Bring Happiness to Yourself

By Daodao

On New Year’s Day, my parents, my sister with her husband and son,came to visit me in Beijing.

After dinner we were preparing to go to Wangfujing Street and had just come out of the restaurant when my mother got up on her tippy-toes to button up my father’s collar. The next day when we visited Nanluogu Lane,for every few steps, Father looked back to make sure my mother followed. He worried that she might get in the endless streams of people. Later, he even asked her to walk a few steps ahead so that he could easily keep an eye on her.

When we were back at the hotel that night, I asked my mother,“How come decades are like a day to you guys? I mean, you two are still so close, why is that?”

My mother answered in a simple idiom, “He who has tolerance is at peace.”

“What do you mean by tolerance? Tolerate what? Don’t you feel unhappy having to be tolerant every day?” I asked.

Mother smiled: “Tolerance doesn’t mean I have to put up with your father’s temper, but that I control my own emotions.”

At that moment, I realized that happiness can come so easily for a person like my mom, who doesn’t ask for much.

I now look back on those moments last Spring Festival,when I talked to my mother about happiness.

I asked her, “How can we bring happiness to our loved ones?”

“Bring happiness to yourself.When you are filled with happiness, it will naturally overflow and touch other’s life.”Such simple but profound words of wisdom. ◆

(FromThe Storyteller, The Writers Publishing House.Translation: Huilan)

元旦，爸媽、姐姐、姐夫和大外甥一起來北京玩。

準備去王府井的時候，老媽從吃飯的地方一出來，便踮著腳給老爸扣衣領。第二天去南鑼鼓巷的時候，老爸走幾步就回頭看，生怕步子小的老媽被人潮擠丟了。后來干脆就在老媽后面走，讓她先走幾步他再追上去。

晚上回到酒店，我問老媽：為什么你跟我爸幾十年如一日，感情這么好？

老媽只說了四個字：能忍則安。

我說：這個“忍”是什么意思？忍受么？您天天生活在忍受里面，豈不是很不開心？

老媽笑了笑說：我說的忍，不是忍受你爸的脾氣，而是忍住自己的情緒。

突然覺得，對于老媽這種凡事向己求的人，幸福就是這般輕而易舉，信手拈來。

還記得去年回家過年的時候跟老媽聊天，說起“幸福”這個名詞。

我問老媽：怎樣才能給喜歡的人帶來幸福呢？

老媽說：把自己過幸福，它裝滿了，自然就會溢出去。◆