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Happy Place

by Vidya Sury April 9, 2013 52 comments
Happy Place

It is Day 8 of the #AtoZChallenge and H is the letter of the day. H is for Happy Place. Today, I am privileged to present you with a beautiful book very close to my heart, titled β€œThe Happy Place” by my dear friend Lori Gosselin.

I first met Lori when she guest posted at another friend’s blog and fell in love with her. I rushed over to her blog at Life, For Instance and became a permanent resident. Lori is a blogger I admire. She fondly refers to her blog as β€œthe porch”, around which she has built a wonderful community. In her words, β€œLifeforInstance.comΒ  is a place where introspective people gather to talk about the things that matterβ€œ. I always enjoy the feeling of warmth, both from her writing and the valuable interactions at her place. Lori has a knack for short sweet posts that initiate conversations, making you think, inspiring you to participate.Β  I’ve lost count of the times I’ve thought, β€œI wish I had thought of that!” after reading her post.

β€œMost people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”  Abraham Lincoln

The Happy Place book review

The Happy Place

by Lori Gosselin

In her book, The Happy Place, Lori traces her personal journey of transformation, describing in minute detail how she learned to heal her emotional hurts. She explains why we don’t have to come up against a wall with the same problems over and over, and why we don’t have to bottle up our innermost issues. She shows a gentle step by step method that steers us to our Happy Place.

Often, our biggest problem is acknowledging that we have a problem. It is tough to look an emotional hurt in the face. The pain, each time we think about it, is fresh and who wants that? Yet, we wish there was a way to deal with it and move on. The Happy Place has the answers.

Lori found her own answers to the questions in her mind during a trip to Greece with her daughter. She experienced an β€œa-ha” moment of realization when she became aware that the whole world was responding to the changes she felt inside. Lori’s deep seated subconscious feelings surface, and she acknowledges them with her new found wisdom. She says β€œI will be grateful for that trip to Greece for the rest of my life because it gave me the rest of my life”.

She describes her feelings of β€œnot being as good as”, being β€œsecond best, but not good enough” in spite of being a much loved first child. Going from star to supporting role after the arrival of her sister, she confesses how she felt she was moving on from a situation she would never enjoy again.

I loved that Lori shared her success with her healing method, extending it into her Reiki practice. Oh, how glorious to be able to help others root out life-long issues with amazing results.

I loved how she refers to initially finding only the door, but by discovering her system of healing, she now has the key. What use is a locked door without the key?

β€œOf course it is happening inside your head, Harry,

but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

~ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ~ J.K. Rowling

Lori leads us through her journey of self-discovery, understanding and coming to terms with her feelings, sharing her own theories, which could well be yours and mine. She talks about how she identified her liberating words, the healing they brought and how they changed her life and being, leading her along the path to peace.

Introspective

Lori describes, through her own experiences, how small things have a huge impact during our childhood and about how our expectations create our own reality. She contemplates the question β€œWho am I” and explains why we may look all grown up but we’re still the same person we always were. We all have our own personal world view and when we explore this and change it, it can make all the difference.

Getting what we expect

One of the significant points Lori makes is how life continues around us, bringing both the good and the bad – but when we expect to experience the good, we can. (Law of Attraction?)

Lori assures us that we can deal with the feelings that exert a powerful influence on our lives and offers an easy, gentle step by step method to walk the path to inner peace. She shares how she found the perfect empowering words for what she wanted to experience and be, for the rest of her life. These words helped break the addiction to those feelings that were manifesting her reality.Finally she presents the tools to apply the Path to Peace healing system in your own life through a review of the steps, a worksheet, word-integration exercises, lists of words, and stories.

I love how each chapter begins with an inspiring quote. Lori’s absolutely pleasant and conversational style of writing is a joy to read. She grabs my heart with her relentless honesty through the personal events she shares throughout the book. Oh, Lori is a great storyteller! She shares the source of her inspiration. The Happy Place feels personal to me. It seemed to look into my heart and understand my feelings. It also resonated with me because of the mother-daughter reference. Right from the first few pages, I could identify with what Lori wrote and The Happy Place became my friend.

