How to Be Happy: People Ages Eleven to Ninety-two Reveal Their Secrets

Impacted by parental divorce resulting in a very sad childhood, I discovered in my mid-thirties the need to strive for a happy life. After a painful divorce from my first husband, introspection, therapy and reading philosophers, I filled my life with happy people; those who were married and those who were single. I avoided association with those people who were cruel to others. I discovered that one can create happiness, rather than suffering, with pain. Keeping an optimistic attitude is vital at every age. Now I have had a happy forty-six years.

Because of personal experience and reading books exploring which countries have the happiest people, I decided to document a few of the happy people in my life. I have taken nearly all the photographs of the people shown in this book. Most have written their own stories.

Recently, an editor of a magazine essay wrote that I was planning to publish a book about how to be happy featuring people and their things. I made a correction. The happy people in this book tell about their philosophies. Family and friendships are the important keys to lives of contentment.