The How of Happiness (18)

Title: The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want
Author: Sonja Lyubomirsky
Genre: Non-Fiction

I’m not much of a self-help book kind of person. In fact this may be the first self-help book I’ve ever read all the way through. This one came highly recommended from a friend though and several weeks ago I kind of made the decision that I’ve got to figure out how to live again. I full well know that sounds melodramatic but it’s the truth. After my “event” life isn’t the same for me and my connection to the world isn’t the same and I’ve got to figure this shit out again. And by “this shit” I mean how to live and be happy about it.

So I’m doing everything I can to stack the deck in my favor, everything I can to better my chances of success. If a book filled with “happiness activities” and scientific research about happiness can even potentially offer me something useful then I’m going to read it. I’m actually quite glad I read it. I came away with four concrete actions that suite my personality and natural inclinations. I also came away with a few general concepts that I’m going to try to integrate into my life as well.

If you suffer from depression (or if you’re super lucky like me and have what’s called “double depression”) I’d highly recommend this book on one condition: you have to buy in. You have to have made the choice that you want to get better, that you want to be happier. That’s a hard decision to make. For people who don’t have these issues that must sound crazy (ha!) but it’s actually really logical. If you don’t think you deserve to be happy then how on earth can you make the choice to try and be happy? If you aren’t able to make that choice right now then I don’t think you’ll get a lot out of this book. If you are able to make that choice, to say that you want to be happy and you deserve to be happy then this book is a good starting point. Buying in to the book’s premise (that there is a certain percentage of happiness level that you can increase no matter what your genes or circumstances have done to you) is the big hurdle. If you buy in though I think you’ll find the book valuable.