Flourish, Martin Seligman

Years ago, this book sparked my interest in positive psychology and started me on a path of learning that led to a master’s degree in psychology and a shelf full of books on happiness, well-being, gratitude, and positivity. Seligman (along with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience) started the positive psychology movement, and this book sums up the tenets of what research has shown create a flourishing (not always happy and perfect) life.
“It is all too commonplace not to be mentally ill but to be stuck and languishing in life. Positive mental health is a presence: the presence of positive emotion, the presence of engagement, the presence of meaning, the presence of good relationships, and the presence of accomplishment. Being in a state of mental health is not merely being disorder free; rather it is the presence of flourishing.”