Cathy Glass
Happy Adults
We are only limited by the extent of our imagination and no act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.
Contents
Title Page
Introduction: Why?
Chapter One: Let Go of Anger
Chapter Two: Take Responsibility for Your Life
What You Gain from Taking Responsibility
Chapter Three: Think Positively
Chapter Four: Act Positively
Chapter Five: Develop a Positive Philosophy
Chapter Six: Set Goals and Have a Vision
Chapter Seven: Look After Your Body
How Exercise Encourages a Positive Mind
Chapter Eight: Be Body Positive
Chapter Nine: Be an Optimist
Chapter Ten: Be Decisive
Chapter Eleven: Use Intuition
How to Make the Best of Your Intuition
Chapter Twelve: Create a Positive Environment
Chapter Thirteen: Reduce Stress
Chapter Fourteen: Live in the Present
Chapter Fifteen: Express Your Feelings
How to Express Negative Feelings
Chapter Sixteen: Become Self-Reliant
How to Become More Self-Reliant
Chapter Seventeen: Develop Your Self
An Individual Development Plan
A Simple Guide to Self-Development
Chapter Eighteen: It’s Ok to be Sad (Sometimes)
Conclusion: I O It 2 Me
Remember
Acknowledgements
Copyright
About the Publisher
Introduction: Why?
Why do I think I have found the secret to achieving lasting happiness and contentment? Simply because I know my formula works. I have the proof.
Let me explain.
After the publication of my fostering memoirs, in which I tell the often harrowing stories of the children I’ve looked after, I received thousands of emails and letters from around the world. Some were from readers who had been abused as children and, having found comfort in my books, wanted to share their own stories with me. I often felt truly humbled by their courage – the strength that had allowed them to put their suffering behind them and make a success of their lives. However, although many of these adults had managed to move on from the cruelty of the past – having successful careers, enjoying loving long-term relationships and raising children – others had not.
While I truly sympathized with their ongoing pain, I began to wonder why some survivors of abuse had managed to move on with their lives and others, years later, were still suffering, stuck in a really cruel and frightening place of depression, flashbacks, mental illness, suicide attempts, personality disorders, nightmares and self-harm. Was it just luck, I wondered, that had allowed some people to overcome their suffering and achieve happiness and contentment? Or were there other factors – for example, the extent of the abuse or the amount of time that had elapsed since? I discovered it was nothing like this.
As the emails continued to pour in I also heard from readers who confided that they were unhappy with their lives for no good reason. Having read your books I know I should be grateful for my life but I seem to be fed up, bad tempered and down most of the time was typical of many of these emails.
So what was it? I wondered. What magic wand had been waved over some people’s lives to grant them happiness and contentment, and was this magic available to everyone? Could we all benefit? For even if we haven’t suffered, life can sometimes seem an uphill struggle.
The answer I discovered was yes: there was a magic being worked and it could be available to all. So I began to look more closely to find a way to harness it.
I was soon able to tell from the opening lines of a letter or email into which category a person fell. Something in their language,