Happier Thinking by Lana Grace Riva
Opening sentence: “I am not the happiest person.”
Quite the ironic opening sentence, you might be thinking. And you’d be right, but it nicely sums up the point of Lana’s book. She found she was struggling with low moods and negative thoughts, so did something about it. She’s not a trained psychologist or doctor, but did her research and looked into methods to help her thinking take a more positive route. She found 12 coping techniques that worked for her, so wanted to share them.
Sometimes, it’s funny how a book will land in your lap (or in this case, literally drop through my letterbox) and be exactly what you need at that moment. I’d been having a stressful few days and found myself in a bit of a mental slump, so when I opened the envelope and saw the title of this book, it actually made me smile – sometimes fortuitous things happen and you need to go with them! I made a cup of tea and started reading immediately.
Happier Thinking is a short (50 pages), concise read with a clear, achievable message: If you’re willing to put in the time and effort, you can train your brain to focus on positive, happier thoughts rather than negative ones. It’s written in a friendly, conversational tone and you’ll zip through the book with ease. Lana says in her introduction that she’s kept it short so readers can, ‘put into practice what I’ve written about, as opposed to spending vast amounts of time reading about theory.’ Personally, I would have liked a little more theory and practical application tips to add a bit more depth to her top line methods, BUT I have to say, I did find some of the points very useful.
I finished reading and felt in a better frame of mind, armed with, what is in essence, common sense about how to focus and invoke happier thoughts rather than negative ones. I say common sense, as when you are reading them it all seems so obvious, but sometimes you need to see things written out in one handy place to remind yourself of these points. Why is it that your (well, mine anyway) brain always wants to focus on the bad things? For example, one technique Lana suggests is writing down good things that have happened to you today, which I did, but had to stop and think to recall them, whereas the one bad thing was at the forefront of my mind. Bloody brain.
Happier Thinking is perfect for keeping on your shelf and dipping into if ever you feel your brain needs a little pep talk to get those happier thoughts flowing.
I was kindly sent this book in exchange for an honest review.
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