Most people think it s fine to be “busy as a be aver (海狸).” But actually, although beavers may work hard, often they don’t get much done.

Beavers are good at building dams and most beaver dams are wonders of engineering. The best ones are strongly built of trees, stones, and mud. They are wide at the bottom and narrow at the top.

Beavers think nothing of building a dam more than two hundred feet long. One dam, in Montana, was more than two thousand feet long. The largest one ever seen was in New Hampshire. It stretched four thousand feet. It made a lake large enough to hold forty beaver homes.

So beavers do build good dams. But they don’t always build them in the right places. They just don’t plan. They will build a dam across the widest part of the stream. They don’t try to find a place where the stream is narrow. So a lot of their hard work is wasted.

Beavers should learn that it’s not enough to be busy. You have to know what you’re doing, too. For example, there was one Oregon beaver that really was a worker. It decided to fix a hole in a man-made dam. After five days of work it gave up. The hole it was trying to fill was the space that boats go through.

Every week I save all the change and $1 bills I have in my purse. Then every Christmas I cash it in for as many $100 bills as the saved money gets me. I then wait for a family in need. I split the money in half and give half to the family in need and the other half to my nine-year-old son, Say’ Veon, who puts it in his savings account, to teach him about delayed satisfaction. Then he helps me get gifts or give the money to the family.

I adopted Say’ Veon after his mother, a close friend of mine, passed away from cancer before his fifth birthday. Even though Say’ Veon has dealt with great loss and sadness at such a young age, his generous spirit and loving heart shine through. He has given money to someone else who needs it more, such as his friends or classmates. Say’ Veon’s acts of kindness always blow me away and I feel blessed to have him in my life.

This week I got a call from a friend, DeeDee, who is 77 years old. She was upset because she had been cheated, and the cheaters took all the money out of her checking account which she lives on, and now she didn’t have the money to pay her rent and bills.

This morning, I took the money and showed Say’ Veon how much I saved this year. I told him what happened to DeeDee, and then asked him if he would be willing to give his half along with my half and donate it to her as our person in need this year.

He said, “Yes, of course.” This year our total was $400.

We went to visit DeeDee and my son handed her a Christmas card with the money. She opened it and said, “Thank you.” She then looked again and stared at the $100 bills.

DeeDee froze there with her eyes wide open.

Suddenly, Say’ Veon said to DeeDee, “You are our family!”

Finding happiness in life

Every year, more books on happiness are published, and every year, more people feel depressed because they do not see themselves as happy. They don't remember or know what it feels like, and instead, they feel guilty that they aren't as happy as everyone says they should be. This is really a sad state of emotional affairs.

The books, blogs, YouTube videos and advice columns will tell you that if you visualize(想象), exercise, write journals, stay busy, help others, eat healthy, read and increase your intimacy(亲密) every day, then you too can be happy.

The simple truth is that no one can be happy all the time. That doesn't mean you have to be sad, angry or depressed the rest of the time but that you can find a middle ground called contentment. This middle ground is a good place mentally and emotionally, and spending time there is a healthy choice.

Contentment is someplace between satisfied and peaceful. When you are in that place, the stuff of life can be going on around you, but you don't need to allow it to bother you. And that, my friends, is a very nice way to go through life.

I find contentment in walks and in writing, in talking with my partner and reminding each other that our life is good, despite temporary setbacks or scary moments. I can overreact to just normal life stuff, and because I know this about myself, I can soften my reactions and respond differently. Doing this takes away stress and will keep you from losing your state of contentment.

If there is even one thing that puts you in a state of contentment and you do it regularly and early enough each day it will help you through any challenges you may have to face later.

Right at this moment, things around me are still a little out of my control-such is life, but I am feeling pretty good because I am actively living my purpose. I alll now content, and that feeling will last the whole day through. You can do the same.