Book - Happier

There are several types of people who are working to be happy. The "rat racer" learns to focus on the next goal rather than on present experience. The "rat racer" is not rewarded for enjoying the journey itself but for the successful COMPLETION of a journey. The "rat racer", confusing relief with happiness, continues to chase after his goals, as though simply attaining them will be enough to make him happy.

The "hedonist" equates effort with pain and pleasure with happiness and goes about satisfying desires, giving little or no thought to future consequences.

The "nihilist" is a person who has given up on happiness. They have become resigned to the belief that life has no meaning and are chained to the past. These people have learned helplessness and learned it easily. "When we fail to attain a desired outcome, we often extrapolate from that experience the belief that we have no control over our lives or over certain parts of it. Such thinking leads to despair."

Another quote from the book: "To expect CONSTANT happiness, is to set ourselves up for failure and disappointment. Not everything we do can provide us both present and future benefit. It is sometimes worthwhile to forgo present benefit for greater future gain, and in every life some mundane work is unavoidable." The objective is to spend as much time as possible engaged in activities that provide both present and future benefit.

Attaining lasting happiness requires that we enjoy the JOURNEY on our way toward a DESTINATION we deem valuable. Happiness is not about making it to the peak of the mountain nor is it about climbing aimlessly around the mountain; HAPPINESS IS THE EXPERIENCE OF CLIMBING TOWARD THE PEAK.