Book #2: 10% Happier by Dan Harris

I don't have any idea where I first heard of this book or why it was on my "to-read" list on Goodreads. But it was an easily available audiobook through the hoopla app our library uses and I listened to it today and yesterday while sewing something. I was surprised by what it ended up being about. I feel like the title and the cover led me to believe it would be more of a self-help book, something with specific things that the reader could do to make their own lives 10% happier. I mean, the cup on the cover made me think he was going to talk about drinking more water, etc. But this book was basically Harris's memoir about his discovery of meditation and Buddhism and how he overcame his natural cynicism towards the idea and actually got into the habit of meditating, and how it makes his life 10% better. He makes the compelling case about how meditation works for him, and why he is evangelizing about it now, even though he has always been a decidedly un-spiritual person.

Incidentally, Harris is an ABC news anchor (never heard of him, and he doesn't look familiar to me from his picture), but I think one of the most interesting parts of the book was learning about the television news industry and what it's like to work in it--even though that is decidedly not the point of the book. The majority of the first half of the book is going through his life and career, and his mental state as he went through these stages of life. Since he is talking about "the voice in his head," he spends a lot of time talking about what that voice was saying at different stages, like all the ways he struggled with self-doubt as a news anchor and his competitiveness towards his coworkers, all of which make him sound like an annoying and not-so-nice guy. However, I think that was a specific choice of his as the author, because he was trying to prove how meditation has helped him to become a better person in all of those categories and made him nicer and less angsty about all of his issues.

Overall, I think the thing that makes meditating sound compelling to me is the idea that it helps you to respond to things, not to react (as Harris says a few times). This is something I have thought about a lot before with parenting--if I could be mentally prepared before getting worked up about something, then I could respond more calmly and not just be immediately acting on my emotions. From Harris's description, I can definitely see why meditation would help you to do that better. I would love that benefit. However, I honestly don't think it's going to be a habit I am going to start any time soon. I would need to find a set time to work it into my routine, and there are already so many other things I am trying to work in and remember to do regularly (aka scripture reading, prayer) that meditating is not going to be a top priority. But maybe someday.