You Can Be Happy No Matter What

You Can Be Happy No Matter What
Richard Carlson, Ph.D.
New World Library
ISBN: 1577315685
Non-Fiction, Self Help
Reviewed by Tami Brady

For many of us, happiness is a goal that we never seem to achieve. We closely examine our unhappiness and fret over all the issues in our lives. We know in our hearts and our very souls that if we can just earn a little more money, deal with a childhood trauma, or get married that we’ll finally be happy. Unfortunately, once we succeed in these endeavors, a whole new set of issues appears and we find ourselves still unhappy.
Life doesn’t stop just because we read a self help book or decide to work on our issues. There is no secret formula that magically absolves a person from facing the challenges that we all experience. The ups and downs of everyday life will always be there. However, you can choose how you feel about yourself and your life. You can see problems as defining you as a failure or as a bad person or you can see them as merely a natural part of life. You can try to make your child act just the way you want or nag at your husband because he’s not perfect or you can get some perspective and see that these little things aren’t all that important in the scope of your love and happiness.
Perhaps, the most important thing I gained from You Can Be Happy No Matter What is the importance of taking time out. Like most human beings, when I’m in a low mood, the world seems darker and my problems more difficult. In the past, I thought that I had to solve these issues as they came up. As the author states though, real problems won’t disappear when you are feeling more yourself. Little irritants that don’t really matter will simply fall away. Then, you can work on your real problems and actually have a clear mind to do so.