Martin Seligman is the pioneering psychologist in the field of positive psychology, the study of mental health, happiness, and well-being. This much-needed field of study complements the established psychological study of mental illness and emotional problems. Instead of figuring out how to make people feel less rotten, positive psychology researchers are learning what it takes to feel more happy and to experience more joy. I found Authentic Happiness so uplifting the first time I read it that I'm rereading it now.

True joy and life satisfaction are earned, or built, through use of an individual's signature strengths to experience "flow" and meet challenges. This book asserts that while each person has a set range of happiness, it is possible to use the controllable aspects of life to pull yourself up into the top of your range. It's imperative to learn to dispute pessimistic habits of thought in order to appreciate positive results and roll with their momentum. Most of the book's chapters contain a quiz to show the reader where he or she is on the spectrum being discussed, such as optimism, specific strengths, or the ability to love and be loved. Seligman is an unapologetic believer in self-improvement, so this book is both informative and instructive. His writing style is clear and charmingly self-effacing. I enjoy the book for his communication style as well as for his messages.

It's still early in the course of study of positive psychology, so some of the statements made based on research results seem to be stretching things a bit. And I'd like to hear more about how these principles can be used to help people who are entrenched in long-term depression; the book touches on depression as a condition that usually lifts within several months. When that doesn't happen, or when depression returns more severely over the course of a life, there could be important opportunities to call on positive psychology if it develops effective tools for critical situations. But the author states up front that his mission is to study "how to go from plus two to plus seven in your life, not just how to go from minus five to minus three and feel a little less miserable day by day." Authentic Happiness provides an inspiring overview of that study.