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Title: What Happy People Know: How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Life for the Better by Cameron Stauth, Dan, Ph.D. Baker ISBN: 1-57954-602-1 Publisher: Rodale Press Pub. Date: January, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.39 (18 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Life Changing Read!
Comment: This book literally changed my life. I was stuck in a rut worrying about the same things over and over. Fighting with people over the same issues. When it came down to it, I realized it wasn't everybody else's fault I wasn't happy, it was my own. This book can change your way of thinking to stop the fear and make you appreciate what you have.
It's not easy being happy, but by reading this book and using the applications you can be happier.
At times the book gets a little too scientific, but hang in there and it will all make sense if you want it to.
Rating: 5
Summary: The Heart and Soul of Happiness
Comment: I have known Dan Baker, PhD for about 15 years. I work with him at the Life Enhancement Program at Canyon Ranch Health Resort. This is a review, however, by a fan and appreciative reader of "What Happy People Know." For years guests who have seen him professionally have raved about Dr. Dan Baker. I now really know why! His book helped me.
The professional reviewer who said that it may be "too simplistic" or "New Age" must not have read it! Dan is not a purveyor of fairy tales. His book is as much about life's pain as it is about joy. The remarkable and real people about whom he writes are resilient human beings who have not succumbed to defeat. They typify the best in all of us. They are examples of success, but rather than fitting the model of what is wrong with people, they model what is wonderful about humankind. They are not in denial of pain, but recognize it and experience it fully. What makes them unique (or are they?) is their courage in rising above the horrors which have befallen them. One man who lost his entire business, all of his employees, and his son in the New York Trade Center disaster survived because of his love for those people. One can pass this off as 'superficial' but it is the common thread that enables all of us to make it through tough times. With numerous interesting citations of research, showing physiological and psychological benefits of the feeling of appreciation, the book despells any notion that this is a shallow endeavor. Life IS hard, but is filled too with beauty and love. Research is mentioned from the Heart Math Institute on improved heart rate variability with Freeze Frame technique - a volitional mind/body technique in which one focuses on feelings of love or appreciation. Some studies have indicated that improved heart rate variability may correlate better than cholesterol or blood pressure to morbidity/mortality. Sadly, however, the study of happiness or positive emotions are deemed "new age?"
In writings Dan discusses from the Bible to Victor Frankel ("Man's Search for Meaning"), finding joy, or love, or appreciation has been credited by wise people as worthy of our concern and study. It reflects the heartless cynicism of our age that someone would think that mere emotions such as love are trivial. In reading this book, the reader will experience a thoughtful, wise, and engaging strategy for living. Rather than fitting some New Age self help book, Dr. Baker's book espouses Dostoyevsky's advice, "in suffering is redemption."
Reading the book I was reminded of my own successes, hewn from my passions and joys and realized, again, that my joy fuels success better than the fear of failure. It filled me with excitment, saddened me to remember some of the wonderful guests with whom I've loved working too. I found the book intellectually arresting, very humorous at times, and it left me teary eyed at the end. In it Dan Baker provides a means of finding the joy in one's own life. He does not claim it to be easy. Life is not. Will it work for severely disturbed people? I don't know. It will not work for those expecting help from just reading a book - one must do the work he describes. Some people will not get this fact. But can ANYONE truly rise above baseline survival without using at least some of his ideas? I doubt it. He has cogently, with his "Positive Pyschology" collegues, not reinvented humanity -just begun to understand the best of humanity. It will feel like coming home to you, because it espouses truths you know to be true in your heart.
Rating: 5
Summary: Life Changing
Comment: The phrase "life changing" is used so often, it has become useless. Now, I will not say that this book is life changing, but it comes close. If you are prepared for change, which you probably are if you have look this far, then it probably will be life changing.
Some of the ideas were revolutionary for me and I have been through a lot of psychobabble both in and out of college. The essential message is to let love win out over fear. No, not the lovey-dovey stuff of the 60s, but real love -- primarily for yourself and secondarily for others, which will flow naturally. And no, it is not the 70s type me-first mentality. Stop that negativeness! That does not mean it is the don't-worry-be-happy of the 80s and 90s either. It is a realistic viewpoint that will make your life better and probably better for those around you.
Highly recommended.
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