Contentment: A Way to True Happiness

In this powerfully liberating guide, acclaimed Jungian visionary Robert A. Johnson and psychotherapist and author Jerry M. Ruhl present a fresh way to approach contentment, showing us clearly and simply how we can realize true, lasting happiness. Through myths, stories, and practical exercises, they show how to move beyond the inevitable frustrations of the common ego-centered approach to happiness and open our lives to a deeper, richer layer of experience.

Contentment, they say, is a way of being at home with ourselves and a way of affirming the reality of our lives--honoring "what is" both within and without. "It is never the result of what we have or do. Rearranging life on the outside cannot produce contentment--at least not for long. Contentment is an inner experience..."

The authors explore the many gifts of contentment--from energy and spontaneity to dreams and ordinariness--showing how we can integrate them into our daily lives. They envision contentment as "a dance between your wishes and reality, [between] what you want and what you get," and they teach us how to do this dance until you're "in love with the moment, not just dutifully accepting it...but passionately, rapturously embracing the eternal now."

"Contentment grows out of a willingness to surrender preconceived ideas and affirm reality as it is. Honoring "what is" is just the opposite of living out of a "just as soon as" mentality...This book is about the dance between what we want and what reality presents to us."

-- from Contentment

You don't need to be a sage sitting on a mountaintop to be content, but these days it does require some uncommon thinking. While the forces of modern life--rampant advertising, unabashed consumerism, the persistent push to achieve and acquire more--continually pique our desires and push us outward in our quest for contentment, this wise and beautifully written book guides us inward, to a deep understanding of true, lasting happiness.

Robert A. Johnson, a noted lecturer and Jungian analyst, is also the author of He, She, We, Inner Work, Ecstasy, Transformation, and Owning Your Own Shadow.

Jerry M. Ruhl is an author, psychotherapist, consultant, and lecturer. He lives in Yellow Sprins, Ohio.