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Choose to Be Happy: The Craft and the Art of Living Beyond Anxiety
The power of happiness is in your hands! While no one can control everything that happens, you can decide how to respond to circumstances. Resolve to be happy every day, regardless of the situation, and it will transform your life. Connect to the vitality within yourself with a methodology for continuously deepening contentment; with meditation exercises and mantras that liberate you from harmful habits; and with practices that develop calmness and inner vision. Your new spiritual work will melt the tension away.
312 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 21, 2007
This book was an eye opener. While reading I started the process of taking responsibility for my own emotional state and it opened the door to a whole new way of learning and dealing with others. There are a few things about the book and the authors viewpoint that I didn't, and still don't, agree with, but overall a great read.
July 29, 2008
This is one of those books that helps get you back to that grounded point where you can put your life into perspective, let things go, accept what is, and choose to love things "as they are." I always come away from reading a few pages of this with a newfound view of of it all.
May 14, 2025
I read this for a book report for Nicole - The book’s value comes early in the first chapter discussing spirituality as a practice that takes con-tinuous work and effort. The point of his practice is to take away tensions. Instead of being on the swinging arm of the pendulum, he puts the focus on the fulcrum (the fixed point that supports the pendulum). Choosing to be happy is the stillness of not being carried away (or swung around) by emotions. At the very end of the book he writes: When events become exciting, don’t get too ex-cited. When things are depressing, don’t get too depressed.
P.84: Love your life, everything and everyone in your life just as it is and just as they are – now. And this includes loving you. There’s not better person you can be than the one you are right now.
In Chapter 2 I did not appreciate his disregard for therapy. He seems to have a very limited view of what therapy is. For example, talk therapy is one aspect of helping people with their everyday problems. Also, some people cannot be expected to meditate for 45 minutes twice a day and expe-rience enlightenment. (p.40) A one size fits all approach is not something that I would agree with.
His proposal that we are all growing and that a meditation mantra of “I wish to grow” was very helpful. He talks about dealing with all people today, and not letting the past cloud the interactions. In theory I can see the benefit in taking each interaction without history. However, I do not know how that would work in practice. Our relationships are cumulative and it would be impossible to not take that into our interactions. Also, if there are negative people/forces in our lives, I would think that we would be best dealing with that instead of hoping at each interaction they will be pos-itive. (p. 75)
The Author distinguishes between the self and the Self. Trying to let go of all of the external wants/desires and allowing a flow from the energy that is your spirit or Self. On p.103 he asks the reader to surrender the ego; surrender what you want, think you need, what you are doing, where you are going, what you ought to do, where you ought to be, and above all, where you have been. This was a powerful lesson and I could see spending hours allowing this to sink into me to quite my mind. Surrender, he says, must start with relaxation.
Meditation is not meant to suppress tensions or thoughts, but to recognize them and allow them to flow out without rumination. He suggests starting with guided meditation and working with a teacher to recognize the difference from suppressing vs. releasing tension. P.189 provides a guided meditation for beginners. With the purpose of meditation to feel love, for oneself and one’s live. If you don’t love your life, no one will. And if you don’t live it, it can’t grow beyond where it is today.
He wraps up the last chapter stating that most people are driven by desires for food and sex/relationships. His example of the cuttlefish that changes color to attract something to eat or an-other cuttlefish to reproduce. But as humans we can be more than the cuttlefish. And in his conclu-sion he says: When you live beyond getting or having – when you grow beyond every circum-stance – it’s very interesting, but everything comes to you.
Overall I found this to be a good read, many thoughtful insights and I will put the mantra and sug-gestions into my practice. His message is simple – kindness and acceptance of self, others and to-day.
P.84: Love your life, everything and everyone in your life just as it is and just as they are – now. And this includes loving you. There’s not better person you can be than the one you are right now.
In Chapter 2 I did not appreciate his disregard for therapy. He seems to have a very limited view of what therapy is. For example, talk therapy is one aspect of helping people with their everyday problems. Also, some people cannot be expected to meditate for 45 minutes twice a day and expe-rience enlightenment. (p.40) A one size fits all approach is not something that I would agree with.
His proposal that we are all growing and that a meditation mantra of “I wish to grow” was very helpful. He talks about dealing with all people today, and not letting the past cloud the interactions. In theory I can see the benefit in taking each interaction without history. However, I do not know how that would work in practice. Our relationships are cumulative and it would be impossible to not take that into our interactions. Also, if there are negative people/forces in our lives, I would think that we would be best dealing with that instead of hoping at each interaction they will be pos-itive. (p. 75)
The Author distinguishes between the self and the Self. Trying to let go of all of the external wants/desires and allowing a flow from the energy that is your spirit or Self. On p.103 he asks the reader to surrender the ego; surrender what you want, think you need, what you are doing, where you are going, what you ought to do, where you ought to be, and above all, where you have been. This was a powerful lesson and I could see spending hours allowing this to sink into me to quite my mind. Surrender, he says, must start with relaxation.
Meditation is not meant to suppress tensions or thoughts, but to recognize them and allow them to flow out without rumination. He suggests starting with guided meditation and working with a teacher to recognize the difference from suppressing vs. releasing tension. P.189 provides a guided meditation for beginners. With the purpose of meditation to feel love, for oneself and one’s live. If you don’t love your life, no one will. And if you don’t live it, it can’t grow beyond where it is today.
He wraps up the last chapter stating that most people are driven by desires for food and sex/relationships. His example of the cuttlefish that changes color to attract something to eat or an-other cuttlefish to reproduce. But as humans we can be more than the cuttlefish. And in his conclu-sion he says: When you live beyond getting or having – when you grow beyond every circum-stance – it’s very interesting, but everything comes to you.
Overall I found this to be a good read, many thoughtful insights and I will put the mantra and sug-gestions into my practice. His message is simple – kindness and acceptance of self, others and to-day.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews