I Hope You're Happy

I maintain that you are designed for joy. I mean, just look at all the things you can do that can bring a smile to your face.

I often have one key argument with a glum or depressed patients or clients: I argue for their optimism. It's a shock for many to hear that, as so many of us have been stuck in routines that sustain us, while we miss the happiness mark. So if you wake up every morning, or let's get real — most mornings and face the world with a blend of courage and vulnerability, and who choose as their core aim for the present day, to find something to be happy about…not that this means ignoring hardship or travails, but to remember their central aim is happiness.

If that's how you wake up, then you don't need this book. For the rest of you out there wondering where and how that joy has leaked out of your life, read on, because here we're going to explore what that path to happiness means, that path you should be strolling — and when and how you fell off that path.

So what is this thing called happiness, and where does it come from? It didn't always exist. Oh, we had hedonism, pleasure, moments of laughter, often sadistically based. And we have addiction, in so many realms. I've written extensively how certain addictions, either overtly conscious like drugs, but there are other subversive addictions like food, sugar, etc.
So where is the sense of joy. It's for the individuals who, despite the relentless pressure to conform to an idealized, often unrealistic vision of happiness, choose instead to forge their own path toward a more authentic and fulfilling existence.