Customer Reviews

Happiness Now!: Timeless Wisdom for Feeling Good FAST

5 star:		(28)
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3 star:		(1)
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I read this book a few years ago, and have leafed through it many times since. I'm so glad Oprah's show will make it more visible. It's amazing how reading just a page or 2 can remind me to keep going with the "work" of happiness. Holden's idea that helps me most is that we sabotage ourselves so that we only reach a certain level of happiness, and then NO MORE because things will be TOO good. I've struggled with this my whole life: Don't get too happy about life, or then that cartoon anvil will drop onto your head because you pushed your luck.

Lots of writers addressing happiness talk about positive thinking, etc. etc. That has never worked well for me. At least not for longer than a minute and half. :) But I found Robert Holden's explanations of how we get in our own way to be very understandable while at the same time serious enough to become a tool for pushing life up one big notch on the happy scale. It all sounds so simple, but like anything else, you have to be willing to pay attention, and change some old, stale habits that are doing nothing good in your life.

Really helpful book for those who are looking for a fuller, more deeply satisfying life.

HAPPINESS NOW! is a terrific book for anyone who wants to be happy and improve their outlook on life.

Robert Holden writes at the beginning of the book that anyone can be happy right now...you just have to choose it. Well, that's easier said than done and Holden goes on to explain why people have such a difficult time choosing to be happy. According to Holden, we all have two options in life--either we choose to be happy or we choose to be sad--and most people's choice is sadness, because they don't believe that being happy is a choice. He writes that a lot of our suffering is self-inflicted because we're always thinking that we'll be happy "as soon as...." we get the job, the lover, the money, the car, the house etc., but once we get whatever we think will make us happy, we discover that it doesn't. And that's because happiness doesn't come from things or outside sources, it must come from within. He also compares the way we think as adults versus the way we used to think as children. Holden writes that children, no matter what they are going through, will choose happiness all the time. They focus on the now and not yesterday or tomorrow, and kids will find pleasure in the most mundane things. I wish this section was larger, but he made the point.

Holden also says that another reason we have difficulty choosing to be happy is because of our ego, which constantly tells us that we aren't good enough and that happiness must be earned; and this creates self acceptance issues, which then creates the base for depression, anxiety, addiction and other emotional problems, that begin growing until they become out of control.

He illustrates these points using quotes, folklore, stories from the Bible-Christianity-Catholicism-Zen-Buddha, philosophy/psychology and experience from his own life and the people he's helped (Holden studied Psychology and started "the happiness project" support group).

When I first received the HAPPINESS NOW! book and looked at the cover, I thought to myself,"Oh no, not another stale and boring self-help book!" But once I began reading it, the book was fun, interesting, and easy to understand. Although the book has several references that are found in the bible and other religious texts, it doesn't come off as preachy or judgmental. Holden just takes the positive stories from the different religions around the world and uses them to illustrate the points he's trying to make.

And the book is annotated with a "notes" section in the back--divided by chapters--for those readers who'd like more information/context on the sources he uses.

All in all a great book: simple to understand and yet, not overly simplified to put into action.

You don't find happiness in the past. Happiness should not be postponed for some better time in the future. The only place you find happiness is here and now. 'Happiness Now' essentially is a manual for learning how you create obstacles that interfere with your happiness. It is about harnessing the power of the mind and spirit to work for you rather than against you. Definitely recommended.

The past is over. Finished. Why dwell there?

Happiness is about "making better choices" in the here and NOW, that will enable you to have a happy life moment to moment.

That elusive moment-to-moment decision to be happy is what Holden explains best in this warm, funny, engaging book.

Take the first step to happiness: stop telling yourself you'll "be happy WHEN..." this or that happens.

Then take the second step: read this book, and realize that you can be happy NOW.

Because, as another famous book put it: "Happiness is a choice"!

This book confirms it! No doubt about it --- We may look outside ourselves for happiness and granted some things do make us happy, but your joy comes from a place within. Once again, the basic premise and ancient teachings of the Law of Attraction are expanded upon. I'm recommending it to not just a few, but ALL of my therapy and life coach clients. Pamela D. Blair, Author The Next Fifty Years: A Guide for Women at Mid-Life And Beyond

Everyone should have a copy of this book by their bedside as their bible. This book takes you truly to a higher level. I have ordered several copies as presents. This is the easiest and most spirtual books i have ever read. I loved every minute of it.

Wow what a awsome book. Robert Holden shows you how the smallest changes in your life can make a difference. I have embrased several of his suggestions and will attest to the fact that I feel a difference.

Over the last 8 years I have read around 300 personal/spiritual growth books. "Happiness NOW" by Robert Holden would be very close to the best I have read in that time. The book really brings out the fact that "success is not the way to happiness, happiness is the way to success". It is an inside job. You already have it, so it is not a case of searching, it is a matter of becoming aware.

This book really helped me get out of my depression rut of 8 years. I didn't want to be put on anti-depression meds because I wanted to work out my issues on my own. I also didn't go to therapy because I didn't want to pick apart my emotions. Finally I found Happiness Now while watching Oprah's show. Upon reading Robert Holden's book I journeyed back to the happiness I remembered experiencing when I was younger and not so sinical.
With this book, I rediscovered our innate knowledge that happiness is always with us. We don't have to search for it and we can't shut it out no matter how hard we try. I tried to block out a painful past by ignoring the pain, but this book, page after page, will remind you that happiness is who we truly are and is not a selfish act. Happiness is love. Please read this book. I recommend it to all to discover and confirm your happiness now.

I am very happy to have this book as part of my collection. Robert Holden reminds us, among many things, that pleasure is happiness of the body, satisfaction is happiness of the world, and joy is happiness of the spirit. I love what he says about Joy:

"This is the happiness that goes with you wherever you go. Whereas physical pleasure and life satisfaction are born and then die, joy is eternal and timeless- it is happiness now. This joy is inward, it is deeply intimate, a part of the fabric of your soul, and it is the amazing grace of your spirit. As such, it is constant.

This joy is natural. It is 100 percent unconditional, non-judgmental, and free. Wherever you go, there It is. It is not empty, It is full. It is loving. It has consciousness. You can relate to It. You can ask It for guidance. You can ask It to shine Its Light upon your problems. You can sing to It, pray to It, and dance with It. You can meditate on It. You can draw with It, write with It, and heal with It. You can ask It to bless your relationships, your life, your career, everything. Let It be!" - Robert Holden Ph.D. p.137, Happiness Now

In Happiness Now, Holden offers a wealth of inspiring information and practices to help us to understand, embrace and feel happiness. Curled up on the couch, delighting in each page, the light of insight filled my head and heart many times. This is a very enjoyable and edifying read.