This is an insightful book that will help you arrive at your Happy Place because you can easily customize the steps to help yourself. Find your Happy Place within you!

The Happy Place Lori

Lori is a compassionate, wonderful human being and a great storyteller. She is a calligrapher, internet marketer, Reiki healer, Aromatherapy/essential oils expert and blogger at LifeforInstance.com Please be sure to see: Life: A User’s Manual Lori also offers Terra Cotta Pendants which are wearable aromatherapy diffusers.

The Happy Place aromatherapy

Like Life for Instance on Facebook
Interact with Lori on FacebookΒ  and Twitter

A gift for you from Lori

Lori is very generously offering her book β€œThe Happy Place” as a free download at Amazon just for today – April 9 (beginning at 12 am Pacific Standard Time). Be sure to download it. You will love it!

β€œMake your choice, adventurous stranger;

Strike the bell and bide the danger,

Or wonder, till it drives you mad,

What would have followed if you had.”

~ The Magician’s Nephew ~ C.S. Lewis

Be Happy

Enjoy these #AtoZChallenge posts today:

Afshan’s H is for Happyness

Vinita’s H Haggles Happiness

AtoZChallenge Happy

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52 comments

Suzy April 9, 2013 at 12:34 pm

The aha moments are so liberating. Thanks for sharing Lori’s book.
Suzy recently posted…UBC 9 – AtoZ – Hoover Dam

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 9:58 pm

True Suzy! Thanks for being here!
Vidya Sury recently posted…If by Rudyard Kipling

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afshan April 9, 2013 at 12:38 pm

Good to know about the Happy place
would visit her blog and check out the posts !!
The book seems interesting. Any thing written out of “Self” experiences is !
Lastly THANKS a ton for recommending me
Means a lot
afshan recently posted…“H” for “Happ”Y”ness”

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 9:58 pm

You’re spot on, Afshan! Hugs!
Vidya Sury recently posted…Batu Caves Malaysia

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Ruchira April 9, 2013 at 12:40 pm

Seems like an interesting book πŸ˜›
Ruchira recently posted…H is for Haiku

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 9:59 pm

Hope you downloaded it, Ruchira! I found it a fabulously inspiring read!
Vidya Sury recently posted…Going Green

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Ekta Khetan April 9, 2013 at 12:49 pm

Nice and profound thoughts!
Ekta Khetan recently posted…Haiku & Hunter

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 9:59 pm

Thank you, Ekta!
Vidya Sury recently posted…Folktales From Around The World

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Shilpa Garg April 9, 2013 at 2:54 pm

Looks like an insightful and interesting book. πŸ™‚
Shilpa Garg recently posted…H is for… Hygiene

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 10:00 pm

It is, Shilpa. Hope you were able to download it!
Vidya Sury recently posted…Going Green

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sridevi April 9, 2013 at 3:09 pm

Thank yOu for so many positive vibes πŸ™‚ This book surely looks happy. Will visit her blog πŸ™‚ Happily Hugging you away πŸ™‚
sridevi recently posted…H for Humor , Hemu and Hugs

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 10:01 pm

Thank you, Sridevi! Hugs right back at you!
Vidya Sury recently posted…Batu Caves Malaysia

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Tracie April 9, 2013 at 4:46 pm

Sounds like a great book. I’m excited to read it.
Tracie recently posted…Fixing Holes In The Story

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 10:02 pm

So lovely to see you, Tracie! Did you download it? I know you’ll love it!
Vidya Sury recently posted…If by Rudyard Kipling

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Lori Gosselin April 9, 2013 at 5:50 pm

Thank you for such a comprehensive and generous review of The Happy Place (and me – blushing bigtime!)
You’re doing such a lot of work on this alphabet series – and such a great job! I don’t know how you do it Vidya!
So many great blogs here – and cool “H” words! I’m going visiting! πŸ˜‰
Lori
Lori Gosselin recently posted…What Are Your Favourite Things?

