Pitt alum explains ‘How to Choose Happiness’

‘ ‘ ‘ Life is filled with choices. Pitt alum Chappale Burton would argue that being happy is… ‘ ‘ ‘ Life is filled with choices. Pitt alum Chappale Burton would argue that being happy is one of them. ‘ ‘ ‘ Burton’s book, ‘How to Choose Happiness … Most of the Time: Thirty Ways in Thirty Days,’ which came out in early September, discusses the strategies for finding and maintaining the type of happiness that helped Burton through the difficulties in his life. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘My definition of happiness is basically living as fully as you are capable of living at this moment in time and truly appreciating life for the miracle that it is. That’s something that we can choose to focus on, because we control our own thoughts and emotions,’ said Burton. ‘ ‘ ‘ These ways to happiness include making nightly lists of things to be grateful for before going to sleep or exercising to create a healthier mind and body, as well as mental activities like starter questions for daily self-contemplation such as,’ ‘Am I doing my best?’ or ‘What is my ideal future’?.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘It’s an experiential book; it’s not just reading about it. I’ve used the techniques in my book myself to overcome what could have been potentially a really tragic life, and I wanted to share those techniques,’ said Burton.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Burton attended Pitt with a track scholarship, graduating in 1991 with a degree in psychology before going on to work as a milieu therapist at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. After leaving WPIC he pursued an acting career, before starting his current career as a motivational speaker and author. But before all of his successes, Burton experienced mental and physical abuse and witnessed the murder of his parents at the age of 8. ‘ ‘ ‘ Burton refused to allow these traumas to ruin his life, instead focusing on the positive aspects and his potential. With the support of his maternal grandmother and his athletic coaches he was able to go to college, where he flourished, even becoming Pitt’s homecoming king his senior year. ‘ ‘ ‘ Of his experiences at Pitt, Burton said, ‘I had a lot of wonderful experience and met a lot of wonderful people, but the most important thing, hands down, is that I learned how to learn. That’s the key: The world is at your finger tips if you’re open to it.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Burton feels that his background makes him uniquely qualified as a specialist on happiness. ‘I had an extremely tragic childhood, and I never had any therapy. I basically did therapy on myself.’ Burton found much solace in the self-help movement, becoming more enthusiastic and developing what he describes as a different appreciation for life. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘My friends used to tell me I should bottle that energy and sell it as liquid sunshine, so writing this book was the next best thing. I took those things that worked for me and used them to provide a systematic approach to happiness. That was my way of bottling sunshine.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ But if happiness is indeed attainable through choice, why be happy only ‘most of the time’?’ Burton explained this rationale, saying, ‘We’re human beings, and it’s important to leave room for tears and for imperfections. Being happy doesn’t mean you have to be happy 100 percent of the time. Happy and sad are two sides of the same coin; if you’ve never been sad, how can you appreciate happiness? I like to say that ‘bad’ emotions aren’t necessarily bad.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Skeptics of self-help should note that Burton does not advocate substituting his methods for conventional treatment methods. ‘I definitely believe in traditional therapy. If someone is clinically depressed, the most important thing is that they get help from a psychiatrist or psychotherapist, and then this book is a supplement to that. This is not something people should do by themselves. It’s really important that you have a supportive environment.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Burton and his wife co-own a self-development company, ‘Monday Smiles,’ which provides products and services to individuals and businesses to motivate the celebration of every day, even the dreaded start of the work week. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Don’t get me wrong, weekends are great, but there are people who wake up and are like, ‘Ugh, it’s Monday again.’ It goes back to my definition of happiness, about living and appreciating each day. I’m just as happy to wake up on a Monday as on a Friday.’