I told myself this year that I’d read more non-fiction books. In particular, self-help books. I’ve already started the year on one and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you today with a review of Happiness Is All We Want by Ashutosh Mishra.
Blurb
Happiness Is All We Want by Ashutosh Mishra reminds us how we are leading our lives in mindless pursuit. We all want to be happy but we don’t know exactly what happiness is or how to achieve it. The book suggests that the source of peace and happiness is within us – we just need to know the secret. Mishra aims to help us unlock that secret and attain a high level of overall well-being in order to lead a happy and fulfilling life and be the healthiest we can be, mentally and physically.
Review
Like I’ve said in the past, there is always at least one thing to take away from every self-help book. This is no exception. In fact, the author makes it very easy to take something away thanks to the inclusion of real-life examples and a bullet list of action points for the reader to consider and do at the end of each chapter.
The author breaks the book into the happiness of the mind, body and soul. For me, the happiness of the mind was the most interesting section and I even took screenshots of the action points for future reference. He reminded me about living in the moment and there were many parts of the book where my own thoughts and feelings felt understood. This translated into the physical section which touched upon areas such as overeating processed food and not looking after ourselves (I very much believe we are what we eat). The points on exercise in this section move up easily into the ‘soul’ section where there is a strong emphasis on yoga. Yoga is touched on very heavily in Happiness Is All We Want so if it is something that interests you very much, you will get a lot from this book.
While there were many things I agreed with in this book, there were also several points that I didn’t. In fact, some parts were uncomfortable for me to read as it was almost like the author was forcing his opinion on me. One such example is where he recommends that woman should start losing weight three months after giving birth. There were also some terms like ‘idiot box’, which referred to the television. I felt like the author was looking down on those who watch television, something which I think can be a very educational source.
One other thing I feel I should mention is the language. While written pretty simply, the construction of sentences can sometimes be a bit confusing. However, if this is not something that would massively bother you and you are interested in learning from a book that focuses nicely on spirituality, I recommend Happiness Is All We Want.
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Joyful Antidotes 
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