Discover Yourself, Discover Happiness

About the Book

This book is my personal story, my journey through life. I am writing it despite what I read somewhere that it’s not good to write about oneself. But how can I write about things I haven’t experienced firsthand? The most difficult thing that has happened to me in my life—divorce—also brought about the best things. I discovered my own lifestyle—the happiness lifestyle. Maybe all that is needed is a change of viewpoint and an understanding that if two people are not headed in the same direction, it might be time to part ways. Peacefully, lovingly, and with nothing but the best wishes for the other person. I am writing this story for those who are looking for happiness, searching for it themselves, or those trying to deal with their relationships. I am also writing it for myself. I am closing a chapter of my life, and I am assessing its worth. I will write about my experiences, wins and losses, and maybe through them you will realize what you want and don’t want in your life and those things that influence us in life. Sometimes it can be some small thing, and sometimes something more serious, that will be reflected in our subconscious. This negative information about ourselves then influences us on our journey through life and will trap us in certain models of behavior. My story is about searching for my own path. Despite being divorced, I am fully supportive of the family life, and that it is an arena of freedom. What do you think gives us freedom? For me personally, it is being able to speak the truth and have open communication. Thanks to these two things I am able to grow, and the same goes for the people that I am communicating with. We give each other an opportunity for change. If we are not communicating openly and are keeping our emotional wounds to ourselves, maybe we are destroying a prospective relationship. Yes, I know, you need two to tango. Where is the best place to start? With yourself. No one will teach you how to live a happy life. We learn from our parents. Without even knowing it, they are showing and teaching us models of behavior, whether they are negative or positive. But as children, we’re not able to recognize what these are, and we accept everything that we see and also what we feel. In January 2005, I laid hands on Virginia Satir’s book Conjoint Family Therapy. As early as 1970, Virginia Satir was describing how we could live freely within our families. Yes, we could, if we knew how to communicate truthfully and openly, without fear, without anger, and without hurt. My divorce mobilized all the inner power and skills I had that I was unaware of until then. It was a valuable part of my journey of finding myself! This path began sometime during this period. In the two years leading to my divorce, I felt as if I was buried alive. Do you know that feeling? We can all decide whether we want to live again and cherish every minute of life. I decided that I did. This book is comprised of three parts: part 1 is my very own story; part 2 talks about ways and methods that have helped me; part 3 allows space for creation of a happy life. It is an interactive e-book, so whichever way you choose, you will always find something new. After clicking on the green words, you will find more information on the topic. You can enter all your additional inquiries into Google. “Don’t believe a word I say.” Let the book inspire you. Examine and discover your lifestyle—the happiness lifestyle.

About the Author

Eva Stanova Date of birth: 27-07-1970, Bratislava Currently lives in Bratislava, Slovakia Nationality: Slovak How It All Began Although I enjoyed writing even as a child, my beginnings in writing were more in the area of dealing with life situations and emotions that they left within me. It was when I was about thirty that I all of a sudden felt an unceasing need to vent my emotions. It turned out the best way for me to do this was through writing. I gradually gained my writing skills through various forms of exercises and techniques. These helped me cope with what I went through in the past as well as making things easier for me in the present. On my road to writing, I was mainly influenced by a book by Julie Cameron, The Artist’s Way. My entire path in life up until now was to search for happiness. I was confronted with various life situations that forced me to seek out happiness. Here is a short conjunction: Until the age of three, I was a happy child. I felt life and its support. I knew that whatever I decide for in life, I can accomplish. As I got older, I came more and more in contact with people and situations that tried to persuade me that it is not possible. The message was “One cannot have a happy life.” As an obedient child, I came to believe this message without even thinking why this should be so. After all, the message was passed on to me by my elders. Since this moment, my life was happy and unhappy, depending on the circumstances. But never on me. I let life carry me instead of firmly holding the steering wheel. This attitude toward life played out in various situations: I didn’t attend the school that I thought was right for me; instead of traveling the world, I got married, fell in love, and despite that remained in my existing relationship, worked in a job that slowly drained me. Around the time I turned thirty, all my previous life experiences piled up inside of me to the point where I wasn’t able to deal with any other situations that came into my life. This was the breaking point, and I started writing. Writing allowed me to connect with myself and be honest with myself. Discover yourself, discover happiness. I became a student again, discovering a new world that works on different principles: responsibility toward yourself and others, honesty, truth, harmony, contentment, and solutions that come from the heart. I moved forward taking small steps. The hardest test for me was my divorce. My decision within my heart was pure. However, my family continuously kept returning me to the point whether this was the only way to solve the situation. This pressure from my family and an endless string of questions led me to the idea of writing a book. I didn’t exactly know the concept of the book, but I was naturally led to getting to know the methods of finding myself. I invested a lot of time and money into educating myself about this. I was examining and finding out which methods worked for me, what moves me forward and helps me be happy. I asked myself a lot of questions and searched for answers. Sometimes I was surprised by the answers and sometimes it was difficult accepting the answers I came up with. But this truth brought me freedom. This truth demolished old persuasions that there’s only one way to live. And that allowed me to give freedom to the people around me. The result of my living and searching is my book Discover Yourself, Discover Happiness. In the beginning of my story, I gave up everything in order to discover myself: my house, my husband, my dog, my regular income, and at one point it seemed I would have to give up my family as well. However, I gained myself. And that allowed me to accept my family the way they are. To accept their love that they were giving me, even though it was in a different packaging than the one I wanted. The Happiness Lifestyle While writing this book and through current life situations, I discovered that the toughest life situations that I get through bring me the biggest value, if I adopt the right attitude of course. Discovering yourself is lifelong care for your physical, mental, and spiritual health and about being honest with yourself. The world needs us to be happy, and it is up to each of us whether we want happiness in our lives. I choose happiness every single day of my life. Life has more of a value for me now; it is fuller, more colorful, and in accordance with divine intentions. That is why I can give to others. Being honest with myself gives me the strength to be honest in my relationships. It prevents me from clinging on relationships solely out of fear that no one will want to be with me. Discover Yourself, Discover Happiness was just published and is available in bookstores across Slovakia, and I am finishing its English version. In 2012 I founded a company called TORIBA, SRO, whose aim is to inspire people to live the happiness lifestyle through articles, books, seminars, exercises, and courses. To accompany those who have decided to go down their own path of happiness. Wishing you many happy days. Eva Stanova