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 10:04 pm

Lori, you’ve written such a fantastic book!I was a little nervous about doing full justice to it! Thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to know the book! And? Ever grateful to you for offering it free today! Hugs. Love you!

I must confess the A to Z is taking its toll. But never-give-up is my middle name….so. πŸ˜€

Thanks for the encouragement!
Vidya Sury recently posted…If by Rudyard Kipling

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Carolyn Hughes April 9, 2013 at 6:46 pm

Thank you Vidya for sharing some happiness! Wishing you lots more as you travel from A-Z. Thrilled to have been able to download Lori’s book. Can’t wait to get reading it tonight.
Have a good week my lovely friend πŸ™‚
Carolyn Hughes recently posted…The gift of giving.

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 10:04 pm

Carolyn, you’ll enjoy the book. Lori is pretty much terrific. Do let me know how you liked the book!
Vidya Sury recently posted…If by Rudyard Kipling

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Terri Sonoda April 9, 2013 at 8:46 pm

Wonderful review! I’m loving your A to Z posts, Vidya! I just downloaded “The Happy Place” and looking forward to the read. Huggsss!
Terri Sonoda recently posted…Why fiction?

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 10:05 pm

Thank you, darling Terri! So happy to hear you downloaded the book!. Ah, I await the gorgeous day when you’ll be back here – as my lovely guest – with your new book! Hugs!
Vidya Sury recently posted…If by Rudyard Kipling

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Shannon April 9, 2013 at 8:53 pm

I too have had several aha moments! Great post about a lovely person! Blessings.

Shannon at I Survived and Now I Run
Shannon recently posted…H Is For…Heart Rate Monitors

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 10:06 pm

Thanks so much Shannon! Hugs!
Vidya Sury recently posted…If by Rudyard Kipling

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Corinne Rodrigues April 9, 2013 at 9:33 pm

Lori is truly a woman of great wisdom and so much of inner strength. Great choice for the letter ‘H’, Vidya.
Corinne Rodrigues recently posted…Happiness Is A Dog!

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 10:08 pm

Thank you, Corinne!
Vidya Sury recently posted…Batu Caves Malaysia

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preetilata April 9, 2013 at 10:00 pm

A very introspective post it is. This book surely looks promising. Even I liked the name of her blog and how sweetly she calls it her porch.

But what I have loved the most is how beautifully you have expressed every thing. Each line is a joy to read.

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 10:10 pm

Hugs, Preetilata. Thanks for the lovely comment! Lori is the best!
Vidya Sury recently posted…Eleven Easy Ways to Elevate Energy Levels

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Debbie April 9, 2013 at 10:20 pm

Wonderful information Vidya. I am just going to have to invest in a Kindle. I am mistaking that Happy Place.

Thank you for sharing about Lori.
Debbie recently posted…How To Ask For Help (Even If It Scares The Crap Out Of You!)

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 10:11 pm

Thanks Debbie! You probably know you can read Kindle books without a Kindle! There’s a Kindle app for the PC. πŸ™‚ Hugs!
Vidya Sury recently posted…If by Rudyard Kipling

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Debbie April 11, 2013 at 8:42 pm

You are so nice to me Vidya. Actually I did not know there was an app for the Pc when it comes to Kindle. I shall look into that. Thanks lots!!
Debbie recently posted…How To Ask For Help (Even If It Scares The Crap Out Of You!)

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Vidya Sury April 11, 2013 at 9:38 pm

Hugs Debbie. I sent you an email πŸ˜€
Vidya Sury recently posted…Guest post by me – book review of ‘Around The World in 80 Tales’ by Saviour Pirotta

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janu April 9, 2013 at 10:29 pm

Have a few memorable a-ha moments. Will connect with Lori now. Thanks Vidya.

