Secrets From the Delphi Café: Unlocking the Code to Happiness

Scott Friedman & Bob Rich
Vesta Publishing (2006)
ISBN 0977881105
Reviewed by Susan Pettrone for Reader Views (8/06)

“Secrets From the Delphi Café” is one of those books that holds so much emotional information, that to try to devour it quickly would be impossible.  It is a book that must be read, thought about, then read some more, until you reach the end and learn what you knew all along - that “…happiness wasn’t something to possess… rather a consequence of leading a good life.”  It is the combination of hope and love that we discover within this book that lead Socrates Smith to the realization that true happiness isn’t as elusive as we would have thought it to be.  It is, in fact, there for all of us, if only we open our minds and our hearts to accept the simple lessons of life.

In “Secrets From the Delphi Café”, authors Scott Friedman and Bob Rich did a wonderful job of illustrating the lessons Socrates must learn to find the “…code to happiness” in his life.  Through his conversations with Sophie, the authors weave into the story this unusual woman who gently nudges Socrates to see that by enjoying the “here and now”, happiness is not such a mystery after all.  Sophie is his counselor, his teacher and his friend and it is the lessons and people that Sophie leads Socrates to, that help him come to terms with the trials he is facing within his life.  Even the grief he feels at the death of his father can teach him that in order to find happiness; you must want it, take it to heart and learn from it, not just once but every day. 

This book is one of those rare books that spans a great age range.  I, as a middle aged woman with aging parents, could relate to the struggles Socrates was feeling when he realized his father was in fact dying.  It hit home with me when Socrates sat at the side of his father’s bed and watched him sleep, feeling so helpless.  Three years ago, I, too, found myself sitting at my father’s side as he struggled to breathe, desperately needing bypass surgery, I not wanting to admit he might be dying.  Though my father lived, I still remember sitting there feeling helpless and wondering if I would ever be happy again.   Like Socrates, I wondered if happiness would ever come my way again.

I highly recommend “Secrets From The Delphi Café”.  It is a thought provoking story that forces the reader to stop and reevaluate his own search for happiness.  This book would be a wonderful gift for age’s young adult and on up who, like Socrates, are searching for the “code of happiness”.  

I truly loved this book and the lessons within it.  It touched me at a time when I needed to be reminded of my own “code of happiness”.   After reading “Secrets from the Delphi Café”, I felt a sense of calm reassurance that happiness is truly out there for me.   I was reminded that it isn’t enough just to look for happiness, I have to want it, and I have to “make its truths my own” before I can make it a part of my life.  And like Socrates, I intend to keep living the quest for happiness in my own life, with each new day that comes along.

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