SERIOUSLY HAPPY: 10 life-changing philosophy lessons from Stoicism to Zen to supercharge your mindset, actionable means to the end result of happier living

SERIOUSLY HAPPY: 10 life-changing philosophy lessons from Stoicism to Zen to supercharge your mindset
BEN ALDRIDGE (illus. Michelle Brackenborough)
Holler/Quarto Group (non-affiliate Amazon link)
$10.99 Kindle edition, available now

Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: Seriously Happy is a practical self-help guide for teens, exploring 10 life lessons based on ancient philosophy—from Stoicism to Zen—to help tackle self-doubt, build resilience, and banish anxiety.

Seriously Happy is a highly practical self-help guide exploring 10 life-changing lessons based on teachings of the ancient philosophers.

YA readers are encouraged to discover how Stoicism can improve your mental resilience; the calming, meditative influence of Zen; the decision-making prowess of Aristotle or the confidence-boosting ideas of the Cynic philosophers.

As a young man, author Ben Aldridge struggled with debilitating anxiety and self-doubt, until he discovered Stoicism and other philosophies which helped him restore balance, peace and contentment in his life. In this book, Ben shares over 20 practical challenges rooted in ancient philosophy that will power up your focus and confidence, improve your critical thinking, build mental resilience, and embrace happiness. The text is accompanied by gorgeous illustrations by Michelle Brackenborough.

The challenges are based on ancient philosophical ideas—such as ‘shame attacking’, facing your fears, and appreciating the small things in life—as well as the ancient arts of Tai-Chi, Qi-Gong and meditation. Seriously Happy shows how to harness the power of ancient philosophies to deal with the real-world stress and anxieties of today.

Learn to master a growth mindset and face your fears with fun tasks and challenges such as 'the banana walk', inspired by Cynic philosophers.

Get curious, question everything, and power up your critical thinking like Socrates.

Learn how to make good life choices inspired by Aristotle’s Golden Mean.

Train your mind and embrace discomfort with cold-water therapy or digital fasting like Buddhist teachers.

Increase your mental resilience by keeping a setback diary like the Stoics.

Power up your focus & concentration with a walking meditation inspired by Zen philosophy.

Protect your wellbeing by practising Tai Chi and being in nature like the Taoists.

Be calm, be confident, and be (seriously) happy!

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Philosophy made simple. You and I, dear reader, are old enough to have perspective...hard won, and fleeting though it might be...to help us through the dark night of the soul. Our kids and grands need us to model that life-saving skill.

There are a lot of slightly desperate thoughts along the lines of, "...and just how am I meant to do that exactly?" running through a lot of y'all's heads. I'd love to have a glib answer all ready for you. I don't, and thus I'm telling you about this book.

I myownself, after more than sixty years on Earth, am convinced by Epicurean philosophy (see my review of The Swerve) that logic and evidence outweigh feelings and dogma as a way to understand the world. Author Aldridge suffered through anxiety and self-doubt and the depression that inevitably flowed from those conditions of being. He used the cultural legacy of many philosophers in multiple traditions to acquire the perspective to see the evidence that the world *is* comprehensible, that there *are* answers to the question "how do I do that?", and shares them very accessibly here.

In this election year, so fraught with rage and peril, I think offering the newly-minted teen/high-school student/recent graduate a leg up on making the noise make sense is a great thing to do.

No one needs to know you read it yourself first.

The illustrations did nothing for me personally, but I suppose anything one wishes to sell to kids must have 'em.