<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Too many promises again
Review: "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.
Rating: 
Summary: Your heart doesn't lie
Review: All I have to say is if a person tries to listen to their minds meaning their heads or the reasonings of anyone else other than ones own self there is going to be a price to pay. Are you willing to risk the lives of your babes if you have children not to mention the life of yourself. I'm not just talking your physical life either but something far more precious and to you than one can ever begin to imagine until you no longer have it your emotions, mental well-being, integrity, loyalties everything you have ever stood for in your life is slowly slipping away from you and why all because "You did not follow YOUR HEART" what you felt you needed at the time in your life only YOU know YOU the best don't you think. Listen to what your heart tells you it does not lie. God is in your heart and knows no deceivements. Thank you. JanMarie Von Tersch.. I know first hand experience I'm waking up I sure hope I'm not too late. Now I no why I have been so angry I've been angry with who no one but MYSELF. No more I have to follow my heart I want to be happy again I want to feel alive.
Rating:
Summary: Happy People are Wise People
Review: 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:
Summary: WOW!
Review: 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:
Summary: This book changed my life.
Review: I think a lot of us suspect that happiness doesn't actually spring from weiging less, getting rich or getting someone to love you. Plenty of books tell you what won't make you happy. But where does happiness come from, then? The authors of this book make it clear that it doesn't come from the Happiness Fairy, it comes as a result of certain decisions that anyone can make. I was very fortunate to come across an excerpt from this book in a review, on the fridge of a family friend. It listed the steps one must take in order to be happy. At the time, I was 21 years old, miserable and desperate, wanting to leave what I now know was a very abusive relationship. I was so beaten down emotionally that the idea that my happiness was important, that I needed to "intend" to be happy and to make it central to my life (2 of the steps), was astounding. I could do that?? Close to the end of the relationship (coincidentally?), I got this book. It was exactly what I needed. I learned how to figure out what things would make me happy and to take responsibility for doing those things. It's not about being selfish. Only truly happy people can be truly generous. This book was an important part of me leaving that person, getting back in school, taking care of myself for real, rebuilding my life. Nowadays, I am a happy person with a life that I love, and I periodically go back through the steps, because what makes you happy changes. As people have said, happiness is a way, not a goal. I would recommend this book to anyone, period. It was truthful, it was simple, it was helpful--not intrusive or dictating, just factual with that ring of clarity and common sense. It's not flighty or self-centered to want to be happy, it's the necessary first step to a life worth living through. You can make the choice too. It's work, but it's worth it!
Rating:
Summary: Practical Resource: Not A Self-Help "Plan"
Review: 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:
Summary: Absolutely amazing!
Review: This book inspired, capitivated, and challenged me to grow. The wheel of happiness that Foster and Hicks illustrate is a method that works and has been integrated into my life. This book really can be life-changing if you have the patience and courage to take life by the hand and run with what it offers you. I have always been the type of person that plans everything out to the last detail, but recently I have just been going with the flow, but really having a say in what I want to do with every second of my life. I look at my intentions in doing things and hold my self accountable for my decisions. This book is well-written and should be required reading for anyone who wants to live life to the absolute fullest!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, practical and timely!
Review: While many of us work very hard, few of us can sincerely claim to be truely fulfilled and genuinely happy. From analysis of the life stories of many genuinely happy people, Hicks and Foster synthesize a simple yet powerful and practical model for achieving happiness in our daily lifes. Though "How We Choose to be Happy" is not a psychology book, the Nine Step Model is firmly founded in Human Potential psychology. All we Humans want to be in control of our lives. When we aren't in control we feel powerless, victimized and possibly alienated. When we are in control, we feel powerful, actualized and HAPPY. This well written book helps us recognize a straight forward path toward greater personal control of our lives and the rewarding happiness that results. I highly recommend for old and young--anyone searching for more complete meaning in their lifes. Richard Neslund
<< 1 >>
| 
