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A review by fbroom
10% Happier by Dan Harris
4.0
I enjoyed reading this book
It's highly entertaining, thoughtful, honest and provide a good practical advice.
Dan recounts his story. He began as a reporter in Boston and later moved to ABC. he explains how his job is highly stressful. He mentions some important reports and stories he has worked on. He faces obstacles/stressful situations along the way which leads him into drugs but eventually gets out of it and then he gets introduced into meditation first by reading Eckhart Tolle. He gets curious and follows up by reading more books, interviewing health professionals, religious leaders, self-help gurus and many more. He asks a lot of questions and tries a lot of things and tells us how things went for him and what he learned.
Definitely not a boring book. Books on meditation can get boring or difficult or even confusing. Dan makes it easy.
quotes from the book:
“You simply observe that it’s another thought. And by knowing that it’s another thought, you’re not totally identified with the thought.
“Make the present moment your friend rather than your enemy. Because many people live habitually as if the present moment were an obstacle that they need to overcome in order to get to the next moment. And imagine living your whole life like that, where always this moment is never quite right, not good enough because you need to get to the next one. That is continuous stress.”
The final step—“non-identification”—meant seeing that just because I was feeling angry or jealous or fearful, that did not render me a permanently angry or jealous person. These were just passing states of mind.
What mindfulness does is create some space in your head so you can, as the Buddhists say, “respond” rather than simply “react.” In the Buddhist view, you can’t control what comes up in your head; it all arises out of a mysterious void. We spend a lot of time judging ourselves harshly for feelings that we had no role in summoning. The only thing you can control is how you handle it.Read more at location 1868 • Delete this highlight
"This is an experience of my own mind I’ve never had before—a front-row seat to watch the machinery of consciousness. It’s thrilling, but it also produces some very practical insights"
Fair enough, he concedes. “But when you find yourself running through your trip to the airport for the seventeenth time, perhaps ask yourself the following question: ‘Is this useful’?”
I’d shut my eyes was usually How the hell am I going to do this for a half hour? But then I’d see the thought for what it was: just a thought. I rarely missed a day, and when I did, I would feel not only guilty, but also less mindful. When I got tense about work, I would watch how it
It's highly entertaining, thoughtful, honest and provide a good practical advice.
Dan recounts his story. He began as a reporter in Boston and later moved to ABC. he explains how his job is highly stressful. He mentions some important reports and stories he has worked on. He faces obstacles/stressful situations along the way which leads him into drugs but eventually gets out of it and then he gets introduced into meditation first by reading Eckhart Tolle. He gets curious and follows up by reading more books, interviewing health professionals, religious leaders, self-help gurus and many more. He asks a lot of questions and tries a lot of things and tells us how things went for him and what he learned.
Definitely not a boring book. Books on meditation can get boring or difficult or even confusing. Dan makes it easy.
quotes from the book:
“You simply observe that it’s another thought. And by knowing that it’s another thought, you’re not totally identified with the thought.
“Make the present moment your friend rather than your enemy. Because many people live habitually as if the present moment were an obstacle that they need to overcome in order to get to the next moment. And imagine living your whole life like that, where always this moment is never quite right, not good enough because you need to get to the next one. That is continuous stress.”
The final step—“non-identification”—meant seeing that just because I was feeling angry or jealous or fearful, that did not render me a permanently angry or jealous person. These were just passing states of mind.
What mindfulness does is create some space in your head so you can, as the Buddhists say, “respond” rather than simply “react.” In the Buddhist view, you can’t control what comes up in your head; it all arises out of a mysterious void. We spend a lot of time judging ourselves harshly for feelings that we had no role in summoning. The only thing you can control is how you handle it.Read more at location 1868 • Delete this highlight
"This is an experience of my own mind I’ve never had before—a front-row seat to watch the machinery of consciousness. It’s thrilling, but it also produces some very practical insights"
Fair enough, he concedes. “But when you find yourself running through your trip to the airport for the seventeenth time, perhaps ask yourself the following question: ‘Is this useful’?”
I’d shut my eyes was usually How the hell am I going to do this for a half hour? But then I’d see the thought for what it was: just a thought. I rarely missed a day, and when I did, I would feel not only guilty, but also less mindful. When I got tense about work, I would watch how it