Review: The Lost Art of Being Happy

"Most of us are unhappy to some degree or other. Follow the way of life that this book recommends and happiness will be yours."
~Dr. Anthony Seldon, Master of Wellington College.

We all say we want to be happy. So why are we not? Most of us say we will be happy when this problem or that worry has disappeared. If we wait for our problems to go away however, we are likely NEVER to be content. In The Lost Art of Being Happy, author Tony Wilkinson explains how it is possible to live happily - right now!

Wilkinson's book reminds us what some have understood for thousands of years; that there is an art to living happily and that it depends not on external skills but on the quality of our inner life. Wilkinson identifies what he calls "happiness skills" and how to obtain them. "The inner life and practice of its skills are the keys to living happily," he says. According to Wilkinson, everyone's internal life rests on habits or dispositions, which he calls the "habit basis". He encourages us to understand and change those internal habits if we want to live happily.

At the same time, Wilkinson realizes that life is not easy. He held careers in government and investment banking and acknowledges that you cannot completely avoid life's problems. He says the "trick is to break the patterns," to react to difficulties with new "habits" that provoke peaceful inner responses. He has been a life long student of philosophy, practices meditation, studied the religions of the East, and has rediscovered the skills of happy people, which have been repeatedly lost in our modern world. According to Wilkinson, "happiness skills" can be learned by practicing mindfulness, compassion, story skills, letting-go techniques and practicing enjoyment. He goes on to explain how to develop them for oneself.

Ultimately, Wilkinson shows that training the inner life through the practice of these happiness skills amounts to a form of spirituality but one that does not rely on a belief in anything supernatural.

Wilkinson writes with compassion and pragmatism and The Lost Art of Being Happy contains easily understood and often funny examples that illustrate his understanding of life. His wisdom and knowledge of the human spirit shines through. As Malcolm Stern, psychotherapist, author, television host and co-founder of London's Alternatives, tells us, "This is an important and original book. Tony Wilkinson brings a wealth of experience, a keen intelligence and an inquiring mind to the thorny and complex issue of spirituality."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tony Wilkinson studied philosophy at Cambridge University. While pursuing a career in the civil service and later in investment banking, he practiced meditation, become a long-term student of Aikido and studied the religions of the East.

THE LOST ART OF BEING HAPPY: Spirituality for Sceptics
By Tony Wilkinson
Findhorn Press/January 2008
Paperback/$22.95
ISBN- 978-1-84409-116-4
Findhorn Press is distributed by IPG (Independent Publishers Group)