This blog is about the textbook, “Being: Your Happiness, Pleasure, and Contentment” by Don Lucas. Who, it turns out is a professor at the college I am attending, although not my professor.

Well let’s cut to the chase about this book. The author has stated on page 4 that he knows that I do not want to be happy and neither do you. What we want to be is content. He states that happiness is only a short term feeling. People think they want it but they are confused. The meaning of life will be explained to us so we may have “everlasting positive emotions.” This misconception will all be addressed in chapter 2. Wow it is not going to take him long.

Secondly we are not in control; other people in our life are controlling our happiness. If they are not happy we will not be happy. This guy is full of good news.

Of course you probably know this one is coming; money will not make us happy. He does admit there is a relationship between money and happiness. But it does not cause happiness, or lead me to happiness.

Finally we are all wrong if we are stating we never want to be content. Apparently that is exactly what we do want. Again, all of this will be cleared up and explained in chapter 2. I cannot wait to read it.

A clarification from the author. He states this is not a self-help book. He states it does not fall into that trap. He says those books assume most people are unhappy and this one does not. Secondly those books promote us to take more control of our lives to become happier, this book does not.