Everyone wants to be happy, but not everyone can make it. Do you want to have a good mood every day? If so, the following steps will be useful to you.

    Be grateful.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#} They can be simple things like the purple flower on the sidewalk, the beautiful sunset, and the hot shower you take every day. When you have a grateful heart, you'll cherish them and be naturally filled with happiness.

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When you put your mind, heart and soul into what you're doing, you're creating a happiness state—called the "flow". When you're living in the flow, you're less likely to mind what others may think about you, and less bothered by unimportant things. The result? More happiness, of course!

    Become a problem solver.

Happy people are problem solvers.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Instead, they face up to the challenge and channel their energies into finding a creative solution. By becoming a problem solver, you'll build up your self-confidence and your ability to accomplish whatever you determine to do.

    Practice forgiveness.

Hatred and anger are forms of self-punishment. When you forgive, you're actually practicing kindness to yourself.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Everyone makes mistakes. It's through our mistakes that we learn and grow to become a bigger and better person.

Give back.

    Doing good is one of the surest ways to feel good. According to Harvard, when people do good, their brains become active in the very same reward center that is stimulated when they experience other rewards. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Go with the flow.

B. Focus on what you are doing.

C. And most importantly, learn to forgive yourself.

D. When they face a challenge in life, they don't fall into a sad state.

E. When they meet with difficulties, they will solve them on their own.

F. So It's not a surprise that people who care more about others are happier.

G. Slow down, look around, and pay attention to the little details in your life.

    Have you ever seen a real night sky that looks like Van Gogh's Starry Night? I hope not! So, why would an artist paint the sky this way? Perhaps I can answer that with another question. When you're happy, why do you sing instead of speaking? Or when you're in love, why do you speak of roses and honey? When we do these things, we, too are artists. We're using something that goes beyond a mere scientific description in order to communicate our feelings more powerfully than straightforward words can. So consider for a moment that Van Gogh might not have been hallucinating on the night he painted this. Maybe he felt something so powerful that he had to go beyond the familiar to express it.

    I hope I'm reminding you of something you already know as I describe the experience of being outside at night under a crystal clear sky that makes everything seem clean and refreshing. So you look up. And suddenly you see the sky that you've seldom seen before. It's not just the same old dark night sky tonight. Instead, the blackness is a deep, rich blue that is more bottomless than any ocean. The stars are not spots of light but brilliant, magical diamonds that dance like tiny angels. In just this special moment, the sky is somehow alive, and it seems to speak to you silently about the meaning of infinity.

    Now look at the painting again. Can you see something of what makes this such a famous and well-loved image? But there's more here than that. Van Gogh painted this while he was quite struck down by a mental disease. It is natural to imagine that he frequently battled the fear that he would never escape his prison to true freedom. It is natural for us to imagine this because each of us has faced our own personal prison, whether it be disease, the loss of a loved one, serious financial problems … In such moments it is tempting to give up to despair and collapse in hopelessness.

    Looking at this painting, I imagine Van Gogh in just such a moment of despair, when he is struck by the memory of one of those amazing night skies. He recalls the sense that he is not alone, that there is a living, infinite world with rich colorful creatures and scenes all around.

    And so the sky flows across the canvas full of vitality and power. The stars don't just sparkle; they explode. Looking closer, we notice that the earth itself seems to respond to the movement in the sky, forming its own living waves in the mountain and rolling trees. In the sleepy village, the windows of the houses glow with the same light that brightens the universe. The giant trees at the left seem to capture the joy by stretching upwards toward the sky.

    What a tremendous message of hope there is in this masterpiece! Even if our troubles persist, the world around us assures us that life is worth living. That's what the angels sing about. Doesn't it make you want to sing, too?

    An 80-year-old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45-year-old highly educated son. Suddenly a crow (乌鸦) landed on their window.

    The father asked his son, “What is this?”

    The son replied, “It is a crow.”

    After a few minutes, the father asked his son for the second time, “What is this?”

    The son said, “Father, I told you just now. It's a crow. ”

    After a little while, the father again asked his son the same question for the third time, “What is this?”

    This time, the son said to his father in a low and cold tone, “It's a crow, a crow.”

    After a moment, the father again asked his son for the fourth time, “What is this?”

    This time the son shouted at his father, “Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again? I have told you already, ‘IT IS A CROW'. Are you not able to understand this?”

    A minute later the father went to his room and came back with a diary, which he had kept since his son was born. On opening a page, he asked his son to read that page. The following words were written in it.

    Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa when a crow suddenly landed on the window edge. My son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied him 23 times that it was a crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question. I didn't at all feet angry, but instead felt affection for my son.

    So...

    If your parents reach old age, do not look at them as a burden, but speak to them gently, and be kind to them. Be considerate to your parents.

    To foreigners Chinese food isn't a meal. It's an experience. Failing to order the right food and struggling with chopsticks are only parts of the adventure every time I sit down in a restaurant.

    In one of our favorite Sichuan restaurants, it took 3 waiters and 15 minutes for us to order only our drinks. I simply wanted water, but my dad wanted to try the fresh juice they had listed on the menu. There were two problems, however. There were neither pictures nor English on the menu. After several hand gestures, he ended up ordering just a coca cola to simplify things.

    One of our most embarrassing moments was at Xiabuxiabu, a very famous hotpot chain. As soon as we walked in, the entire restaurant seemed to stare at us. Uncomfortable already, we had the most difficulty ordering our meal, since there were so many steps to the whole process. Fortunately, the waitress was very patient and successfully gave us our food. Although it was not the best food I had in Beijing, it was certainly entertaining dropping things into the boiling pot of soup. Once, I tried picking up a dumpling to show my father and dropped it onto his pants. I looked behind me, and people were laughing secretly at my chopstick skills.

    No matter how many difficulties we have regarding food, our experiences give the best stories to tell. The servers are always understanding of our situation and their friendliness is exceptional. They always greet us with a big smile even when they realize they have to clean up the noodles slipped through our clumsy chopsticks.

    The English language has a lot of words which can be used in many different ways and in many different expressions.

    One such example is the word matter. In fact, matter can mean just about anything. It could be one of the most useful words in the English language.

    Let's get to the heart of the matter—a matter of principle (原则).

    If someone says that you owe (欠) him $50, but you don't, a friend might say, "Well, you could pay him the $50. It's not that much money. Then you won't have to hear him say it anymore." But if you do not owe him the money, do not pay him the money. It's a matter of principle.

    There is another way to use the word matter. But be careful with your choice of words.

    If you ask someone, "What's the matter?" it shows you are worried about the other person. But saying, "What's the matter with you?" has a completely different meaning. And it usually sounds rude (粗鲁的). In fact, when you say, "What's the matter with you?" you are suggesting that the person did something wrong or stupid.

    Another expression that could sound rude is to say, "It doesn't matter to me." Here, it depends on the context, and how you say it.

    Let's say you tell someone that a friend just got a big raise at work. That person answers with, "It doesn't matter to me." Here, it means he or she does not care. And it sounds rude.

    But saying, "Oh, you pick where we eat dinner. It doesn't matter to me." does not sound rude. In this situation, "it doesn't matter" shows you are easy-going (随和的).

    No matter how you look at it and what you say, matter is a very useful word. And it's only a matter of time before you will become an expert on the use of matter.