First Reads: Stumbling On Happiness

Foreword: Been a while huh? School is still quite the obstacle for me and life in general has left me drained of energy that keeps me from doing blogs and stuff like this. Still I am trying to update, even if it is as little as making the background green and changing the profile to a bear.

You may be wondering what "First Reads" is. It's first impressions, kinda. Rarely have ever gone back to a book to reread sections, let alone the entire book itself. And since most of my book are on loan from the library I will have to return them at some point. Hence my initial impressions after completing each book will be titled as such, and for future reference you can also consider every previous book review before this to also be a first read through review.

With that in mind, onto the review...

Stumbling on Happiness made me think, about my goals, decisions, future prospects, and also my impending due date to return the book.

Unfortunately the only real downside to this book is that I haven't bought it yet. If you are gonna read this book, I suggest buying it after for a second read or so if checked out. As of me writing this (3/10/2023), there seems to be a ton of used copies on Amazon alone.

Regardless, Stumbling on Happiness is certainly an out of the norm kind of book that I am satisfied to have read. The allure of a book that teaches you why you're unhappy instead of how to be happy in a sea of many books that fill that "how to be happy" niche is something that I can get behind. The book dives into the psychological pitfalls we take when deciding how we are gonna live a good life in a quite upfront way, which I can appreciate. Make no mistake, a majority of this book is breaking down the human mind, and I can only count one or two pieces of advice the book gives on achieving satisfaction, which is at the very end. Is it outdated for a book in 2007? Well I am not the judge of that really. It certainly uses outdated references, and it is a shame that we haven't gotten some updated version of this book for recent years, with more up-to-date research and modern examples. If anyone wants to correct me about that then feel free, but despite its age, the lessons taught in this book are certainly thought provoking, and make you reflect on the driving forces behind every decision you make.

Overall, can Stumbling On Happiness make you avoid the pitfalls on the road to a good life? No, in fact its highly likely that we will fall into one of these pitfalls eventually. It certainly has left its impact on me however, since i'm gonna be going back for additional readings. We may stumble in life, but that doesn't mean we can't rebound from it.

-You can find this book review and more on my Goodreads page