"My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?”
Dr. Seuss
In the last years of my mother's life, she often said that it seemed she was reading the Sunday paper every day, so quickly was time passing by. I'm not quite at that point yet, but the quick passage of time has been brought home to me repeatedly in recent months...my 74th birthday, my "baby" brother's 70th, our 32nd wedding anniversary. the 40th birthday of a young man I would have sworn was only 25. And returning to this blog to discover I haven't posted in almost a year to the day!
I have been reading, honestly! In fact, two or three books some weeks. Mystery, historical narrative, psychology, e-books, paperbacks. Book club selections, books I've enjoyed, books I haven't finished - but none that I've felt compelled to share until recently. None that I couldn't wait to recommend to friend, family, even strangers, until recently.
Therefore, after a longer hiatus than I had planned, here are four books that I have been recommending, even extolling whenever and wherever I've had the opportunity.
Flourish by Martin E. P. Seligman NF c2013
Seligman, considered by some as the father of Positive Psychology, has continued his work on resiliency, learned optimism and most recently, what he refers to as well-being. A champion of learning from what works and from healthy practices rather than illness and disease, Seligman combines research and application and presents his findings here with clarity and - optimism.
I almost cheered when I read that Seligman "detests" the word happiness because it's become so overused as to become meaningless...the way I also have come to feel about the word "deserve".
Focusing on well-being and its five pillars of positive emotion, engagement, positive relationship, meaning and accomplishment, Seligman asserts, is what makes for the good life. And he supports his assertions with academic studies as well as anecdotal stories.
