10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works by Dan HarrisMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Here's a book about the benefits of exercising our brains through meditation without all the "spiritual" trappings and unbelievable beliefs. By sharing his personal story, Dan Harris has given a great gift to anyone who cares about themselves enough to follow along. The narrative is engaging, mind-expanding in places and laugh out loud funny in others. It's a spoonful-of-sugar way to take in major important information without getting lost in someone else's fog.
Like me (and probably anyone who is reading this) Harris is an avid reader. So when he discovered an internal need to understand himself and the world around him better, he turned to books. It's in how he describes his experience of the various authors that provides the essence of his journey, which, of course, makes it feel like he and I are sympatico. Of Eckhart Tolle, for example, he say "I honestly could not figure out if he was a genius or a lunatic." Exactly.
But Tolle becomes just a stepping stone on Harris's path. Others include Deepak Chopra, the Dalai Lama, a scattering of evangelical ministers, and several practitioners of meditation, mostly Jewish. In the end the greatest teacher of all turns out to be Harris's own sense of increased happiness which comes along when he begins to practice mindfulness. Results matter. He got them. He says the rest of us can get them, too.
So glad I read this one. Because he is on TV, I could hear Harris's voice reading the book as I went along, creating a super-enjoyable reading experience for me, much of which I had on the beach. It helps that he writes of his own striving and longing for competitive success in a way that feels familiar. I can relate to Dan Harris. He isn't fluffy. He isn't preaching Nirvana. Just 10% happier. That's enough for me!
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