True happiness is such a rare commodity(有价值之物)that the whole of the world is continuously seeking it and failing to find it. Why is happiness such an elusive(难捉摸的) thing? Is it that it cannot simply be achieved? Or is it that it is not where all of us have been looking for it?

    What is it that we consider happiness? This is how I see it: Happiness is what you feel when what you want to happen happens. And the then we can conclude that unhappiness is what we feel when what we want to happen does not happen.

    The main keyword in definition is "want". The whole trouble starts when we want something. Every moment of our lives we keep on wanting something or the other. Only a small percentage of all our wishes is fulfilled in spite of all our endeavors(努力). The frustration of failing to fulfill most of our wishes sets in. We start feeling weighed down. Desire is a seed which grows fruits of unhappiness. Actually the trouble is that we demand too much. The only solution to this problem is to break out of this cycle of desires and struggles.

    Actually, happiness and unhappiness are two sides of the same coin. The desire for happiness is like asking only for the light and not for darkness. But there is not much difference between light and darkness. It is matter of degree only.

    If we think deeper, we will realize that it is this pain of failure, pain of frustrated desires which is of greater significance to us. It is actually like good health. One can only define health as an absence of diseases. In order to have good health we strive to avoid diseases. You cannot purchase or achieve good health directly. You have to take steps which keep your body free of diseases. Then only the organs of body keep functioning properly and you experience good health. Similarly, when one destroys the root cause of unhappiness, the problems are over. And the root cause of all our unhappiness is DESIRE.

    Top Sites to See in New York

    Central Park

    For more than 150 years, visitors have come to Central Park's 843 green acres in the heart of Manhattan. Since 1980, the Park has been managed by the Central Park Conservancy, in partnership with the public. You can visit the official website of Central Park to learn more about Park happenings and activities and to learn how to help Central Park.

    Telephone: 212-310-6600

    Location: 59th to 110th Street, Manhattan Borough, from Central Park West to 5th Avenue, New York City,                 NY10022

    Open Hours: 06: 00-23:00

    The National 9/11 Memorial Museum

    The national 9/11 Memorial & Museum is a place of remembrance honoring those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks of September 11,2001. The 9/11 Memorial Museum displays Monumental artifacts linked to the events of 9/11, while presenting stories of loss, sympathy and recovery that are central to telling the story of the 2001 attacks and the consequence. It also explores the global impact of 9/11 and its continuing significance.

    Telephone: 212-312-8800

    Location: 180 Greenwich St, World Trade Center, New York City, NY 10007

    Open Hours: 09: 00-20: 00

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art

    At New York City's most visited museum and attraction, you will experience over 5,000 years of art from around the world. The Met is for anyone as a source of inspiration, insight and understanding. You can learn, escape, play, dream, discover and connect.

    Telephone: 212-535-7710

    Location: 1000 5th Avenue, New York City, NY 10028-0198

    Open Hours: 10: 00-17: 30

    When Carson Palmer, a professional American football player, hurt his arm a few years ago, he took a week off from throwing the football. But in his head, Palmer practiced every day. The following weekend, Palmer had the best game of his life.

    For more than a century, scientists have been trying to understand how this mental training works. In the 1930s, researchers proved by experiment that when you're imagining an action, your brain sends signals to your muscles(肌肉) which are too weak to tighten the muscles but might help train the body to perform. In other words, mental practice might create a pattern in your head, like an inner how-to guide for a particular skill.

    Sports psychologists have conducted hundreds of studies comparing imagined and physical practice for actions. On the whole, the research shows that mental training works. A 2012 study, for example, compared 32 amateur golfers who practiced hitting the balls to another 32 who merely held a golf club in their hands and visualized（想象）their swings. Under the same training rules, both groups improved their skills by getting the ball about 4 inches closer to the hole.

    Visualization has advantages over the real thing: You can do it anywhere, even when injured. It is safe-a major plus for high-risk performers such as gymnasts and surgeons. And you can practice for longer periods of time because you're not restricted by physical tiredness, That's not to say it's easy, we've had Olympic-level athletes sitting in our lab, visualizing the movements for two hours," says Tadhg Macintyre, a sports psychologist at the University of Limerick in Ireland. “When we're done, they're absolutely tired.”

    It doesn't work for everyone, though. "If you're a novice, the effect can be harmful,” warns Macintyre. If you're trying to visualize a free throw, and you don't even know the proper movement, then you're probably going to mentally practice the wrong skill.”

    One of the most firmly established idea of manliness is that a real man doesn't cry. Although he might shed a tear at a funeral, he is expected to quickly regain control. Sobbing openly is for girls. One study found that women cry significantly more than men do—five times as often, on average, and almost twice as long per period.

    Historically, however, men routinely wept, and no one saw it as shameful. For example, in the Middle Ages, knights cried purely because they missed their girlfriends. In The Knight of the Cart, no less a hero than Lancelot weeps at a brief separation from Guinevere. There's no mention of the men in these stories trying to restrain or hide their tears. They cry in a crowded hall with their heads held high. Nor do their companions make fun of this public crying; it's universally regarded as an admirable expression of feeling.

