The Reconstruction of Richard Eng

Slowly but surely, I am beginning the process of reconstructing myself. My shrink, Dr. S, has gotten me to start reading a bunch of books as part of my therapy to repair my broken psyche.

The first book is The Pursuit of Happiness, by David G. Myers. Myers doesn’t pretend to have the formula for finding happiness. This book is the synthesis of numerous psychology research studies into the nature of happiness and well-being. As Myers says...

In Psychological Abstracts (a sort of reader’s guide to psychology) the number of articles pertaining to “happiness,” “life satisfaction,” or “well-being” mushroomed from 150 in 1979 to 780 in 1989. This book reports what we have learned so far, and although the new research offers no easy how-to-be-happy formula, the findings are enlightening. Looking over scientists’ shoulders in their pursuit of happiness in human lives informs our personal pursuit of happiness.

And that’s the point. Reading this book will inform MY pursuit of happiness...


The other two books that Dr. S has me reading are: Getting The Love You Want and Keeping The Love You Find, both my Harville Hendrix. These books are intended to help me mature emotionally, to appreciate the value of human relationships. I’ve read the opening chapters to these two books and I must say, I am mightily impressed. More on this in the future...