Being Happy

This is for you if you are feeling depressed, this is for you even if you are not feeling depressed. This is for you no matter who you are, where you are, or what you are going through. This is for you if you are a book lover, and this is for you even if you’re not one.

We all go through tough times in our lives. I went through a rough patch in my life around start of my chartered accountancy days.

During my school days, I wasn’t exactly the class topper type student, but I used to be among top 5 students of the class or so. For the first time in my life, I failed an exam in module B of CA. Before that, no matter how bad I had done on any exam, I always somehow managed to pass the exam. But not here.

When I started CA, I decided to study 2 modules together (fast track) as I was expecting an exemption in one of the subjects. I missed that exemption by just 3 marks. I decided to continue on the fast track anyhow. I managed to pass module A, but failed a few exams of module B. I again decided to take module B with module C. Managed to pass B, but failed a few subjects of module C. I decided to take those with module D, so that I could keep utilizing my fast track advantage.

But by that time I was approaching burnout. Together for modules C and D I appeared for 6 exams and managed to pass just 1. Repeated failures followed by this blow was too much. And to make things worse, all my friends got calls and offers from audit firms and I wasn’t able to secure any.

The next 6 months were the most difficult time of my life till that time. For the first in my life I felt like the burden almost broke my back.

One day, during that period, I happened to be at my father’s office. In one of the shelves, I noticed this book, “Being Happy” by Andrew Matthews. I started reading it as I waited for him, and then took it with me to finish reading at home. It was almost as if the book grabbed me and snatched me out of that depression; it had me smiling and even laughing within an hour. It was almost an instant relief to my dark thoughts at that time.

The unique thing about the book is that its author is a cartoonist by profession. So, all his books are filled with lively illustrations, which supplement his explanations in the most light hearted manner. Illustrations are so good that even alone on their own they would have made a superb book.

The book discusses many topics which are generally the root cause of anxiety or depression for most of the people. Relationship, money, actions and consequences, pessimism, forgiveness, dealing with negative people, “laws of nature”, etc. I think that even if you disagree with the theory mentioned somewhere in the book, you would still fail to hold your smile back looking at the illustrations.

The book is all about positivity. It helped me identify negative patterns and how one spirals down those. It then helped me replace those negative patterns in my life with positive ones. It discusses psychology so precisely, yet it is not a book of science. It gives very practical advice, yet it is not overbearing.

This book easily qualifies for the list of books that had a huge impact on my life. It changed the way I think. It gave me both the advice and the courage to face difficult situations. It taught me how to face difficulties with a smile and how to turn adversities into opportunities.

Most importantly, this book taught me how to be happy and how to stay happy )))