There is an important equation of well-being: happiness equals reality minus expectations. If you ________more from life than you currently have, you'll be unhappy. ________, if your current experience goes beyond your expectations, you'll be happy.

When I ________how my own expectations have influenced my happiness, I recall the ________days of Get Rich Slowly (GRS). Back when I started GRS in 2006, I had a(n) ________. I had high expectations for myself and this website. ________, after the first few months of finding my feet, GRS experienced rapid growth. As my ________grew, I felt pressure to provide as much quality information as possible. Later on, I set a ________schedule. I decided to post two articles every weekday, plus one article each Saturday and Sunday. My ________was to produce twelve articles every week. That's a lot of ________ for one man. And more often than not, I ________ to meet these expectations. Instead of writing twelve articles per week, I usually ________to share ten. It made me really ________. I felt like I was letting people down. ________, I felt like I was letting myself down.

After a few months, I ________that my expectations were too high. Then, I ________expected one article every weekday. Do you know what happened? Nothing ________except the stress level in my life. Instead of being ________with myself, I felt pleased because I had gone beyond my expectations. My ________ rate didn't change at all. My expectations changed. With the lowered expectations came increased ________.

Dusty is a golden hunting dog that joined my family five years ago. She’s a great dog, but the dog hair drives me_______sometimes. It’s on my clothes, it’s on the furniture, and it _______in little piles in the corner of every room. It’s _______!

We now have the little sticky, roll tool, which is used to _______ the hair before we leave the house. It is especially _______ for the kids as they insist on giving Dusty a big _______ before going to school every morning.

My elder son, Hayden, is 10 and a half, and my twins Madison and Logan turn 8 in November this year. In the past couple of months, I have _______ been able to enjoy few nights’ complete _______. That’s over ten years’ deprivation(剥夺) of my rest time! However, _______ I always pay attention to my toil(辛劳), I can quickly become a(n)________ woman who is too bored and upset to enjoy life properly. Without the help of my husband, having 3 young kids and a pet to ________ in the house is surely not a(n)________ task. However, if I remember to ________ the positives that they bring to my life instead of the ________ and the cost of private schooling for the kids, I can feel my job is full of happiness. Indeed, our smart pet and healthily-growing children have given me lots of ________.

In spite of the troubles in life, what we focus on ________ our feelings. Our families, our jobs, our communities and so on, each ________ some annoying elements that can rob us of our ________. So our ________ is to stop wasting time considering the annoyances and ________ to be grateful for the positives.

Fifteen years ago, I took a summer vacation in southern Italy. After climbing up a hill for a beautiful view of the blue sea, white buildings and green olive trees, I ________ to catch my breath and then ________ myself to take the best photo of this landscape.

________ , just as I took out my camera, a woman suddenly approached from behind, and planted herself right in front of my view. Like me, this woman was here to appreciate the view. ________ as I was, after about 15 minutes, I grew frustrated. Was it too much to ask her to ________ so I could take just one picture of the ________ ? Sure, I could have asked her, but something ________ me from doing so. She seemed so content with her ________ , so I didn’t want to ________ that. Another 15 minutes passed and I grew ________ because the woman was still there. I decided to take the photo anyway.

And now when I look at it, I think her ________ in the photo is what makes the image interesting. The landscape, beautiful on its own, ________ comes to life and breathes because this woman is ________ with it.

This photo, with the unique beauty that ________ before me and that woman who “ ruined ” it, now hangs on a wall in my bedroom. In some ways, she lives in my house. Perhaps we all live in each other’s spaces. Perhaps this is what photos are for: to remind us that we all appreciate beauty, that we all share a common desire for pleasure, for ________ , for something that is greater than us.