The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary

By: Catherine Gray

Narrated by: Catherine Gray

Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

From the Sunday Times best-selling author.

We're told that happiness is in the extraordinary. It's on a Caribbean sun lounger, in the driving seat of a luxury car, inside an expensive golden locket, watching sunrise from Machu Picchu. We strive, reach, push, shoot for more. 'Enough' is a moving target we never quite reach.

When we do brush our fingertips against the extraordinary a deeply inconvenient psychological phenomenon called the 'hedonic treadmill' means that, after a surge of joy, our happiness level returns to the baseline it was at before the 'extra' event.

So, what's the answer?

The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary theorises that the solution is rediscovering the joy in the ordinary that we so often now forget to feel. Because we now expect the pleasure of a croissant, a hot shower, a yoga class, someone delivering our shopping to our door, we no longer feel its buzz. The joy of it whips through us like a bullet train, without pause.

Catherine Gray was a grandmaster in the art of eye-rolling the ordinary and skilled in everlasting reaching. Until the black dog of depression forced her to rethink everything.

Along the way, she discovered some surprising realities about the extraordinaries among us: that influencers risk higher rates of anxiety and depression, high rollers are less happy and huge frothy weddings increase the likelihood of divorce.

Learning how to be exalted by the everyday is the most important lesson we can possibly learn. In Catherine Gray's hilarious, insightful, soulful (and very ordinary) next book, you may learn to do just that.

©2019 Catherine Gray (P)2019 Octopus Publishing Group

A joy

I loved this book. A great reminder to slow down and appreciate the things that happen every day.

Love this

Thank you. I love this perspective and the stories to back it up. We need more books like this.

Life Changing

This book has taught me so many things. I will not pass it on but place it in my "must read again" library. Thank you, Catherine Gray. My life is better because of your insight, wisdom and humor.

Worth your consideration.

I enjoyed the listen and benefited from the lesson. Great info and valuable life reminder.

Another Five-Star by Ms. Gray

This is the third book by Catherine Gray that I have read. I love them all. Her books are well-written and thought provoking. The narration is pleasant and natural. It feels as though she is in your living room telling stories and giving advice, as opposed to reading a book. The only thing I do not like about this book is its title.
I highly recommend this audio book!

Happiness is in you

This is her second book that I’ve listened to. Her sobriety journey helped me achieve mine and I think for many of us, achieving sobriety is tinged with wanting more. Wanting more is inevitable I find… Finding happiness and joy and reminding ourselves that our brain power is stacked against us is what she shares with us in an always amusing and not saccharine way. If you are looking to find more joy in your life and perhaps your sobriety I highly recommend this book. Oh, it’s not just for women...

Loved it!

This book is such a great reminder about experiencing the every day parts of life that bring us happiness. I absolutely loved it, but I truly enjoyed all of Catherine’s books.

A breath of fresh air, a new perspective

A must read. This book, along with every other book this author has written, has helped shape a new, positive mindset and perspective. I’m forever thankful to have stumbled upon it.

Very blah and not enlightening

Obvious statements without insight or enlightenment, i had to stop given the lack of depth. It’s a sob story of her depression and how she changed her point of view on life, in the end, not worth listening to.

I like this book! My rating system is in the profi

I really enjoyed this book. I usually write one star a book two hateful to be worth finishing, two stars one that I could finish but did not enjoy, three stars a book I actually liked and would recommend to some people that I know. four stars is for a book that I enjoyed and would recommend to everyone, and five is for books only that change by way of thinking or acting going forward.

anyone looking for encouragement, a way to manage their anxiety, or just another bright point of view would be well served by this book.