Ⅰ. 细品味经典文章
When asked about happiness, we usually think of something extraordinary, an absolute delight, which seems to get rarer as we get older.
For kids, happiness has a magical quality: Their delight at winning a race or getting a new bike is unreserved(毫不掩饰的).
In the teenage years, the concept of happiness changes. Suddenly it’s conditional on such things as excitement, love and popularity. I can still recall the excitement of being invited to dance with the most attractive boy at the school party.
In adulthood the things that bring deep joy—love, marriage, birth—also bring responsibility and the risk of loss. For adults, happiness is complicated.
My definition of happiness is“the capacity for enjoyment”. The more we can enjoy what we have, the happier we are. It’s easy to overlook(忽视) the pleasure we get from the company of friends, the freedom to live where we please, and even good health.
Psychologists tell us that to be happy we need a mix of enjoyable leisure time and satisfying work. I don’t think that my grandmother, who raised 14 children, had much of either. She did have a network of close friends and family, and maybe this is what satisfied her most.
