“Embracing Your Happy Heart: Strategies for Lasting Joy and Success,”

The title for this book says, “Embracing Your Happy Heart:

Strategies for Lasting Joy and Success,” and I’m sure you

are wondering why we focus on strategies for lasting joy

instead of lasting happiness. This is because joy is internal,

while happiness is largely controlled and affected by

external factors. Happiness tends to be more fleeting,

whereas joy endures much longer.

If you were given the option to choose between happiness

and joy, which would you choose? Which would you need?

Which would you want? Most people do not understand the

difference between the two, yet this distinction is significant.

Your heart is made up of your mind, your emotions, and

your will. This means that your thought life and your

emotions have the greatest influence on your will. What you

desire, the manner in which you desire it, and the intensity

of your longing all contribute to the strength of your will.

Your will, in turn, influences your actions. It is a well-

known fact (and if you were not aware until now, consider

yourself informed) that you first create things in your mind

before you bring them into the physical realm. In essence,

this principle asserts that your external life is merely the

physical manifestation of your inner world.