尽管每个人对幸福的理解不同，但是幸福的含义是从来不变的。幸福不是发生在我们周围的事——而是我们如何去看待周围发生的事。秘诀就在于，我们以积极的心态面对逆境，变压力为动力。幸福并不是祈求我们所没有的，而是享受我们所拥有的。
通往幸福的旅途
Our Pursuit of Happiness
佚名 / Anonymous
We chase after it， when it is waiting all about us.
“Are you happy？” I asked my brother， Ian， one day. “Yes. No. It depends on what you mean.” He said.
“Then tell me，” I asked， “when was the last time you think you were happy？”
“April 1967.” He said.
It served me right for putting a serious question to someone who has joked his way through life. But Ian’s answer reminded me that when we think about happiness， we usually think of something extraordinary， a pinnacle of sheer delight—and those pinnacles seem to get rarer the older we get.
For a child， happiness has a magical quality. I remember making hide-outs in newly cut hay， playing cops and robbers in the woods， getting a speaking part in the school play. Of course， kids also experience lows， but their delight at such peaks of pleasure as winning a race or getting a new bike is unreserved.
In the teenage years the concept of happiness changes. Suddenly it’s conditional on such things as excitement， love， popularity and whether that zit will clear up before a prom night. I can still feel the agony of not being invited to a party that almost everyone else was going to. But I also recall the ecstasy of being plucked from obscurity at another event to dance with a John Travolta look-alike.
In adulthood the things that bring profound joy—birth， love， marriage also—bring responsibility and the risk of loss. Love may not last， sex isn’t always good， loved ones die. For adults， happiness is complicated.