HOW TO BE HAPPY

　　　　　　　　　○甘  勇

Middle school is often a difficult time. There is a lot of pressure to get good grades and be perfect in your work. Also, you are growing up, and every year you look different and feel different. It can be hard to be happy. So if you had better grades, or if you had lots of pocket money every month, or if more people went to your birthday party, would you be happier?

    If I knew the secret of happiness, I would be the most famous person in the world. I don't walk around Hangzhou with a T-shirt that says “I am happy”. But I do remember what made me unhappy back in my school days: caring too much about what other people thought of me. When I was in school, I was very shy. I had good grades, but when I spoke in class my face went red because I knew my classmates were all looking at me. It was really terrible. Now I don't worry about what the boss and the other people think of me, my life is a lot more relaxed. Especially in this school, where people are very friendly to me!

I don't want to pretend I can tell you what will make you happy right now, but I'm sure that if you worry too much about others' opinions of you, you will definitely be unhappy；and that part of growing up is learning that lesson.（作者为初一（1）班班主任）（刊登在我校10月底70期《育英报》）