The Happiness Handbook: Seven Steps to Inner Peace

By James D. Sheetz

The Happiness Handbook is based on the observations of a lifetime
regarding the differences between those who are happy and those who are
not. It is written in the form of true
stories accompanied with specific steps you can take to improve your own level
of happiness and contentment. It is
concise and easy to absorb while providing practical ways to make your own life
happier. Follow the simple steps and in
time you will find you smile more, feel happier, are more at peace and have
better relationships than you ever dreamed possible.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Read it: all you have to lose is your pain
and unhappiness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 24, 2003
• ISBN: 9781414025001

James D. Sheetz

James Sheetz is a traveler on the path: just like you.  He has been in the Information Technology industry most of his life, but has done formal study in the fields of psychology and theology.  He is the author or co-author of various books and articles on a wide range of subjects, both philosophical and technical.  His poetry has also been published in widely distributed anthologies.   

Book preview

© 2003 by James D. Sheetz. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in aretrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author.

ISBN: 1-4140-2500-9 (e-book)

ISBN: 1-4140-2499-1 (Paperback)

ISBN13: 978-1-4140-2500-1 (ebook)

1stBooks-rev. 10/31/03

Contents

Introduction

Step 1:   Understanding that Happiness is a Choice

Step 2:   Practicing Generosity

Step 3:   Fear-and becoming Fearless

Step 4:   Love-Unconditional Love

Step 5:   Meditation and Prayer

Step 6:   Anger-and the Great Power of Forgiveness

Step 7:   Faith

Recommended Reading

Pocket Guide

About the Author

Introduction

When I sat down to write this, it wasn’t intended to be a book at all. It was just a means of getting some thoughts down on paper so I could evaluate them. I was puzzled by the fact that too many of my friends and acquaintances were not at all happy with their lives. Yet, I could see little or nothing in their circumstances to justify their sense that life was hard, and unfair, and that they had little to look forward to. It was such a contrast to my own life, which seems filled with wonder and possibilities and more blessings than I can count, that I felt I must be missing something. So, I sat down to try and analyze the differences between people who are happy and those who are not.

What I wanted to understand was this. I have several people that I know well whom I would call congenitally unhappy. One is in her mid thirties, hasan excellent education, a very good job, and financial resources that go far beyond anything most of us will ever achieve. She owns a lovely home, for which she paid cash. She has good friends and a loving family. Even her last job transition was the type most of us would envy. Her company was bought by a larger one So, they gave everyone notice that their jobs would end in six months. However, if they would stay and help during the transition, they would be given approximately six months severance pay when the operation finally closed down. What an opportunity! She worked through the transition, took the severance package, and had a great new job in less than a month.

Yet, this woman is habitually unhappy. She is terribly envious of two sisters, primarily because they have children and she does not. Her relationship with her mother is strained because she feels her mother does not appreciate her career accomplishments, having been a housewife her entire life. Her sisters found perfect husbands while her own marriage ended indivorce. During the job transition, she was even envious of her friends who made less money, because they would have an easier time replacing their small incomes. Her own substantial salary would be much harder to match!!!

WHY is this woman unhappy???? That was what puzzled me.

Another friend has a great job, a good family, and a substantial inheritance. He is unhappy that his work is not sufficiently interesting, his marriage is failing, and even with significant financial resources at his disposal, his credit rating has been destroyed. How could this have happened?

Yet another friend is a tall, attractive, vivacious woman who has a good job that allows her to travel extensively, and to places of her own choosing. She has a comfortable home, a sporty car, people who love her, and looks to die for. Yet, she is one of the saddest, unhappiest people I have ever known. She is so downon life, it is very hard to be around her for any extended period of time. She hates her birthday because it falls only a few days before Christmas, so she feels she is cheated out of a real birthday. She hates Christmas because it falls near her birthday! Her parents obviously cared more for her brother than for her. Her husband was abusive. On her job, she is forced to suffer the foibles of idiots everywhere, from customers, to co-workers, to management. The cup is always half empty, or worse. She has so much to be thankful for, yet is not thankful for any of it. What a shame.

As I started analyzing all this, I thought back through my life to people who were so very different. One of the earliest people to have a profound influence on me was Dominic. Dominic was an immigrant to this country, coming from eastern Europe as a young man. He had never received much of a formal education, having learned the wisdom he carried just by living. He carried other handicaps though if you knew himat all, you knew that he never saw them as such. He was a particularly unattractive man, having some rare ailment that caused benign lumps to form all over his body. He had several on his face, one looking much like half a golf ball buried in his forehead just right of center. They were all over his arms as well, and it was easy to surmise that his entire body carried the same disfigurement. He had been employed at the same company for nearly 30 years, and was only a few years from retirement. His job? Dominic was in charge of cleaning all the bathrooms in a twenty story office building. Yes, Dominic was the real life incarnation of the much maligned Permanent Latrine Orderly!

What could