10% Happier

The alarm went off at an ungodly hour this morning (we had lofty notions to go on a hike at RMNP) and we chuckled to ourselves, turned it off, and slept in until NINE THIRTY. What? Who are we? That never happens.

Now I'm gulping coffee, G is deep into some WWI book, and Lucy has decided to switch things up:

See how she's laying? Facing the opposite direction? Things are getting cray cray up in here.

One of the latest books I have voraciously consumed with the clock ticking loudly in the background as the fall semester rapidly approaches:

10% Happier by Dan Harris

Have you read this one? The complete title is: 10% Happier: How I tamed the voice in my head, reduced stress without losing my edge, and found self-help that actually works - a true story.

The key is to read this as a memoir rather than as a self-help or "useful tip" book - from the very beginning. You may know Harris from his reporting and anchoring work for ABC news...if I watched the news, he might seem more familiar, but alas. Anyhoo, I was about 50 pages into the book, reading his accounts of reporting in Iraq and Afghanistan, before I was like, wait a minute - what about the 10% happier part? The book truly is about his life experiences, and he spends a lot of time setting up how fast-paced and stressful his life was/is, living in NYC and working for a popular news agency.

His writing is witty and self-deprecating and a good balance of humor and down-to-earth seriousness. In fact, he starts the book by recounting the event that sparked his quest for calmness: he had a panic attack on air, live. The book tells of his encounters with fallen evangelists, cooky New Age proponents, and Jew-Bu (his word) believers who introduce him to the world of meditation. The book was interesting to me because it's about how to reach out and find help when you're a non-believer looking only at secular options. I appreciate how an atheist (or agnostic at least) tears down the flaws in the whole send-out-good-thoughts-into-the-universe mentality.

Harris is honest about his need for help controlling stress and anxiety in a way that I think most of us can relate to. And he doesn't get all metaphysical when talking about meditation; he concentrates on deep breathing and on trying to identify our thoughts as thoughts, which can be controlled and changed. We can control them rather than letting them take control of us; this was a powerful lesson I've had to learn in the past.

Anyhoo, it's a good summer book. Worth the read, whether or not you're looking for ways to reduce stress. :) Another book review coming soon!