Articles

Jack Ryser

Those who know me understand that it frustrates me to hear people, especially professional counselors, say that “Happiness is a Choice.” The problem isn’t that choice isn’t involved in being happy, it is that they never really define what that choice is. Usually it is said that you need to change your thoughts and be more positive. Simply, ignore the adversity that is in your life and change your “thoughts.”

My belief is that happiness is not a choice, it is a series of choices. My book Bounce Back: Finding Joy During Times of Adversity defines those choices needed to find happiness in a life of adversity. In fact, happiness is inevitable for those who follow the steps. We don’t minimize the adversity in a persons’ life, we simply redirect their energy to different areas that will bring happiness. Follow these steps and you will know happiness and joy that is virtually inevitable.

 

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Overcoming Challenges: Bouncing Back From Adversity

Overcoming challenges in life is something we all must learn to do. I grew up in a home with ridiculous amounts of drug and alcohol use, was a care-giver to my ill wife for many years, had a house burn down, was widowed at thirty-four years old, was a single parent with three daughters under eight, remarried four years later, had a baby pass away at birth, survived a devastating divorce, had a...

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Healing from Trauma – A Story of Hope

It was November 26, 1996, I didn't  need healing from trauma.  I had a great job, three amazing daughters, and a beautiful wife, Kameo. Life was good. It was two days before Thanksgiving. I came home early from work to see if I could help Kameo. We had spoken on the phone a couple hours earlier and she mentioned that she was feeling a little better after being sick for a couple days. It would...

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Lonely and Bored? How to Change Your Life.

How do we stop feeling lonely and bored? When I was only four years old my family, including aunts, uncles, and cousins, went on a vacation to Mesa Verde National Park. We found a short trail that took us to a picnic area surrounded by the beautiful trees of the forest. It was a perfect place. It was isolated and no other people were around. After enjoying each other’s company for an hour or so...

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Facing Challenges: How I Got Here

Facing Challenges in life often seems continuous and frequently daunting and overwhelming. This web site as well as my book Bounce Back: Finding Joy During Times of Adversity, is a look into my journey to face challenges and find happiness. I grew up in a home with huge amounts of drug and alcohol abuse present, cared for my dear wife who suffered with lupus for many years, had a home burn down,...

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How to Manifest Your Dreams

How to manifest your dreams is in essence a spiritual desire. My spiritual journey started many years ago and included a time when I read The Power of Intention by the remarkable Dr. Wayne Dyer. I was always naturally a driven, motivated person and routinely set goals. But intuitively I knew there was a better way.   Goals vs. Intention Setting goals culturally is looked upon as a positive...

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Strength in Adversity – Life’s Greatest Challenge

Anna's Story It was the early fall, the leaves were gently changing colors, and I sat looking out the panoramic window at Anna's home in Salt Lake City. As we sat down to talk, Anna rested comfortably in the large puffy couch, wearing sweats and a blue tank top. Her lovely, dark brunette hair was tightly tied up in a ponytail, her legs crossed at the ankles, and she was holding a glass of wine...

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Love Others As You Love Yourself

"I don’t get enough love” - Jeremy (homeless man) Regardless of whether you embrace religion or spirituality in any form, you have likely been admonished to love others as you love yourself. There's a famous bible scripture where Jesus says similar words: Love your neighbor as yourself. Loving others as you love yourself can be difficult and often conditional for many of us. It often requires...

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Removing Toxic People from Your Life

Removing toxic people from our lives is critical for true joy. Have you ever thought, (insert name here) is such a good person most of the time, but sometimes he/she hurts me? Then as time continues on, the moments of pain start to increase and the times of love decrease. The good person becomes less and less good. For some reason, we often believe that those closest to us, have free reign to...

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7 Steps to Happiness

Finding Happiness in Life What brings you a state of happiness? It is different for each person, but there are certainly things that help all of us find happiness in life. I’ve listed 7 steps to happiness in this article. I believe we are meant to be happy. Simply, it is a divine right to find joy. Why then are so many people unhappy? We are often told by well-meaning people that happiness is a...

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Finding Joy in the Journey

I believe finding true joy in this life is a divine right for us all. Why then are so many people unhappy? We are often told by well meaning people that happiness is a choice. So, we are essentially expected to ignore all the adversity that is going on around us and choose to be happy. I am here to tell you that ignoring adversity is not a strategy for being happy. The key is finding joy in the...

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