Summary of John Leland's Happiness Is a Choice You Make

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 I began visiting six strangers who had lost something in 2015. I was fifty-five years old, and I had lost my marriage after nearly three decades. I was now living alone for the first time. I was the main caregiver for my eighty-six-year-old mother.
#2 I interviewed a variety of people, from the very old to the very young, to find out what life was like for them now. I was surprised to find that every visit raised my spirits.
#3 I had to give up the idea that I knew about life. It was a humbling experience, but also an energizing one. I didn’t have to be the expert or critic, challenging the things they told me. Instead, I let them guide me through the world as they saw it.
#4 I chose six people for my experiment. Frederick Jones, who was eighty-seven when I met him, was a World War II veteran and retired civil servant with a weak heart. He had started every day by giving thanks for another sunrise. Helen Moses, ninety, had found love in a Bronx nursing home. John Sorensen, eighty-nine, had lucked into the sweet spot in the social safety net.

Sujets

• Santé et bien-être
• Bien-être émotionnel
• Bien-être émotionnel
• Bien-être
• Bien-être
• Bien-être
• Bien-être
• Sexualité
• sexualité
• Sexualité
• Personal Growth
• Self-help
• Happiness
• Love
• Love (disambiguation)

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 10 mai 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798822503205
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on John Leland's Happiness Is a Choice You Make
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I began visiting six strangers who had lost something in 2015. I was fifty-five years old, and I had lost my marriage after nearly three decades. I was now living alone for the first time. I was the main caregiver for my eighty-six-year-old mother.

#2

I interviewed a variety of people, from the very old to the very young, to find out what life was like for them now. I was surprised to find that every visit raised my spirits.

#3

I had to give up the idea that I knew about life. It was a humbling experience, but also an energizing one. I didn’t have to be the expert or critic, challenging the things they told me. Instead, I let them guide me through the world as they saw it.

#4

I chose six people for my experiment. Frederick Jones, who was eighty-seven when I met him, was a World War II veteran and retired civil servant with a weak heart. He had started every day by giving thanks for another sunrise. Helen Moses, ninety, had found love in a Bronx nursing home. John Sorensen, eighty-nine, had lucked into the sweet spot in the social safety net.

#5

I met six different people who were all dying, and they were all close to their end. They were all able to consider the fact of death, as well as the form it would take.

#6

The elderly don’t fit either of the story lines typically associated with old age. They live with loss and disability, but they do not define themselves by it. They get up each morning with wants and needs, no less so because their knees hurt or they can’t do the crossword puzzle like they used to.

#7

The more time I spent with the elders, the more I realized that the answer to happiness is to think like an old person. Old people are repositories of wisdom and experience, and they are happy because they use Instagram like a teenager.

#8

The good news about getting old is that there is good news. Older people report a greater sense of well-being and fewer negative emotions than younger people. They make the most of what they have left and compensate for what they have lost.

#9

The first step is to imagine what a good life is at that age. You might not get there by working more hours, coming home late, and putting off time with your friends and family. Maybe you want a different job, a long talk with your son, or a move to a different part of the country.

#10

Each of the six elders practiced happiness differently. Some more than others. Fred gave thanks for each day, even though objectively those days looked pretty hard. Ruth had her children and extended family, for whom she was the glue holding the others together. Jonas had his work, which he never distinguished from his life.

#11

I learned that seeing my mother through John’s eyes allowed me to see a life that once had value to its owner but no longer did. She wanted to be relieved of it, and she had carried it long enough.

#12

I had begun to accept death as a natural element of old age. I had learned that quitting is no less noble than fighting, and in the end, both turn out the same way.

#13

The elders I spoke with all had one thing in common: they knew how to be old. They knew what it was like to live a life, and they knew what it was like to be old. They were not afraid of growing old, but they were afraid of missing out on life.

#14

I was looking for a sad and moving tale of old age, and I found six people who fit the bill. Each had the makings of a sad and moving tale, but all six were still happy and proud of their lives.