Don't Chase Happiness!

Do you constantly find yourself searching for books or articles on how to be happy? Do you feel unsatisfied with your life, or any part of it? Would you like to live a more fulfilling life? One that you feel genuinely good about? If you said yes to any of these questions, the first thing you need to do is to stop looking to make yourself happy. It may sound counterintuitive but a lack of happiness is not your problem. A lack of happiness is only a symptom of the real problem: A lack of fulfillment Happiness is an emotion. A fluid and fleeting state of being, by definition. There are eight primary human emotions and joy (aka, happiness) is only one of two that are strictly positive. The other six are challenging at best. You can combine all eight into a wheel of 34,000 different emotional possibilities. Now can you see why trying to chase and maintain only one emotion is not only unnatural, it's impossible? Fulfillment is your foundation. The stronger your foundation, the better you will feel about your life. The more equipped you will be to handle all of the 34,000 combinations of emotions. Most importantly, the more fulfilling your life is, the more happy times you will naturally have. It's ironic but the less you try to be happy, the happier you'll be. Life is a rollercoaster of ups, downs, twists, turns and lots of long straightaways. Do everything you can to keep your track in good condition, keep your foundation stable and no matter how scary it might feel at certain times, you will likely stay safe, look back during those straightaways and say, "Wow, this is pretty fun " Some of you may look at the table of contents and say, "Those rules look like common sense". Great Now, how many of them are you actually following? What is common sense? Merriam-Webster defines it as: "sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts." Have you heard the phrase, "Common sense isn't very common anymore"? I'm sure you have. It feels like every talk show host or news pundit has mentioned it at some point. Not to mention conversations with friends or family. We live in a modern world and are faced with modern challenges. A particular challenge, one that I take head-on in this book, is the source of the above phrase. There is also a valid reason it holds true. One single word in the definition of common sense has lowered our levels of fulfillment and divided us as a nation: "Perception." Perception is subjective and based on multiple factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, culture, sexual identity, education, personal experiences...the list can go on and on. Our country has changed over the years and we have many differences. However, with as many differences as we have, there are just as many, if not more commonalities. Sometimes we forget this. I have created a list of 36 rules. Common sense rules that will help make your life more fulfilling, no matter what your background, politics, religion, etc. These rules are 100% inclusive and will work for you just as well as me. The more people we have living fulfilling lives, the better all of our lives will be. I hope this book can provide you with a different perspective on your current perception. One that will unite us all together, while making your own life and the lives of everyone around you, much better in the process. I try to keep the tone of this book light, humorous and a little irreverent where I can. As serious as this topic is, I want you to enjoy reading it. However, it will do nothing by itself as it is merely a guide. It is certainly not a magic bullet. I'd be careful if anyone promises you one of those. Without action taken on your part, you will never realize its full value. If you choose to disregard the advice I give, I hope you have at least found this to be entertaining.