , just like the gardenia-lovely, strong and perfect.

My mother died 10 days after I was married. I was 22. That was the year gardenias stopped coming.

Marjorie Baer used to joke about her retirement plans.She wasn’t married and had no kids,but she didn’t intend to be alone—she and all her single friends would move into a fictional home she called Casa de Biddies.Instead,Baer developed terminal brain cancer when she was 52.But just as she’d hoped,her friends and family provided her with love and care to the end.

Ballance was only the first of Baer’s friends who became her unofficial caregivers.With her brother Phil Baer from Los Angeles,they worked out a system to watch over their friend and allow her to keep some of the privacy and independence she cherished.

Baer’s good friend Ruth Henrich took Baer to doctors’ appointments and helped her deal with all the aspects of life —answering machines,TV controls,and even phone numbers.After Henrich sent out an e-mail request,a group of volunteers signed up to ferry Baer back and forth to radiation therapy(放射疗法).Others in Baer’s circle offered up particular talents:A nurse friend helped Baer figure out how to get what she was due from Social Security and her disability insurance;a lawyer pal helped Baer with her will;a partner who was an accountant took over her bills when she could no longer manage them.“There was this odd sense that the right person always showed up,” says Ballance.Their arrangement worked remarkably well.

Unmarried women are one of the fastest-growing groups in America;experts are concerned about how care-giving will be managed for them as they age.If the experience of Baer’s friends is a guide,the Internet will play a role.It’s already making it possible to create communities of caregivers who may have only one thing in common:the person who needs their help.On personal “care pages” set up through services such as Lotsa Helping Hands,friends and family members can post a list of tasks that need to be done,volunteer to do them,and keep updated on the person’s condition.As Baer’s cancer progressed,for example,her friends set up a page on Yahoo! where people could sign up to deliver meals or do errands(差事).　

Catherine Fox,one of the friends who were present when Baer died,was deeply affected.“It was so comforting to know that if you’re willing to ask for help,the generosity of family and friends can be phenomenal(非凡的).It makes me feel secure and hopeful to know that help is there when you need it.”

At a certain time in our lives we consider every place as the possible sites(地点)for a house.I have thus searched the country within a dozen miles of where I live.In imagination I have bought all the farms,one after another,and I knew their prices.

The nearest thing that I came to actual ownership was when I bought the Hollowell place.But before the owner completed the sale with me,his wife changed her mind and wished to keep it,and he offered me additional dollars to return the farm to him.However,I let him keep the additional dollars and sold him the farm for just what I gave for it.

The real attractions of the Hollowell farm to me were its position,being about two miles from the village,half a mile from the nearest neighbor,bounded(相邻)on one side by the river,and separated from the highway by a wide field.The poor condition of the house and fences showed that it hadn’t been used for some time.I remembered from my earliest trip up the river that the house used to be hidden behind a forest area,and I was in a hurry to buy it before the owner finished getting out some rocks, cutting down the apple trees,and clearing away some young trees which had grown up in the fields.I wanted to buy it before the owner made any more improvements.But it turned out as I have said.

I was not really troubled by the loss.I had always had a garden,but I don’t think I was ready for a large farm.I believe that as long as possible it is better to live free and uncommitted(无牵挂的).It makes but little difference whether you own a farm or not.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

 Dreaming about whether you would want to read minds, see through walls, or have superhuman strength may sound silly, but it actually gets to the heart of what really matters in your life.

  Every day in our work, we are inspired by the people we meet doing extraordinary things to improve the world.

They have a different kind of superpower that all of us possess: the power to make a difference in the lives of others.

We’re not saying that everyone needs to contribute their lives to the poor. Your lives are busy enough doing homework, playing sports, making friends, seeking after your dreams. But we do think that you can live a more powerful life when you devote some of your time and energy to something much larger than yourself. Find an issue you are interested in and learn more. Volunteer or, if you can, contribute a little money to a cause. Whatever you do, don’t be a bystander（旁观者）. Get involved. You may have the opportunity to make your biggest difference when you’re older. But why not start now?

