What is the definition of "happiness"? Is it material wealth filled with fancy cars, a dream house,extravagant furs and jewelry? Or is happiness simply having a roof over your head? Food in the fridge? Having a child? A pet? A swimming pool? A designer Gucci bag? Parents? Grandchildren? Love? Money? The perfect job? Winning the Lottery?
“幸福”是什么?幸福是拥有豪华的汽车、梦想的居室、名贵的裘皮和珠宝等物质上的富足嘛?或者，幸福其实很简单——有遮风避雨的住所，冰箱里有食物，有孩子、宠物、游泳池、Gucci的包，有父母、子孙、有爱情、金钱和理想的工作，彩票中奖了呢?
According to the American Heritage Dictionary,"happiness"is derived from the Middle English word hap—meaning" Luck." But does happiness really have anything to do with" luck"? We couldassume that if you avoided a fatal traffic accident but got fired by coming late to work, would you be filled with "happiness?"? Is it luck or what do you make of it? Maybe,"happiness"is exactlydefined by its indirect alias: happiness—perhaps, happiness is in fact defined by the fortunethat we permit to happen.
在《美国传统字典》中，幸福是从中古英语“Hap”一词演变而来，“Hap”意为“好运"。幸福真的与“好运"有关联吗?基于此，想想看，如果你在一场必死无疑的交通事故中幸免于难，却因此迟到，导致被老板炒鱿鱼。对此，我们应该感到“幸福”吗?这是好运吗?还是要看个人如何看待这个问题呢?或许确切地说，幸福的定义应当直接从它的词源来看——事实上，幸福或许就是命中注定要发生的事情。
Do you recall a time—let’s say when you were about 5 years old—what defined happiness back then? Was it getting a puppy for Christmas? Or maybe, you were a child of divorce; and all you wanted was for Mom and Dad to get back together again? Then as you got older, you were hoping that someone would ask you to the prom that would’ve made your day, maybe your life for the moment. During college, good grades made you happy, but it was short"lived. Because in the real world, you had to look for a job, and competition was stark. It’s an employer’s world you thought. But then, you got the perfect job now you could be happy or could you?
你能回忆起你5岁时对幸福的理解吗?那时，幸福是从圣诞树上摘下的一只小狗吗?或者爸爸妈妈离婚了，你唯一的愿望就是他们能和好如初，重新生活在一起?当你渐渐长大，你希望有人会邀请你参加舞会，希望所有的日子都凝固在那一天，那一刻。上大学期间，考试得了高分让你无比开心，但这种幸福感毕竟是短暂的。因为在现实中，你得找一份工作，而社会竞争也相当激烈。于是，你就会想，这是一个雇主的世界。随后，你找到了一份理想的工作——现在的你很开心，是吗?
Life requires more than just what we want. Inevitably, one must understand that to truly find" happiness", he must make his own happiness "happen". Sounds a bit redundant, but truthfully, there is no set guidelines that will bring one happiness. There is no "magic wand" we can wave to bring joy into our lives. Human nature thrives on the thrill of the chase. We dream and we hope for the next big Brea—it is the grand adventure of living.
生活向我们索要的远比我们想要的多。一个人必须明白，要想真正找到幸福，他就必须让自己幸福。可能听起来有些多余，但确是如此——生活中，没有能代来幸福的现成的指南，也没有挥一挥就能带来欢乐的魔棒。人性在追求幸福的刺激中不断升级、完善。我们梦想着，期望着下一个大的转变—这就是生活中的大冒险了。
