This month’s books all centre on the concept of happiness. The 18 Rules of Happiness: How to be Happy by Karl Moore is a short read but does exactly what it says: provides you with 18 simple rules that enable you to be happy, and the Kindle edition is only 99p!
I bought this book ages ago, and wanted to read it again after reading The Happiness Advantage. My goal is to read one book a week, however, it took more time to read the Happiness Advantage because I wanted to absorb the content, and re-read bits, so reading a shorter book allowed me to catch up.
I like this book because whilst they may seem like common sense, the 18 rules build up into a blueprint for being happy.
Take rule #2 – be grateful. There is a lot of research around gratitude and how it enables happiness. I love that “by counting our blessings every day, in a very literal way, we become happier”. Just the phrase “counting our blessings” speaks to me more than gratitude or being thankful.
Another rule, rule 13 is all about “intention sets direction”. This chapter is all about your beliefs and how you frame your experience. An example is that if you go to a party expecting not to enjoy it, you probably won’t. The party is the same for everyone, however, because you are specifically looking for reasons not to enjoy yourself, you’ll find them. It reminds me of a quote by Abraham Lincoln used by Pollyanna: If you look for the bad in people, you will surely find it. This is the basis of The Law of Attraction.
Our brains can only take in so much each day, and filters much of what happens out. If you don’t believe me then have a look at this video, and tell me how many times do the people in white pass the ball?
So if you only look for the bad, you’re actually using your brain to filter out the good. Turning it around, if you’re looking to be happy, let your brain filter out everything else.
Now go and read the other rules!
Take care for now
Karen x