About this Book:
Discover the Way Toward a Lighter, Braver, and Wiser Life
This old world can be exhausting, despairing, and cynical. But you don’t have to be.
Instead, you can unlock the power to a happy life–an act of defiance that will make you more resilient in times of turmoil, pain, and chaos. Cultivating happiness takes grit, determination, and a good sense of humor. It’s not always easy, but it’s well worth it.
Beloved writer Joy Marie Clarkson leads the way, crafting an audacious case for happiness no matter what you’re going through. With her signature humor and lyrical storytelling, Joy offers an irresistible invitation:
“If we accept that life will be full of difficulties and sorrows, we then have two options: to resign ourselves to life generally being a bummer, or to seek enjoyment, delight, and hope in the midst of (and in spite of!) life’s up and downs. To put it bluntly: You could choose to cultivate happiness, or you could not. . . . I think we should go for it.”
Go, therefore, and choose an aggressively happy life.
My Review:
This book was so good! I hadn’t read anything by the Clarksons (although I’ve been meaning to for ages!) so I was really exited to pick this one up.
Joy provides easy and actionable ways to live “aggressively happy,” filled with anecdotes and lessons that she’s learned over the years. They are all very practical tips and candid observations, and overall it is just overflowing with optimism. It’s not very theologically heavy, but the message of the gospel shines through, but not in an overbearing way. I am a huge proponent of deliberately choosing the bright parts of life, and looking for ways that make life lighter, and this book speaks to that so well.
I personally really liked that this book wasn’t super spiritual: I appreciate a theology book as much as the next one, but this one was so simple and so practical, and wasn’t heavy on shoving Teaching down your throat, which was really refreshing. I also really liked that she included passages about doubt and questioning faith: it takes a lot of courage for someone to admit that, particularly in a book, PARTICULARLY in a Christian book, and I found that chapter deeply relatable. The reminder that faith is inherently supported by believing in something that may not exist was very timely and I loved the quote: “The more one lives inside the story of Christianity, the more undeniable it becomes.”
At the end of each chapter, there are suggestions of pieces of art to consume: music, books, and films. From the sound of it, they sound like pieces that are created that speak to the human experience, and they sound really good. I’m looking forwards to checking out these suggestions!
This is a book I will be returning to again and again, and I highly recommend!
My Rating:
5/5
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion; I was not required to write a positive review.
Losing The Busyness 