Robert Holden (1) (1965–)

The title snagged my attention since I use "Shift Happens" as a tagline for my new website. Happily, the material Holden presents is upbeat and somewhat similar to the book I'm working on, but not so similar as to dissuade me from my project.

Occasionally, finding ideas with which I'm already familiar dampens my enthusiasm for a book. In this case however, I felt as if another teacher spoke into my life to encourage and remind me of wise principles I'm choosing to embrace more and more. show more

"Defenses are made of fear. When you defend yourself, you become a fugitive on the run from fear. ...This is true of every defense mechanism, be it cynicism, avoidance, hiding or denial. .. It is a myth that defenses make you strong. You cannot be defensive and be free. You cannot suppress feelings and feel whole. You cannot hide wounds and fell safe. You cannot shut down and shine. You cannot be cynical and inspired. You cannot side with fear and also be open to love." show less

Holden's entire premise for his happiness program is that all of us have within us the capacity to be 100% happy with our lives, but we squander that by 'chasing' after happiness. We look for external validation and we mistake pleasure for true happiness, when in fact real happiness is a spiritual joy that's always within us.

I enjoyed his take on what makes us happy, as well as his suggestions for being present in your life so that you make the most of what you have, right here, right now. show more We can all benefit from living in the moment and enjoying the lives we have as opposed to constantly wishing for things to change, so that we can be happy 'someday'.

Although the book gets a bit repetitive at times, it's filled with solid concepts and helpful exercises. show less

This one was hard for me to read - at first.

Usually books that contain too many references to God or sound preachy are a DNF for me. But this one wasn't like that.
First, it's not preachy at all.
Second, it does have many references to God, but you can substitute "Higher Power", "Spirit", or the name of the God you worship, and the meditation for that day immediately applies to any faith.

This is one that I want to buy in paper format and use for my daily meditation practice. It's a beautiful book.

This one was hard for me to read - at first.

Usually books that contain too many references to God or sound preachy are a DNF for me. But this one wasn't like that.
First, it's not preachy at all.
Second, it does have many references to God, but you can substitute "Higher Power", "Spirit", or the name of the God you worship, and the meditation for that day immediately applies to any faith.

This is one that I want to buy in paper format and use for my daily meditation practice. It's a beautiful book.