Our own experience working together on health, development, and energy the last twenty years has been one of the most rewarding parts of our lives. It has changed who we are and continues to fuel our optimism about how much the lives of the poorest people will improve in the years ahead.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted a personal motto. I wanted a saying that I could really try to live my life by. I mean all the humorous book and storybook heroes always have a personal principle they follow. Good manners! Courage! Keenness! But a part of me could never get myself to create my own motto because I never knew where to start and I never thought I could give one.

“With great power comes great responsibility.” is a quote by the great writer and philosopher, Voltaire. More familiar, it makes an appearance in the modern day movie performance of the superhero Spider-Man. This saying provides a sense of responsibility for those with actually limitless power.

“Be good to others and others will be good to you.” is another well-known proverb that has roots in almost all of the major religions. Although it is less practiced today than it is lectured, it is a powerful and good motto to live by. Kindness, in this sense, is the final power in judging every action.

My personal motto today has an idea – being efficient. Through my limited knowledge, I have come to find that this is simply the best way for me to give insight about who I am and what I believe in.

Efficiency is a quality that everyone desires for, right? Who doesn’t want to be able to not only work fast but to achieve great results? To some, it may appear to be a frightening journey. But to me, it means that I have a lifelong journey to improve the methods and ideas with which I come near my tasks.

Regardless of what motto you want to live by, I believe that everyone should have one, or two or more. These are all symbols of a perfect story of us, in our own view. We are never meant to be perfect, but it is important to try and live by a belief that will provides insight to the type of person we were, we are and what we strive to be.All you have to do is know what your excitement is and live by it.

I arrived late one night on a business trip, so I decided to have dinner in the hotel I stayed in. As I was finishing my meal, an elderly couple came in. They were holding hands and had lovely smiles on their faces. They sat three tables from me. I was amazed at the love they showed for each other. It struck me because it was shortly after ending a 20-year marriage and I still had pain in my heart.

My waiter was also their waiter. As I paid my bill, I asked what their bill was. He told me, and I gave him $40 to pay their bill. He asked if I knew them and I told him “No, I just wanted to repay them for the love that they were showing to each other,” and then I left. The next day I entered the restaurant again. After I had been seated, the waiter who served me the night before told me that the strangest thing happened after I left the restaurant. When the elderly couple went to pay for their meal, they were told that it had been paid. The waiter just told them what I said. They were amazed. They looked around, asked for the bill of two young couples who were seated together, paid their bill and left.

I smiled and ordered my meal. About 45 minutes later, I finished my meal and was about to head out, but my waiter was nowhere to be found. I explained to the hostess that I needed to pay for my meal and hurry to the airport. She smiled and explained that I would not have to pay, because she felt she should pay for my bill because of the joy brought to the faces of the elderly couple and the amazement of the young couples.

When I told her that they didn’t have to do that, she said with a smile “Love creates Love.”

     I live in the land of Disney, Hollywood and year - round sun. You may think people in
 such an attractive, fun-filled place are happier than others. If so, you have some mistaken
ideas about the nature of happiness.
     Many intelligent people still think fun equals happiness. The truth is that fun and happiness
have little or nothing in common. Fun is what we experience during an act. Happiness is
what we experience after an act. It is a deep, long-lasting emotion.
     Going to an amusement park or a ball game, watching a movie or television are fun
activities that help us relax, temporarily forget our problems and maybe even laugh. But
they do not bring happiness, because their positive effects end when the fun ends.
     I have often thought that if Hollywood stars have a role to play, it is to teach us that
happiness has nothing to do with fun. They have constant access to exciting parties, fancy
cars, expensive homes, everything that spells "happiness". But in memoir(回忆录)after
memoir, they expose the unhappiness hidden beneath all their fun: depression, alcoholism,
drug addiction, broken marriages and loneliness.
     Ask a bachelor why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less
satisfying. If he is honest, he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For
commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure and excitement.
 Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features.
     Similarly, couples that choose not to have children are deciding in favor of painless fun
over painful happiness. They can dine out whenever they want and sleep as late as they want.
Couples with babies are lucky to get a whole night' s sleep. I don't know any parent who
would choose the word fun to describe raising children.
     Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the
most liberating realizations we can ever come to. It liberates time: now we can devote more
hours to activities that can truly increase our happiness. It liberates money: buying that new
car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless.
And it frees us from envy: we now understand that all those rich and famous people we were
so sure are happy because they are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.