1 . I am a big laugher. I’ve been told that even in a room of a thousand people, you can always hear me laughing over the crowd. For me, laughter is the ultimate form of embodied joy. And by “embodied”, I mean that my whole body is involved when I laugh. On the inside, it’s like a bubbling fountain of joy spilling out all over the place.

But what is joy, anyway?

Life can be terrible, but if you decide to follow the sound of the joy-fountain, you will find joy showing up in all kinds of places: pets playfully bouncing around, kindness, or even in nothingness.

How can joy be found? A friend moved into a new apartment and needed some help, so I helped him. Afterwards, he was obviously so much happier and at ease. I noticed that playing even a small part in his happiness brought me great joy, and I took a moment to let this feeling of embodied joy in. We can practice letting joy in by noticing how it feels to smile. Where does your body light up when you smile? When I smile, it makes me want to take a deep breath, and I notice my shoulders and belly relaxing. When I embody caring and loving, it feels great!

Sadly, many of us are unaware of joy, or suspicious of it. Maybe you are afraid to open up to joy, or maybe you are so unfamiliar with what joy feels like that you ignore or resist it when it comes knocking. No one, other than you, owns your happiness, but you might unknowingly block feelings or experiences that help you embody joy. The fact is that when you can’t embody joy, you miss out on one of life’s essential vitamins.

Want more joy? Don’t be afraid to look silly. Silliness helps us take things less personally. It helps us see the world the way a kiddoes. When we can find more joy in the smalls of everyday life, we can embody happiness, rather than just pursuing it.

3 . I was cutting up lettuce (生菜) in the kitchen when I suddenly remembered watching a video about putting the lettuce stub (残余部分) in water to grow a whole new vegetable. So I took out a wide-mouthed mug (大杯) and placed the stub into it, gave it a little water, and placed it by the window.

On a snowy morning, I noticed the first sign. A first small leaf from its heart spread out. A tiny green flag of hope. Beaten, but not defeated. Within days, it was impossible to see the cuts where I had removed the leaves. The growth was explosive. And when I lifted the blossoming head out of the mug, tiny root threads fell down, seeking for the earth. What is growing here? Lettuce or hope?

If I were a lettuce in a similar condition, I’d want to doubtfully assess where I found myself before being devoted to full growth. Yet for this lettuce, my inadequate offering of water and a place by a window was enough for it to decide to reclaim itself again. It grew in a mug of water, in faith. This is the heart of this lettuce: alive, strong and fearless. It deserved a name. I decided to call it Monty.

Monty wanted to grow, as we all do. I think I gave him a little love and freedom. Those two ingredients were all he needed to return to himself. I see joy in this lettuce. The return to self is always an expression of joy, which is life itself. With the right ingredients, this is the tendency of all living things.

Monty still lives in a mug, but I’m going to transplant him outside. He deserves to become his full self. The only problem I see now is my capacity to support Monty. I hope I have enough of a green finger.

I’m surprised to find myself where I am. Maybe Monty is, too. I have the same choice as he does: give in, or start again. The prospect of starting again is discouraging. But my lettuce-friend, Monty, leads the way. I can only hope to be as brave.

4 . When my father and I traveled to Paris, Notre Dame was our first stop. But when we arrived at Notre Dame, we saw a long line outside it. Even so, we didn’t want to _______. We decided to go to the back garden of Notre Dame where there were few tourists.

Immersed in the beautiful natural scenery, we wanted to take some _______ photos. As we tried to find a photographer, a tall, slim Frenchman _______ toward us and showed us he was willing to take pictures for us.

Trying to get the perfect shot, he kept changing the _______ of the camera. However, after a few _______, he didn’t return our camera. His behavior confused us. But after a while, it became _______. He asked for 10 euros as payment before he would return our camera.

At that point, I was so angry that I _______ to argue with him. But my father stopped me and paid the money, with a (n) _______ expression on his face, the man walked away quickly to search for his next _______.

Later, my father ________ to me: There’s no such thing as a free lunch. So it’s ________ to ask for a payment after taking photos for us. But if someone offers to help you, never ________ the kindness just because of this particular event. Most acts of kindness are pure and without any ________ intention.

________, we met a lot of warm-hearted locals who guided us and lent a hand when we needed them. So just remember, we can’t throw away the ________ because of its core.

8 . Right now I’m the age my parents were when they had the third baby. Unlike them, I don’t have any kids to feed, I don’t have a mortgage to pay, and luckily I have a higher income. In an outsider’s opinion, I should be very_________, but in fact I’m not. Here’s why.

Money is always a_________ thing. You think that by having it you’ll be happy.

Once you start making some and_________ it’s not making you happy, you think maybe it’s because you don’t have enough. So you exchange your_________ for money, sometimes working at a job you don’t even like to make more_________. As time goes on, you realize you’ve been spending more and more time at_________.You fail to keep a(n) _________ between work and family. Friends wonder why you don’t_________ them anymore. As you get a higher position, you feel more_________ than you did before. You find you don’t __________ so well anymore. As a result, your health begins to fail. Also, the cost of keeping up with a higher quality of life is starting to__________ and you’re not making as much as you__________ you would be. At the same time, you are worried about__________ the few friends you have because you’re earning more money than they are. Workmates think you earn very much and that you must be happy. If only that were__________.

Only you can__________ your happiness; money can’t buy that for you.

10 . No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own ______ .

I learned this lesson from a(n) ______ many years ago. I took the head coaching job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a weak football program.

It was a tradition for the school’s old team to play against the ______ team at the end of spring practice.The old team had no coach, and they didn’t even practice to ______ the game. Being the coach of the new team, I was excited because I knew we were going to win, but to my disappointment we were defeated. I couldn’t ______ I had got into such a situation. Thinking hard about it, I came to ______ that my team might not be the number one team in Georgia, but they were depending on me. I had to change my ______ about their ability and potential.

I started doing anything I could to help them build a little pride. Most important, I began to treat them like ______ . That summer, when the other teams enjoyed their vacations, we met every day and ______ passing and kicking the football.

Six months after suffering our ______ on the spring practice field, we won our first game and our second, and continued to improve. Finally, we faced the number one team in the state. I felt that it would be a ______ for us even if we lost the game. But that wasn’t what happened. My boys beat the best team in Georgia, giving me one of the greatest ______ of my life!

From the experience I learned a lot about how the attitude of the leader can ______ the members of a team. Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and ______ them. I helped them to see themselves ______ , and they built themselves into winners.

Winners are made, not born.