The Law of Happiness by Maureen Price

In The Law of Happiness,  Dr. Cloud says,  “Happiness comes as a by-product of the “life well lived.”

Number one, happiness can be found and there are principles and practices that revealed that. Number two, those principles and practices of the law of happiness are the ones that God has given all along in His law the Scriptures. And science now verifies what Scripture has said all along.

In the Law of Happiness Dr. Cloud shows us what science reveals and what spiritual instruction has shown us where happiness comes from. The Law of Happiness lists 13 ways of happiness where God and science agree. This is just one of those.

Happy people don’t compare themselves –  Chapter 8

“God made you unique, with your own gifts and abilities, talents and horsepower. To compare yourself with anyone else it’s like comparing apples and oranges.“

What always matters is what you were doing with your own life. Comparisons with other people have nothing to do with reality. God has made you unique.  And research shows doing so is a real mood buster. As one of the leading happiness researchers Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky, says my students and I have conducted many studies showing essentially the same result: that the happier the person the less attention she pays to how others around her are doing. In fact speaking of this research, Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky says that when they initially ask happy people about comparing themselves to others, the happy folks didn’t know what we were talking about!

People are happy and attractive when they are themselves. God created each of us to be only one person, and judge ourselves in relation to ourselves and our selves only. Here’s what apostle Paul says “pay careful attention to your own work for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. “Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.” Galatians 6: 4-5

There’s nothing wrong with getting inspiration from other people. We should be inspired by the greats in many fields as they show us what can be accomplished when we fully engage and bring our gifts to our work. But if you play golf and can only enjoy your day if you set a course record, you’re not going to have a happy day.

God’s advice as well as the research, is simply this: do not compare yourself to others. Take ownership for your own life your own works your own talent your own genes and use what God has given you to the fullest. If you do you will be the best and you will be the happiest you!

My conclusion:

The other 12 principles for finding happiness are equally as insightful. We have more control over finding happiness than we often think. We just tend to misplace our focus. Reading the Law of Happiness is a worthwhile use of your time. You may be surprised by what you learn.