The first secret is gratitude. All happy people are grateful. Ungrateful people cannot be happy. We tend to think that being unhappy leads people to complain， but it’s truer to say that complaining leads to people becoming unhappy.
The second secret is realizing that happiness is a by-product of something else. The most obvious sources are those pursuits that give our lives purpose—anything from studying insects to playing baseball. The more passions we have， the more happiness we’re likely to experience.
Finally， the belief that something permanent transcends us and that our existence has some larger meaning can help us be happier. We need a spiritual or religious faith， or a philosophy of life. Your philosophy should encompass this truism： if you choose to find the positive in virtually every situation， you will be blessed， and if you choose to find the awful， you will be cursed. As with happiness itself， this is largely your decision to make.
我以前並不是一個非常快樂的孩子，像大多數十幾歲的孩子一樣，我總是沉浸在自己的煩惱中。但是，有一天，我豁然開朗：誰都有可能不快樂，那不需要任何勇氣或努力，真正的挑戰就在於，你努力想使自己快樂。
也許很多人都未曾聽說過，快樂也要付出努力。我們通常認為，當我們很難控製或無法控製的好事降臨時，快樂才隨之而來。
然而，事實剛好相反：在很大程度上，我們自己控製著快樂。快樂是努力爭取的成果，而不是等待的結果。
要讓生活更加快樂，我們必須掃除一些絆腳石，以下是其中三個：
與他人攀比
大多數人都喜歡與自認為比自己快樂的人比較——親戚、熟人，或者是我們不甚了解的人。我曾經遇到一個年輕人，他的巨大成功和快樂讓我羨慕不已。他說他非常愛自己漂亮的妻子和女兒們，也為能在自己喜歡的城市做一個電台脫口秀節目主持人而感到高興。我記得當時以為他是那些為數不多的幸運兒之一，一切都那麽輕而易舉。