Friday, May 7, 2010

Saving a Marriage by Letting Go

Sometimes a book is like a labyrinth. Once you give in to the impulse to explore it a little you discover that you have no choice but to persist until you work your way all the way through and out the last page. Laura Munson’s book is one of those. It has an unusual title, and it has an equally curious subtitle: “A Season of Unlikely Happiness.” The person who recommended this book to me seems to have forgotten the main title because I went off to the bookstore looking for a book about unlikely happiness. It is a catchy idea. With the help of a mind-reader at the information desk I found the book, and it did not disappoint me.

Anyone who has invested time in the hunt for happiness knows that it is an elusive prey. At its best the hunt is exhausting. At its worst it is a waste of time because instead of being where it is supposed to be it often seems that happiness has moved on and is now somewhere else. The possibility that happiness might be unlikely has a certain appeal to anyone who has experienced the disappointment of not finding happiness even in what might be thought to be the most likely places. Therein lies the appeal of unlikely happiness. So what does the author have in mind?

Laura Munson has put her soul out for us to see. She has invited us to venture through a very rough patch of life with her, a time when her family seems to be falling apart and when the two persons upon whom she has most counted for love and security seem to be wandering away. In this maelstrom of feelings she discovers the difference between finding happiness and being happy. Happiness is not somewhere and it is not something. Happiness, she concludes, rests in the decision not to suffer.

Controlling someone else, demanding what you deserve, and fighting your way through to what you want may be decisions. They are decisions that might appear to be courageous when life takes a down-pitch. They are also decisions that invite suffering because they involve staking happiness on something over which you do not have control. On the other hand embracing each day’s small possibilities, living clearly in the moment, and sorting out the difference between compassion and control allows life to flow on. In discovering this Laura Munson experienced unlikely happiness even in the roughest times, and her courage in sharing that with her readers is a gift.

To purchase this book:
http://www.bargainbookstores.com/This-Is-Not-The-Story-You/M/0399156658.htm

For more information about Laura Munson:
http://lauramunson.wordpress.com/lauramunsonauthorwebsite/
http://www.lauramunsonauthor.com/