Let us Shine

I have read a number of books on happiness over the past few months, most recently Shine by Andy Cope and Gavin Oates. This is not a book review as such, in fact it isn’t a book review at all. It is more a very brief reflection note that will hopefully encourage anyone who happens to stumble across my blog post to pick up a copy of Shine and read it.

The last four words in Shine are some of the most profound I have read.

…shine. Full. F*****g. Beam.

I’ll let you fill in the *’s. Saying these words over in my head invokes a feeling of excitement in my chest, a funny feeling in my tummy. Wanting to Shine. A key theme throughout the book is to shine, to be one of those people who radiates happiness, who brightens up a room the moment they walk into it.

Shine isn’t ground-breaking in the content in the book, but rather in how the authors get their message over to the reader. I’ve read about the Inside-out model before, the same with hygge, ikigai and many of the other topics and ideas in the 225 pages. Some of these ideas have really helped me, changed the way I think and behave. But until Shine, I have never read a book on happiness that left me with a real sense of purpose every time I closed the book. I felt recharged and ready to take on the World.

It felt like Shine gave me the superpower of happiness.

Everyone should read Shine. Saying it has made me happier does not do the book justice. It would be fairer to say it has reignited me and wake up each morning looking forward to the day, whether it be a Monday or a Friday.

It makes me want to shine. Full. F*****g. Beam.