Being: Your Happiness, Pleasure, and Contentment [Perfect Paperback]

Don Lucas Ph.D. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 2009

Being: Your Happiness, Pleasure, and Contentment, introduces you to the science of happiness. It takes you on a journey of discovery through the science of psychology and its newest branch, positive psychology. This journey has several expected stops along the way - including ones at love, leisure, humor, money, health, playing, and friendships. Unlike previous books on this topic, Being... does not ignore the fact that some of these stops are bumps. The journey has bumps in the road at addiction, obesity, alcoholism, prejudice, depression, hatred, divorce, and suicide. The journey leads to a discovery for you to measure, cultivate, and maintain your own true happiness. True happiness is relative to different parts of your life, and combines happiness with the emotions of pleasure and contentment. Being... reads like a letter from a best friend. Its unique, humorous presentation is likely to make you laugh aloud. Although Being... is entertaining to read, it remains smart, honest, and interactive. Being's... author, Don Lucas, or Dr. Don as his students affectionately refer to him, is the recipient of numerous teaching awards. Being: Your Happiness, Pleasure, and Contentment is further proof for why Dr. Don has won so many teaching awards: He knows how to make learning fun.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Conversational in tone, yet substantive in research and argumentation, Don Lucas' Being guides us in making sense of psychology's burgeoning field of happiness studies. Equal parts synthesis, original research, and manual for self-exploration, Lucas shepherds his readers, and at times prods them, to not only engage his ideas but to embark on their own quest for that often elusive brass ring -- the happy life. Lucas is to be commended for developing and sharing his "Being theory." Novices and experts alike will benefit from his work. --Dan Weimer, Ph.D., Dept. of History, Wheeling Jesuit University

Dr. Don takes a multidisciplinary look at happiness and how we can become more happy and content. Through different tests, scales, and exercises he introduces us to Being Theory and shows that there are many different ways to improve your happiness. He destroys many misconceptions as to what leads to happiness and shows why many of us truly want contentment in our lives. A must read for anyone who is interested in the field of positive psychology, or who just wants to improve their life! --John Geiger, Ph.D, Dept. of Psychology and Human Ecology, Cameron University.

Is there such a thing as a "self-help" textbook? I believe Dr. Lucas has just written one! This book is paradoxical - it is scientifically rigorous, yet friendly; experimental, yet personal; well documented, yet whimsical. In the intimate confines of a "fireside chat" with the author, the reader is treated to a guided tour of a complex, non-linear, psychological theory as it is applied to one of the important existential questions facing human persons...What is happiness? With such a refreshing approach, this text makes learning, dare I say, pleasurable, as it sets the stage for a powerful experience for the reader. I highly recommend the book to all students of psychology. --Christopher W. Dyslin, Ph.D., Div. of Psychology and Counseling, Governors State University

About the Author

Dr. Lucas is the chair of the psychology department at Northwest Vista College (NVC) a community college with more than 12,000 students in San Antonio, Texas. Before joining the department in 1999, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Smith-Kettlewell Research Institute in San Francisco, and took his Ph.D. in Psychology with a specialty in Neuroscience and Behavior from Northern Illinois University. He publishes and presents on a variety of topics about human behavior, including psychophysics, family and domestic violence, teaching and learning, happiness, contentment, and life satisfaction. He has been teaching for 19 years, including courses in Human Sexuality, Social Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and Positive Psychology. He was featured in the San Antonio Express-News newspaper and magazine SCENE in SA Monthly as one of San Antonio s top professors. His teaching has earned him a number of awards, including the NVC Excellence in Teaching Award, The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Doctoral Achievement Award, and the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Excellence Award. He is a Minnie Stevens Piper award winner the oldest and most prestigious teaching award for higher education in the state of Texas. He and his wife, Lisa, have two children, Sember and Rayen, and three dogs: two purebred mutts, Macy and Barney; and a Chihuahua named Spike.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 266 pages
• Publisher: Hayden-McNeil; 1st edition (May 25, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738031801
• ISBN-13: 978-0738031804
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Lucas is the chair of the psychology department at Northwest Vista College (NVC)--a community college with more than 13,000 students in San Antonio, Texas. Before joining the department in 1999, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Smith-Kettlewell Research Institute in San Francisco, and took his Ph.D. in Psychology with a specialty in Neuroscience and Behavior from Northern Illinois University. He publishes and presents on a variety of topics about human behavior, including psychophysics, family and domestic violence, teaching and learning, happiness, contentment, and life satisfaction. He has been teaching for 19 years, including courses in Human Sexuality, Social Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and Positive Psychology. He was featured in the San Antonio Express-News newspaper and magazine SCENE in SA Monthly as one of San Antonio's top professors. His teaching has earned him a number of awards, including the NVC Excellence in Teaching Award, The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Doctoral Achievement Award, and the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Excellence Award. He is a Minnie Stevens Piper award winner--the oldest and most prestigious teaching award for higher education in the state of Texas. He and his wife, Lisa, have two children, Sember and Rayen, and three dogs: two purebred mutts, Macy and Barney; and a Chihuahua named Spike.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Don Lucas really hits "it!", January 30, 2010

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Cindy Scarborough - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Being: Your Happiness, Pleasure, and Contentment (Perfect Paperback)

Dr. Don Lucas has written an easy to understand book about happiness. Humorous, personal, and informative are the adjectives that come to mind. I will recommend this book to friends and relatives - fellow students - and my professors. This book will become a part of my reference library and I will use it for years to come. Thanks Dr. Don for sharing your research and insights.
Cindy Scarborough

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing!!!, January 7, 2012

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Spicy - See all my reviews

This review is from: Being: Your Happiness, Pleasure, and Contentment (Perfect Paperback)

This book changed me! It made me understand that I don't have control of my own life and need to let loose sometimes. This book was my favorite out of all the books I read in the 4 years of college I had. This is a must read!