    So where did all the male tears go? The most obvious possibility is that this shift is the result of changes as we moved from an agricultural society to one that was urban(城市的) and industrial. In the Middle Ages, most people spent their lives among those they had known since birth. If men cried, they did so with people who would sympathize. But from the 18th to 20th centuries, the population became increasingly urbanize, and people were living in the midst of thousands of strangers. Furthermore, changes in the economy required men to work together in factories and offices where emotional expressions and even private conversations were discouraged as time wasting.

    Yet human beings weren't designed to swallow their emotions, and there's reason to believe that holding back tears can be harmful to your well-being. Research from the 1980s has suggested a relationship between stress-related illnesses and inadequate crying. Weeping is also, somewhat related with happiness and wealth. Countries where people cry the most tend to be richer and more confident.

    For over 70 years, UNICEF has been putting children first, working to protect their rights and provide the assistance and services they need to survive and develop all over the world.

    It's the end-of-year giving season, and UNICEF has lots of good news to share about the influence its supporters have had on the lives of children. Thanks to its generous donors, UNICEF has helped save more lives than any other humanitarian organization.

    Monthly donors are a major reason why UNICEF can make that claim, according to Karla Coello, UNICEF USA Senior Director for Monthly Giving. “Last year, UNICEF responded to 377 humanitarian emergencies, from conflicts to natural disasters,” says Coello. “Emergency appeals bring in important revenue - but after the emergency, there are still a lot of things children need to make life bearable. That's what our monthly donors provide.”

    When drought destroys crops, conflict forces families from their homes, an epidemic breaks out or a disaster strikes, children suffer most. And in some countries, even the best of times are dangerous for its youngest citizens. Every day more than 15,000 children under 5 die from preventable causes.

    Protecting children before, during and after a crisis requires a reliable source of funding. The constant stream of revenue provided by monthly donations enables UNICEF to reach children with what they need most when they need it, prepositioning emergency supplies before a disaster strikes and continuing to build sustainable solutions after an immediate crisis has subsided.

    Monthly giving is also important to funding large-scale interventions(介入). Thanks to UNICEF's global immune campaigns, the world is now nearly free of polio(小儿麻痹症)and there are only 14 countries where mothers and children still face maternal and neonatal tetanus(破伤风)deadly threat. And UNICEF programs in 120 countries are helping to prevent and treat malnutrition, which is linked to nearly half of all deaths of children under 5.

    “UNICEF USA monthly donors are our most engaged, most dedicated supporters,” says Rebecca Volpe, UNICEF USA Manager, Monthly Giving. “So we do our best to make them feel appreciated by keeping them thoroughly updated about the powerful impact they are having and showing them how much they matter to us.” In turn, monthly donors tend to be dedicated supporters. “Protecting children - giving them opportunities to play, learn, feel safer, heal - is critical to us,” explained a survey respondent, expressing a commitment to children that UNICEF USA's Monthly Giving team sees every day.

    Supporters who sign up with UNICEF USA to give monthly automatically become members of the Guardian Circle, which affords them benefits, including:

    Annual statements to make tax time easier

    An easy-to-use donor access that simplifies modifying gift amounts, updating payment methods and making other changes, including the timing of donations with the option to cancel at any point

    Targeted communications in the form of monthly statements and a quarterly 8-page newsletter with stories from the field.

    A team available to answer questions via email or phone.

    “We have some donors who are on fixed income, others who can afford to make considerable monthly donations," says Coello. “Whether you give $5 or $700 a month, you are super important to us. What's important is that they all really want to give and help children. And that's amazing.”

    It can be time-consuming and difficult to track charitable donations. At end of year, Guardian Circle monthly supporters receive one statement that makes filing tax returns easier - and it's always delightful to see how much good has been done for the world's most vulnerable(受伤害的)children.

    A disastrous fire surrounded Notre Dame(巴黎圣母院)completely and destroyed large parts of the Gothic(哥特式的) architecture on Monday.

    "Notre Dame is our history, our literature; part of our spirit, the place of all our great events, our wars, our liberations, the center of our lives" French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters in front of the still burning Paris landmark and promised to rebuild Notre Dame Cathedral.

    "Notre Dame is burning, and know the sadness and this tremble felt by so many fellow French people. But tonight, I'd like to speak of hope too, "he said, announcing the launch of a fundraising campaign.

    "Let's be proud, because we built this cathedral more than 800 years ago, we've built it and, throughout the centuries, let it grow and improve it. So I gravely say tonight: we will rebuild it together, "he added.

    The disastrous fire engulfed(吞没) the upper reaches of Paris' towering Notre Dame Cathedral as it was undergoing renovations(翻新).

    Tourists and Parisians looked on horrified from the streets below. France's Interior Ministry said firefighters might not be able to save the structure.

    The fire collapsed the cathedrals' spire(尖顶) and spread to one of its landmark towers "Everything is burning; nothing will remain from the frame, "Notre Dame spokesman Andre Finot told French media. The 12th-century cathedral is home to incalculable works of art and is one of the world's most famous tourist attractions, immortalized by Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

    The cause of the fire was not known, but French media quoted the Paris fire brigade(消防队) as saying the fire is "potentially linked" to a 6 million—euro($6. 88 million)renovation project on the church's spire and its 250 tons of lead. Officials opened an investigation as Paris police said there were no reported deaths. Some 400 firefighters were battling the fire well into the night.