The Art of Happiness

VIVAlasVEGASBaby

Senior Don Juan
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This book is gold. Buy it. It helped me so much. Please read it for your own good. It will make you have an outlook on life like no other. The name of the book is The Art of Happiness by Howard C. Cutler. M.D.

Here is an excerpt that has changed my outlook on life completely. This whole book is needed to do the full effect, this is just a preview. I am not a sales person or anything. I am just trying to help a few of my fellow Don Juans out. Enjoy.
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Although there are no easy solutions to avoiding these destructive pleasures, fortunately we have a place to begin: the simple reminder that what we are seeking in life is happiness. As the Dalai Lama points out, that is an unmistakable fact. If we approach our choices in life keeping that in mind, it is easier to give up the things that are ultimately harmful to us, even if those things bring us momentary pleasure. The reason why it is usually so difficult to “just say no!” is found in the word “no”; that approach is associated with a sense of rejecting something, of giving something up, of denying ourselves.

But there is a better approach: framing any decision we face by asking ourselves, “Will it bring me happiness?” That simple question can be a powerful tool in helping us skillfully conduct all areas of our lives, not just in the decision whether to indulge in drugs or that third piece of banana cream pie. It puts a new slant on things. Approaching our daily decisions and choices with this question in mind shifts the focus from what we are denying ourselves to what we are seeking - ultimate happiness. A kind of happiness, as defined by the Dalai Lama, that is stable and persistent. A state of happiness that remains, despite life’s ups and downs and normal fluctuations of mood, as part of the very matrix of our being. With this perspective, it’s easier to make the “right decision” because we are acting to give ourselves, not denying or withholding something from ourselves - an attitude of moving rather that moving away, an attitude of embracing life rather than rejecting it. This underlying sense of moving toward happiness can have a very profound effect, it makes us more receptive, more open, to the joy of living.
 
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