Happy, Happy, Happy

Sometimes the greatest lessons I learn about life come from reading people's autobiographies. In it, I glean information about a life that is uniquely different from my own and along the way take back something inevitably life changing. I think it's vital that at some point in everyone's life, you read biographies. It opens your eyes to possibilities you never thought possible until you finish the final page.

There probably isn't a person around who hasn't heard about Duck Dynasty, the newest reality television series to come from A & E, based on the life of Phil Robertson and his family. It was designed to give American family what was missing in television, a functional family. Not since the days of the Andy Griffith Show, Little House on the Prairie, The Walton, or even the Beverly Hillbillies has a more genuine family come across television. The Robertson family's faith is what separates them from a lot of other families as well as the love each of them have for one another. They still gather around the family dinner table for home-cooked meals, something you don't see much of any more. Everybody in America is so busy, busy, busy. They are preoccupied with their cell phones and computers, so they don't take time to sit down with their spouses, children, grandchildren, aunts and uncles, and grandparents to eat a meal together. The family structure is slipping away from America, but not in the Robertson house.

Phil says it best, "You'll never find me living in a city, folk. Where I live, I am 911. Like I say, if you spend too much time in the subdivision, you go a-runnin' when the snakes fall out of the trees!" This is why he has maintained the life he was born and raised on, living off the land, being self sufficient for the most part and ensuring that his family retains those things that are slowly missing from the family today. He reminds us that young girls don't know how to cook. "Their grandmothers and mamas cooked for them, but they never took the time to learn how to cook. They were more interested in other things. If you go out into the subdivisions and suburbs of America, where all of the yuppies live, you'll see restaurants are packed with people. They don't want to eat slop and they're looking for good food, but they don't want to take the time to make it. Dad is working, Mom is working, and so no one has the time or energy to cook a good meal anymore. So our families end up eating in restaurants, where they're surrounded by noise and clutter, instead of sharing quality time in a family setting."

Perhaps Phil is on to something we all need to hear. While his ways may not work for you, there is some wonderful wisdom in what he has learned by growing up during the time of the great depression and teaching us all to be a little more self sufficient in what we decide to keep or giveaway. There are some great life lessons Phil learned along the way, that I think are the true diamonds in this book and one I plan on incorporating a bit more of before it's too late. Perhaps too much technology is a bad thing and it's time to find our way back to those solid family roots once again.

I received Happy, Happy, Happy by Phil Robertson compliments of Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster Publishers for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions I shared are mine alone. I love all the interesting stories that come from reading this book, to how the family spent their time growing up without Xbox or Nintendo games and instead spent their youth exploring fields, woods and swamps that surround their homes. Even today, Phil doesn't own or use a cell phone or computer, nor does he plan on ever having one. He does promise one thing however, you'll never find him on Twitter or Skype, and if anyone needs to talk to him, they know where he lives. I easily rate this book a 5 out of 5 stars and by the end, I think you too, will be Happy, Happy, Happy!

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Happy, Happy, Happy by Phil Robertson

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