Being Happy (Even When You Don't Get What You Want)

Book excerpt: We expect that getting what we want will finally make us happy, but what we find is that it mostly just leads to wanting more or wanting something different. Our desires toss us to and fro until we tire of this and begin to question the value of following our desires. Being Happy (Even When You Don't Get What You Want) will help you understand desire and its purpose in your life. It will also help you discriminate between your Heart's desires and the ego's and to relate to the ego's desires in a way that reduces suffering and increases joy. By pointing out the myths about desire that keep us tied to our ego's desires and the suffering they cause, Being Happy (Even When You Don't Get What You Want) will help you be happy regardless of your desires and whether you are attaining them. So it is also about spiritual freedom, or liberation, which comes from following the Heart, our deepest desires, instead of the ego's desires. It is about becoming a lover of life rather than a desirer. A review from Neale Donald Walsch, author of Conversations with God: "Conversations with God says that happiness is not getting what you want, it is wanting what you get. Others have made the same observation, and in fact, this thought seems to be as old as time. Still, it is good to hear it again, to visit it once more, to connect with the wisdom yet one more time. And few books do as good a job, as quickly, of reconnecting us with that wisdom than this one by Gina Lake. This book had a lasting impact on me. I highly recommend it.... It offers a simple, accessible, articulate, and interesting take on the very human experience of desire and gives us the tools to make clear choices about how we want to live our lives. An excellent read." This book was formerly titled Anatomy of Desire.