cheerfulness as a life power

• ISBN: 9781515438083
• Encuadernación: Sin formato definido

The book: Cheerfulness As A Life PowerThe author: Orison Swett Marden, American «inspirational author» and proponent of the New Thought movement.The subject: The importance of cheerfulness and how to cultivate it in your every day life.Why I chose it: It was (and is) free on Kindle and sounded intriguing.The rating: Three out of five starsWhat I thought of it: This was a fun, quick read, but I think I’m just a bit too cynical (or realistic!) in some ways to have really loved it. In some ways this is certainly of its time – there’s casual sexism and racism aplenty – but the writing is surprisingly lucid. A lot of it is standard positive thinking stuff, which is nice, but only really works up to a point. I don’t think anyone should feel obligated to be that way all the time. Having a positive attitude is powerful, but not that powerful. Along with the aforementioned sexism and racism, it all felt a bit patronising. Still, it was free on Kindle and didn’t take that long to read, so perhaps one to check out if you need a little boost or a reminder to practise gratitude.Just one more thing: I will probably be reading «Smile or Die» by Barbara Ehrenreich soon, which should prove to be an interesting counterpoint to this book.