Real Happy

Book excerpt: Are you really happy? When almost every human choice is made with happiness in mind, why do we continue to miss out on lasting happiness? Perhaps happiness isn’t something we pursue but rather something that ensues...What if happiness is not stuff we fill up on but something we make room for? Real happiness may not be something out there at all (material) but something in here (spiritual). In this compelling narrative, best-selling author Mike Hayes and Dr. Jeffrey Garner journey through the eight beloved Beatitudes from Jesus’ revolutionary Sermon on the Mount. Religious and non-religious readers alike will smile and feel inspired in learning that Jesus, despite popular understandings, was in fact deeply invested in human happiness. Jesus’ happiness, however, consoles sorrow, embraces emptiness, confronts injustice, and is even present in our suffering—all that we avoid in our search for happiness. Aptly reframing the Beatitudes as happy oracles, Mike and Jeffrey share personal stories and historical insights that optimize Jesus’ happy message for a 21st century audience. This book challenges our cultural conceptions of happiness and beautifully guides the reader into Jesus’ Real Happy life.