You Can Be Happy No Matter What

I blogged about this on my lifeblog but since it is about a book, I'm blogging it here, too. I came across an interesting idea, a "meme" to write about. I'm so new at blogging I don't know anyone to tap and say, "tag, you're it." So if you have actually found this blog and read this far, please consider yourself tagged, if you wish.

This is how it works:
1. Find the nearest book.
2. Name the book & the author.
3. Turn to page 123.
4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page. Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
5. Tag three more folks.

You Can Be Happy No Matter What by Richard Carlson
Subchapter heading: Happiness Lies In The Present Moment

Excessive thinking about your past and your problems will convince you that you do, in fact, have good reasons to be upset and unhappy. But you don't want to be unhappy. And your past is over. It is a harmless memory, carried through time, through your own thinking. It was real then, but it isn't now.

[Some of those sentences were so short, let's cheat and finish the paragraph] You can learn from your past, but it is a mistake to continually go into your past or overanalyze life in a search for happiness. If this worked, you'd be happy already!

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I purchased this book nearly ten years ago and, typically for me, it languished in one of my many TBR piles until we moved. When it was time to start unpacking, I grabbed a random box of books and this one jumped out at me. With all the hassles and sadness of the last year, I know I have had a bad habit of doing exactly what is described above. Isn't it interesting how a book will come into your life, or in this case, reclaim your attention, just when you need it? This one was propping up the laptop which has been overheating and shutting down, in an effort to allow more air to circulate to the fans underneath. Thus it was "the nearest book." I think I'll be up late reading tonight.