The Happiness Solution: Finding Joy and Meaning in an Upside Down World

By Alan Gettis

The Happiness Solution: Finding Joy and Meaning in an Upside Down World is a fascinating collection of parable-like stories, myths, and anecdotes. Dr. Gettis draws upon his forty years of clinical experience as a psychologist and combines that with the latest research on the science of happiness. The result is markedly influenced by Dr. Gettis's passionate involvement with Eastern philosophy in general and Zen in particular. The Happiness Solution is written in a down-to-earth, non-pedantic style that makes it easy to read and digest despite dealing with complex human issues. It combines Zen wisdom, cognitive behavioral therapy, spirituality, and the new paradigm of positive psychology. The Happiness Solution won the Best Mental Health Book of the Year award from USA Book News and was also selected as one of the Top Ten Books of the Year by The Best You Can Be Foundation. The book confronts our societal notions of what brings us true happiness, and the answers may surprise you. It turns out that power, fame, fortune, prestige, possessions, and intelligence level are not the ultimate answers. You can't buy integrity, love, self-esteem, and peace of mind at the mall. Dr. Gettis uses humor, pathos, and storytelling to lead you to the solution. He believes we are hardwired for stories, dating back to the earliest cultures and our collective unconscious. Dr. Gettis firmly believes that the stories in The Happiness Solution may indeed change the way the reader lives their life.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 097987551X
• ISBN13: 9780979875519
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: Goodman Beck Publishing
• Length: 278 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A Great addition to your "Best Books" collection.......

By Sofia Steryo-Bartmus, Author, "Paws of Wisdom"- Valuable Lessons We Can Learn From Our Pets Stories are the best way to make a point and Dr. Gettis does that so well. Everyone will find a story which they can relate to. Therefore, through a collection of easy and simple advice you can use, this book will take you to the next level of happiness regardless of where you are now. Each story will add value to your life through perspectives you may not have thought about before. It is a book you can read over and over. Read a chapter or two at a time as a daily devotion and then apply what you learned. We all have challenges in life, but it is how we perceive them that will make us happy or unhappy. There are too many illustrations to mention here, but I liked the question asked in one of the chapters: How can I be happier? And the answer? Consider the Chinese Parable: If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune, if you want happiness for a lifetime, help others...What a great advice! Not only did I enjoy the book very much, I also learned a lot about myself. I recommend it to everyone, young and old, happy or unhappy. There is no one who would not benefit from at least one new idea for more happiness in this Upside down World!

A self-help guide that blends cognitive behavioral therapy and Zen wisdom

"The Happiness Solution: Finding Joy and Meaning in an Upside Down World" is a self-help guide by clinical psychologist Dr. Alan Gettis is a self-help guide that blends cognitive behavioral therapy and Zen wisdom. Structured in the format of very short vignettes, each with a lesson, "The Happiness Solution" encourages the reader to take control of his or her emotions for an improved quality of life. From giving oneself permission to be happy now, rather than wait for self- imposed conditions to trigger happiness ("I'll be happy when I'm married," or "I'll be happy when I get promoted"), to the importance of learning to lighten up and enjoy the gift of humor, "The Happiness Solution" offers valuable insight in the amusing form of parables. One insightful story tells of two shoe salesmen sent to a Pacific island; one writes his boss saying "Coming home tomorrow. No one here has shoes." and the other writes "I'll be here for a long time. No one here has shoes!" Helpful, amusing, and steeped in insight, "The Happiness Solution" is highly enjoyable simply to browse through even for readers who are already content with their lives.

Better than Welbutrin

Dr. Alan Gettis is a masterful story teller. In this remarkable book he succeeds in weaving together a series of stories designed to gently lead his readers to happiness. many of the stories are funny. all the stories are designed to uplift the consciousness of his readers. He has an excellent way of suggesting a shift in values from competition and strain to peace and kindness. Yest, the reader doesn't feel bullied into being happy. Rather, he or she leaves with ideas about how to just be happier. I cannot think of a better book on this topic.

My Favorite Uncle

Reading this book is like going to visit my favorite uncle when I was a kid. The family would sit around the kitchen table and listen to my uncle's stories, jokes and pearls of wisdom. No matter how bad I might have felt when we left to go to his house i always felt uplifted on the way home. Dr. Gettis has a way of taking some of the most profound philosophical and religious ideas and making them practical and usable in our daily lives. No pie in the sky here.

I LOVE THIS BOOK!

The Happiness Solution by Dr. Alan Gettis isn't the type of book you buy, read a few pages and wind up saying, "Oh well." This is a profound and powerful book that you will want to read from cover to cover. You will put it on your shelf and reread it in a month, or reluctantly, you may loan it to a friend with the stipulation that you must have it back! I'm a confessed devotee of Dr. Gettis's unique healing philosophy and wit. His first book, Seven Times Down, Eight Time Up, has served me and my patients for years. I'm a psychologist who works with anxiety and depression; people who long for solace and happiness in their lives. At some point, every one of my patient gets introduced to Dr. Gettis's writing. I do this because Dr. Gettis looks at life differently. His gift is to be able to distill the essence of why we struggle and then, using parables, anecdotes, and humor (that I guarantee will have you laughing out loud), offers the reader an honest-to-goodness solution. There's only one word to describe this book, "intoxicating!" It is truly a reading `high,' that will change you, buoy you up, and get you to believe that happiness isn't something that happens to someone else-it's something that you generate! Dr. Joe Luciani