How We Choose to Be Happy: The 9 Choices of Extremely Happy People, Their Secets, Their Stories
Author: Rick Foster, Greg Hicks
List Price: $12.95
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ISBN: 0399525750
Publisher: Perigee (07 February, 2000)
Sales Rank: 10,589
Average Customer Rating: 4.85 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
Happy People are Wise People
I am a happy person. I won't go so far as saying I am wise, but I did not become happier by accident. It was a conscious choice.I read "How We Choose to Be Happy" to see if the authors had come to the same conclusions I had. They did. I have been carrying a small card around with me since 1996. It says things like "experience & express gratitude," "make happiness a priority," and "be present." It's amazing how many of the choices listed in this book are on my old beat up card. Maybe it's not a coincidence.
In our culture there is this odd belief that you must be an idiot if you're happy. I have no idea how this myth got started but I have found just the opposite to be true. It takes a logical mind to see where choice is involved in our emotions. My life circumstances are not totally how I would like them to be. I decided to not wait for ideal conditions before I experienced joy. I figured out that I could experience happiness WHILE creating the life I wanted. If I waited for everything to be perfectly how I wanted it to be, I concluded I might be waiting a very, very long time.
Get the book. Make it personal by seeing how the choices might apply in your life. Why wait?
Rating: 5 out of 5
Practical Resource: Not A Self-Help "Plan"
The author's outline of the "9 choices of extremely happy people" seems fairly complete: intention (to be happy), accountability (for one's own happiness), identification (of what makes one happy), centralization (making working towards happiness central in daily life), recasting (interpretation of tragic or unhappy experiences for redeeming value), options, appreciation, giving, and truth. I like that their "outline" doesn't require one to necessarily rely on a religious or supernatural belief that not everyone will necessarily share, nor do they have a one-size-fits-all approach that equates success with happiness. Although I don't really want some psychologist, self-help author, or religious leader to prescribe a detailed magic formuala for happiness, other people may miss having a detailed course of "what do we do now?" Another weakness (unavoidable) is that the author's acknowledge that perhaps only 50% of happiness is voluntary, the other half may be genetically or biologically determined, that is hardwired into us. Still, we have to start somewhere. I think that the 9 choices are useful to evaluating the way we leading our lives and making some improvement.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Seeking Happiness Consciously
"Happy" is probably one of the first words we learnt in our life. It is important enough. However, how many of us are really consciously seeking the REAL happiness ? This book can facilitate this consciousness, and self discovery ... who am I, what do I really want ?The book is easy to read. The authors systematize their happiness concepts to aid understanding. They provide simple tools and raise straightforward questions to help readers to reflect. There are examples of life scenarios that we commonly face.
There are positive messages (e.g. we choose our own feeling, turning negative emotions to positive energy) that make people feel good. You may find certain contents similar to other self help books. These can bore you, but it is natural to find some life principles appear before us often.
Suggest you don't read it in a rush. Give full attention, and take time to reflect. This can maximize the book's values to you.
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