Book Review
'Happy for No Reason'
I believe this book is going to change people's lives, and I'd like to give you the inside story on it.
"Happy For No Reason ― 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out" by Marci Shimoff with Carol Kline (Paperback by Free Press ©2009) is destined to become a house-hold name in titles.
Marci is the author of the best selling "Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul". She was also one of those special people interviewed for the movie "The Secret".
True, there will be skeptics who will dismiss the idea that happiness exists. In a Feb 3, 2008, New York Times interview, Charles Simic, the American poet laureate, called it frightening that people need instructions on how to be happy. "How does one give directions in a book, about being happy?" he wonders.
Whether it's frightening or not to some, it's a fact that many people don't know what happiness is. They have never experienced that joy at waking up each morning, happy to be alive, looking forward to another day, relishing the opportunities, the happy synchronicities, the quirks of each day that come their way.
Some people even ask: "Who are you kidding?" They just don't believe in happiness.
The Right to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness"
The American constitution clearly states that everyone has the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". Hmmm ― the pursuit of happiness. That's an odd choice of words.
In 1776, when the American constitution was written, it had a completely different meaning than it has today? While today, our common understanding of 'pursuit' is 'to chase after something', back then, it meant 'to have the right to practice something' ― to do it habitually every day.
Our modern definition of 'happiness' has, no doubt, influenced our expectations of finding 'true happiness'. Could this be why so many people today never really expect to find real happiness?
They only expect to have the right 'to pursue it' endlessly - not to actually find it.
How sad to grow up in a world where happiness is only a pipe dream!
"Happy for No Reason" is an important book that is really needed for these times.
It illustrates through the personal stories of 100 Happy People, how happiness can be lived out in ordinary lives. These stories are heart warming and real and will touch you deeply.
Some of them stumbled upon happiness and were astounded to find it, others didn't have to learn how to be happy, they never forgot it. They didn't need 'a reason' to be happy. They just were.
Marci Shimoff recalls how she, herself, was a very unhappy child. In family albums of pictures from her early life, standing next to her beaming brother and sister, Marci always looked "as though I'd just lost my best friend".
How did such a profoundly unhappy little girl
find 'the Real Deal'?
She says that somehow she knew she didn't have to accept being unhappy, dissatisfied, perpetually discontented and unconnected to joy.
When she was eleven years old, the age-old question of: 'How can I be truly happy?' took hold of her and compelled her to begin a single-minded search that lasted 35 years. This book is the culmination of her findings, compiled along with the best knowledge and research on happiness available today.
Each of the 7 chapters illustrates one of the "7 Steps to Being Happy From the Inside Out".
Not only that, they give practical exercises on training yourself to make happiness real in your life. You'll be surprised you didn't think of these before.
Here are some memorable quotes from this book
"When I'm faced with a choice, I stop, take a deep breath, and feel which option brings more lightness, openness, and expansion. I do this for choosing an entree on a menu or deciding which business opportunities to pursue. I'm always happier with the choice that makes me feel expanded."
"People who are 'Happy for No Reason' may be famous, wealthy, and powerful, but those are outcomes of living fully and passionately, engaged in meaningful service to a larger cause."
"We spend our entire lives searching for happiness, yearning for it, trying to get the things we are sure will make us happy: wealth, beauty, relationships, career. . . . But the truth is, to be truly happy, all you have to do is raise your happiness set-point."
"At age 72, Dad took up needlepoint ― and loved it. He became a master needlepoint artist, winning awards throughout California. My dad taught me that feeling a sense of purpose allows you to bring joy to whatever it is you're doing."
If you feel that you are one of those who somehow missed the boat in finding your share of happiness in this world, this is a book that will allow you to get on board again and start cheering. Don't wait another minute. You'll love this book.
You too can actually have 'Happiness'!
Don't Wait Another Day.
"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." Wayne Dyer
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