This is the best time and this is the worst time；this is the time of great material richness and this is the time of desert of the soul. Everyone seems to be rushing around for something but they have never fulfilled their dreams. Everyone tries to seek happiness but it seems to be nowhere to be found.

When asked "What on earth can make you happy？"，most modern men would give similar replies such as becoming extremely wealthy，or getting promoted in work and then becoming very wealthy. When asked "What will you do with your wealth？"，they would make a long list of things they have been longing for. However，haven't you noticed the multimillionaires are not as happy as we common guys suppose them to be？Haven't you noticed that the multimillionaire celebrities（名人）don't even enjoy the fundamental freedom of going shopping with their own families without being followed by annoying paparazzi？

If we focus our happiness on such big issues，we are bound to be unhappy all through our life，because those big issues might just occur to us once in a blue moon.

As Socrates（苏格拉底）once put it，"He is the richest man who is content with the least，for content is the wealth of nature. "But how can we" be content with the least"？If you pay due attention，you will find our life is loaded with little joys，sometimes too little to be noticeable. Stop once in a while in your rush to your destination，look around and you will see that there are always little things worth cheering for. You got an "A" in a test. Good！You listened to all inspiring lectures. Great！You offered a helping hand to someone who had a flat tire. Amazing！Your dream girl or boy greeted you with a sweet smile. Fantastic！Let's cheer for the little joys in life！Please keep in mind that never should we wait to be happy！

   There have been many times in my life when I have felt very confident about myself and the outcomes of events, even when there was no reason why I should be.

For example, when I was in my internship (实习期) in my ex-company, I was fully confident that I would perform well and secure the internship — even though it was my first internship, first time working in an actual corporate role and I knew absolutely nothing about what I was going to get.

Another time was while I was still studying in university as a first year student. The people around me constantly discussed the monthly starting pay for graduates, which was around two grand. At that time I simply brushed that aside and was confident I would get a starting pay of at least three grand. The funny thing was that this was simply an arbitrary (任意的) number I picked out of the air which I felt I was comfortable with. There was absolutely no basis or research I did which made me point out that figure.

A more recent example would be when I left my job to pursue my passion. While I had a broad vision of what I wanted to do, I had not developed my plan to the level of specificity, and I was not worried about it at all either. I wasn’t worried about money, about how it would work out, or about the challenges I would face. All I knew was I was going to reach my end goal and I would do everything it took to reach that goal.

In all of the cases, there was totally nothing present that proved my self-confidence. Yet, in the end, everything turned out as well as I wanted, if not better. In my internship, I was one of the few interns to secure a preplacement job offer with my ex-company. For my starting pay, I received a figure which was higher than what I targeted. And for my personal development work, it is currently moving along well toward my vision. Honestly, the self-confidence I had was probably one of the reasons why I achieved those outcomes eventually.

   My aunt came to my home with her six-year-old daughter Alice this morning. While my aunt was talking with my mom at home，my cousin felt a bit __________. So I suggested that I go out with her. My aunt happily __________. So we went to the park near my home together. There we bought two __________ and started flying them. While we were doing that，Alice couldn't help __________. She jumped up and down and I __________ she was truly having great fun. And I must __________ that I haven't enjoyed myself like that for a long time.

Afterwards，we sat down on a bench，looking at the garden. As we were __________ there，Alice looked up at me and said，"What a __________ day today！"I smiled at her and agreed. I then started __________ what we had done today. We did something quite ___________，yet we were very happy.

Many people wait for their "best days". But I think today is our ___________ day. That's a lesson I ___________ today. As adults，we often make plans ___________in order to have a great day. Some people think that they can have a nice day through spending a lot of ___________. I think we should be more like ___________.They don't think about money or what will happen tomorrow. They really live in the moment and enjoy the ___________！

We often hear the expression that we should live in the ___________. How do we do that？We're not doing such a good job. ___________ today is important as we are exchanging（交换）a day of our life for it. Yesterday is ___________. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present, ___________ seize（抓住）the day！

   A large cat arrived at a farm where many mice lived. None of them dared go outside for fear of being _________by the cat.

The mice decided to hold a _________ to find a way of stopping themselves from being in _________.One day，when the cat was out，mice of all ages _________ into the meeting room.

"Let's build a big trap，"one mouse _________.When this idea was _________，another said，"What about poisoning（毒死）her？"But _________ knew where to buy the poison. One young mouse，whose mother had become the cat's food，_________ said，"Let's cut her teeth，so she can do no more harm." But the meeting did not accept his _________.

At last，one mouse，__________than the rest，jumped onto a table. Waving a bell，he called for __________，"Be quiet！Let's __________ this bell to the cat's tail，so we'll always know where she is！We'll have __________ to escape，and the slower and weaker mice will hear her coming and be able to __________！"Hearing the words，everyone got __________ and they congratulated him on his good idea.

"We'll tie it so tightly（牢固地）that it will never __________！"

"She' ll never be able to __________ quietly again! The other day, she suddenly appeared right in front of me! Just imagine..."

However, the wise mouse said, "We must __________ who is going to tie it to her tail." There was not a sound in the room. Nobody was __________ enough to put the plan into action. The meeting ended without any decision made.

It's often very __________ to have bright ideas, but putting them into practice is a more difficult matter.

   Society tells us that we should count our blessings, focus on all that we have and feel grateful for what we’ve been given. But there is nothing wrong with “healthy discontent”. In fact, healthy discontent is what motivates us to improve ourselves and our circumstances. Without this feeling, life’s easier to stand still.

I always have a certain level of discomfort. That discomfort drives me to work hard at my job. I don’t just want to remain where I am. Professionally, I want to keep getting better. Likewise, I always have a certain amount of discontent with my home. That drives me to always try to improve it by making it look better.

My feelings of discontent with my job and my home don’t mean that I don’t appreciate them. It’s an incredible blessing to be able to work and be paid for one’s efforts. Similarly, if you live in a safe place, with running water, heating, and air conditioning, you are incredibly fortunate. These are not the things to be taken for granted. However, we should be striving (力争) to improve.

If you happen to be good at playing the piano, you should work to continually improve your skills. The same holds true for our personal development. If you have areas in your personality that need improvement, you should work on them, too.

For instance, I can be very impatient. As a result, I work hard to try to conquer that flaw (缺点) by keeping my impatience to myself. When we feel discontent with ourselves, we have to be honest with ourselves.

It’s easy to make excuses for our bad behavior, but we need to face our discontent and say to ourselves, “I need to work on this.” This week, consider whether you have healthy discontent in your life. Have you become so settled in your life that you don’t see regular improvement?

Do you have a character flaw that you wish you didn’t have? Don’t ignore these things. Instead, take steps to address your areas of discontent and keep improving your life every day. No matter how great we think things are going, there’s always room for improvement.