阅读材料 何志松

Reading for writing The Art of Living Find Real Happiness There was a little boy who was bored so he went out to the tree to play Soon the boy grew tired of playing in the tree I m hungry said the boy Here said the tree take an apple The boy took the apple and ate I want a bicycle said the boy but I don t have enough money to buy one Here said the tree take all my apples and sell them so you can have enough money to buy the bicycle you want The boy took the apples and went to the market The tree was so happy to have helped his new friend and looked forward to seeing how happy the boy will be riding around on his new bicycle Days turned to weeks Weeks turned into months and months to years The boy did not visit the tree Finally the boy returned but he was not a boy any more He was a young man and he was unhappy I want to travel the young man complained but I do not have a boat Here said the tree cut me down and use my wood to build a boat The young man cut down the tree and built a boat Many years passed and the tree did not see or hear from the young man who was once a boy Finally he returned but he was an old man an unhappy old man What is wrong asked the tree I am old and alone and I have nothing I have nothing to give you said the tree I just want to sit down The old man who was once a young man who was once a boy sat down on the stump that was once a beautiful tree Then he wept The old man finally understood From The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein Don t always ask for more The boy like most people wants conditional happiness He did not understand that we should accept life unconditionally and that leads to happiness We can all have and enjoy the luxury of things the latest digital product the biggest TV the newest and greatest cell phone yet we must not forget that someone else in this world may be suffering because of our greed because of our lack of understanding To get whatever you want is to forget that wanting is the source of suffering There is no limitation to happiness except for the conditions we set for ourselves Learn to be content If we get to know who we really are and what we really need we may come to realize what is here right now is perfect Thus we should learn to be content with where we are and what we have now When we live each moment with a peaceful state of mind when we look at the world with our child eyes when we are happy truly happy what we need automatically comes to us It has been said that when the student is ready the teacher comes In the world everyone and every experience can be our teacher Believe in magic and the magic is love what you are doing in the moment which will reward you in spectacular ways you least expect because being happy doesn t just mean putting a smile on your face and making you feel good about yourself Happiness has far reaching positive effects on every aspects of life When we are in a happy mood people like us better and friendship and love are more likely to build up Develop a happy habit 1 Learn to notice when you are actually happy and teach yourself to appreciate those moments Think up five moments in every day when you are conscious of feeling happy 2 When something bad happens train yourself to put it behind you rather than let it ruin your day 3 Stop thinking that you can never be happy unless your surroundings change If you always delay your happiness like this you re actually giving yourself much unnecessary pain 4 Try to smile more and to chat more with people and feel the levels of your own happiness rise as they respond positively to you 5 Accept that happiness is a skill that we can all work on and that it can become a habit Answer the following questions 1 Why is the giving tree happy 2 Why is the wa