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FREE chapter from The Heart of Happiness

1 INTRODUCTION


What if I told you that you could start living a happier, more fulfilling life today?  Do you want to sleep better and have more energy?  Imagine living life with purpose and meaning.           

Many of us are dealing with stress at a chronic level.  Because of this constant stress, we are finding ourselves not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally depleted.  Stress has become an epidemic and is costing us greatly.  It is driving us to the doctor and is even driving us to our graves.  Chronic stress is connected to six leading causes of death!

One constant truth with all people is that we all want to be happy.  But happiness isn’t the same for everyone.  We must decide what we value, what our priorities are, and what actually makes us happy.  Most of us do not know where to start on that discovery. 
                 
Some may ask what do I know about the subject of Happiness?  I do not have a doctorate in psychology.  I didn’t even study psychology other than a couple of classes in college.  There are no cool titles or letters before or after my name.  No Dr. Eidson or Christy Eidson, Ph.D.  I’m just your average Joe.  I finally found happiness, but it took a lot of work.  I am experiencing the lowest level of stress that I have felt in years. 

I am not happy one hundred percent of the time, but I have learned various ways of coping with the negatives when they pop up.  I have spent half of my life suffering from depression and anxiety.  I have lost jobs because of it, shut people out because of it, and even lost my home because of it.  But I have come out on the other side.  I have found purpose in my life, started a business that fulfills me, and found joy in the small things.  I have learned to stay in the moment and really enjoy the here and now.   

I may be a comedian, but this is a serious book.  It is a very serious topic and one that we see affecting most of us on a daily basis.  It is a perfect topic for a comedian to cover because, as a group, most comedians are affected by anxiety and depression.   We use humor as a coping mechanism in dealing with stress in our search for happiness.  We search and search for exterior elements to make us happy, but that won’t happen, at least not for the long-run.  True happiness comes from within. 

I have been doing standup for over 15 years.  I have been suffering from anxiety and depression for twice as long.  I have been suffering from chronic insomnia for the better part of the past decade.  It has taken me half of my life of trial and error to figure out what works for me to cope.

There are many books on motivation, anxiety and depression, stress management, and personal transformation.  Rarely, do any of them discuss happiness and how to achieve it.  This book will help you reduce stress while seeing your life in a new light.  In this book, you will be able to define stress and identify stressors, discover helpful and effective stress management techniques that have been proven to work, and develop a plan to reach your goals.  This book will also help you realize what happiness means to you.  I haven’t selected these techniques flippantly.  They have worked for me, but why?  I started researching the science behind each one and share it with you here. 

Similar books may cover one of these topics, but I wanted to create one book that encompasses all of them.  I make the material more relatable by using pop culture references to illustrate my points, which makes it easier for people to identify with. 

This book is divided into four parts.  The first part examines stress and how your personal history affects how you handle stress today.  The second part goes into the process of rewiring your brain and defining what happiness is and what it means to you.  The third part delves into effective stress management techniques that have been proven to work and is backed with science.  And the fourth section goes into goal setting and developing a plan of action. 

I wish a book like this had been available twenty years ago when I was going through my deepest depression.  But it is available now! 


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