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 10:11 pm

Lori has a lovely porch, Janu!
Vidya Sury recently posted…If by Rudyard Kipling

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Roshni April 9, 2013 at 10:46 pm

wow! Isn’t it wonderful when fellow bloggers who are so talented can get the recognition they deserve!
Roshni recently posted…Blogging from A to Z April Challenge: H is for…

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 10:12 pm

Yes, Roshni. One of the things I love doing is placing my blogger friends on a pedestal! Hugs!
Vidya Sury recently posted…Going Green

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Anyta April 9, 2013 at 11:21 pm

Thank you for the lovely post Vidya.
I am also an aromatherapist and re-iki practitioner and would love to read Lori’s insightful storytelling.

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 10:13 pm

Anyta, please do visit Lori’s blog. You’ll love it there! It is a great community at her place!
Vidya Sury recently posted…Going Green

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Sandi Amorim April 9, 2013 at 11:51 pm

Two of my favourite online friends in one post? Of course I had to come by for a visit! Love you both and how you share your lives so generously.

xoS
Sandi Amorim recently posted…Cracking the Happy Code

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 10:14 pm

Triple hugs, Sandi! So happy you’re here! I can see you’re cracking the Happy Code! How apt!
Vidya Sury recently posted…If by Rudyard Kipling

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Kaarina Dillabough April 10, 2013 at 1:03 am

Awesome tribute to an amazing lady. Cheers! Kaarina
Kaarina Dillabough recently posted…Give Employees What They Want. And No…It’s Not (just) Money

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 10:15 pm

Truly, Kaarina. Lori, she’s so awesome!

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Sulekha April 10, 2013 at 1:11 am

Thanks for spreading happiness, Vidya and also Lori for your book. Hope to download it and read, sounds very positive and good.

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 10:16 pm

I hope you got the book, Sulekha. It is a huge eye-opener!
Vidya Sury recently posted…If by Rudyard Kipling

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Barbara April 10, 2013 at 3:22 am

What a lovely review of a great book, Vidya! You do it justice in so many ways – thanks for sharing.

And two of my favourites doing the happy dance together!

I read The Happy Place while I was on a holiday in Italy, it truly is an eye opener, I caught myself nodding ever so often and like you I find the opening quotes at the start of each chapter very inspirational.

Bear hugs!
Barbara recently posted…What Does A Market Have In Common With Marketing?

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 10:16 pm

Bear hugs back at you Barbara! i am in love with the book!
Vidya Sury recently posted…If by Rudyard Kipling

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Laxmi Chundi Addanki April 10, 2013 at 3:36 am

That was such a heartfelt, loving tribute to your blogger friend. Lori is very lucky to have a friend like you Vidya – and Thanks to her for the free download. I’ll for sure visit her blog and leave her a message.
Cheers
Laxmi

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 10:17 pm

Thank you, Laxmi, for your kind words. I love to show off my friends! πŸ˜€
Vidya Sury recently posted…Folktales From Around The World

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hitchy April 10, 2013 at 8:20 am

I guess that Lincoln line sums is up for me !
hitchy recently posted…I for Ibis

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Vidya Sury April 10, 2013 at 10:19 pm

It is my credo, Hitchy! πŸ˜€ Hip hip hurray!
Vidya Sury recently posted…If by Rudyard Kipling

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Nandana April 10, 2013 at 11:03 pm

Lori seems like such a positive person, just like you. Thanks for sharing this. Will pick up the book.
Nandana recently posted…I am just a blogger, not a writer.

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Vidya Sury April 11, 2013 at 8:39 am

Please do, Nandana. Lovely book. Thank you for visiting!

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Kris April 11, 2013 at 5:05 am

Great review. Sounds like a very good book. Love your website too by the way. Lovely design!

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Vidya Sury April 11, 2013 at 8:39 am

Thanks so much, Kris! πŸ˜€ My site was designed by Vanita Cyril

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