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4 out of 4 stars
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If we feel dissatisfied in our lives, being of service to others can help create a climate of satisfaction that overrides our internal unhappiness and self-criticism. The Little Joy Book by Awhe Akiri is a philosophical and self-help manual to help the reader focus on becoming happier and more resilient.
This is a short book that can be read in a day or two. Thereafter, the reader can return to the book to apply the principles to their own life. The author postulates that happiness is not only a feeling created in times of celebration but can be cultivated as a tool to lean on when one’s life is not going well.
The Little Joy Book postulates that the first step towards a happy life is to create an atmosphere of contentment and love within oneself. Following this step, one begins to focus on giving help and care to others, bringing happiness into their life. The author suggests cultivating happiness by doing the following things each day:
Begin each day with a positive mindset.
Declare “I am happy” while looking at the printed words, such as on a Post-It note.
Declare happiness through your actions, such as by singing or dancing.
Zap “ANTs” from your mind as soon as they happen. ANT stands for Automatic Negative Thoughts. These thoughts may be self-focused or they may be focused on others.
This book can serve as a helpful reminder to take care of oneself and to not become mired in negative thinking. As someone who tends to be a highly self-critical fatalist, these are reminders that I need. The book is well-written and straightforward. I believe that it was professionally edited as I could find no errors.
While the book is encouraging and contained no material that I found objectionable in any way, it does not offer in-depth steps or exercises for people who may be trying to recover from trauma, grief, low self-esteem, or depression. It provides the reader with reminders to help cultivate a generally positive mindset. Those readers who are looking to delve deeper into their psychological makeup or to engage in practices such as cognitive behavioral therapy would be advised to choose a different book as well as or instead of this one.
The book isn’t preachy but the author’s Christian beliefs are obvious. Knowing this, some readers may wish to choose a different book. Overall, I liked the book and give it four out of four stars.
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The Little Joy Book
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