3 out of 4 stars
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Me: I love fiction, especially thrillers.
Other Me: Your book purchases in the last two years were about minimalism and yoga.
Me: Okay, okay, I like self-help too.
Chicken Soup for the Soul meets self-help in Happiness is All We Want! by Ashutosh Mishra. It is a nonfiction book that I would classify as development or self-help. It is organized well. It starts with an introduction and structure, then chapters on mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. In the introduction, the author points out that the usual notion of happiness is anchored on acquiring more material things or on a higher status in society, which take a lifetime to work towards but may never be achieved. His first message is to find things to be happy about in your everyday life and not to search for eternal happiness, which is elusive. He suggests that we "remain in a state of joy". To do that, we need to work on the wellness of our three aspects: mental, physical and spiritual. To these aspects, he assigns analogies: the monkey for the mind, the donkey for the body, and the horse for the spirit. These analogies enliven the text but they can sound forced and awkward sometimes.
When I go into a self-help book, I like to immediately zoom into the practical tips. Therefore, I was glad to see these sections within the chapters: happiness moment, tech trap, practical tip, wellbeing story, and wake-up story. My favorite tech trap point was, "Are you making the telco industry richer at your expense?" While some stories are sharings by the author, most of them are from interviews with people from diverse backgrounds. I appreciated this diversity because everyone is taking a different path to happiness. Some stories were relatable to me due to the corporate setting. There are also summary lists at the end of each sub-chapter: things to ponder, things to do, and smart wellbeing capsule. The annexure or appendix of the book has a list of the smart wellbeing capsules: action items with a short recommended duration. An example would be brisk walking for 45 minutes or being thankful for 20 minutes.
For a book with a very wide scope, it is relatively short. That said, I think it could benefit from more editing. The first chapter was riddled with too many commas, it even had duplicate commas. Sometimes, the apostrophe was misused. There are several phrases that are duplicated and could have been easily removed. Some practical tips are not actionable, aside from a mindset change. Some stories were too long and digressed from the point.
It was difficult for me to get used to the British-influenced English that was used in the book. Due to its weaknesses, I would have given it 2 out of 4 stars but its positive points won it a third star. The book has a balanced tone. It's not pushy; it says "please" when suggesting. There are mentions of the different religions, but only in relation to the personal circumstance of the interviewee or the reader. It's very sincere in trying to help so it gives tips like spend on a personal trainer than on workout gear or have a philanthropy wish list. My happiness moment was feeling like I saved a lot of money because it talks about practices that I have been thinking of trying, such as meditation, pranayama, vipasana, and reiki.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. It is written for all types of readers but especially for those who are feeling stagnant in their circumstances, such as workers in the corporate rat race. The smart well-being capsules can be easily added to a person's routine. For those who practice yoga like myself, you would appreciate the chapters on spiritual well being and mindfulness. My tip would be to go to the annexure, look at the smart well-being capsules, and go to the page that appeals to you. The book does accomplish its aim to provide actionable options towards happiness.
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Happiness is All We Want!
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