Tina Turner - Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good

ALSO BY TINA TURNER

My Love Story

I, Tina

An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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Copyright 2020 by Tina Turner

Photograph copyrights:

Front cover and back flap author image: Vera Tammen

Inset images : Johnson Publishing Company Archive. Courtesy of the Ford Foundation, J. Paul Getty Trust, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Smithsonian Institution

Inset images : Carol Holladay

Inset images : 1981 Lynn Goldsmith

Inset image : Brian Lanker Archive

Inset image : Paul Warner/WireImages via Getty Images

Inset image : Tina Turner

Inset image : Xaver Walser/Urs Gantner

Inset image : Xaver Walser/Taro Gold

Excerpt from Let Go Let God reprinted courtesy of Amy Sky and Olivia Newton-John

Excerpt from Woodstock reprinted courtesy of Joni Mitchell

All Japanese calligraphy images reprinted courtesy of Taro Gold

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First Atria Books hardcover edition December 2020

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Interior design by Kyoko Watanabe

Jacket design by James Iacobelli

Jacket illustration inspired by Vera Tammen/Trunk Archive

Author photograph by Vera Tammen/Trunk Archive

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-9821-5215-4

ISBN 978-1-9821-5217-8 (ebook)

I dedicate this book to you

in honor of your

unseen efforts to

triumph over each problem

life sends your way.

W herever I go, Im touched when people tell me how inspired they are by my life story, by the challenges Ive overcome during my eight decades on this planet.

Im a survivor by nature, but Ive had help, and I dont mean success, or money, although Ive been blessed with both. The help that has been essential to my well-being, my joy, and my resilience is my spiritual life.

Thats a big statement, easy to say, harder to explain. But here, in Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good, it is my greatest pleasure to share with you the story of my spiritual journey.

I always wanted to be a teacher, but I believed I should wait for the moment when I had something important to say, when I was sure how to offer real wisdom.

That time is now.

As I write these words, were in the midst of the worst pandemic of the last hundred years. From this tragedy, many of us have mourned the loss of loved ones, while many more have sadly lost their livelihoods. My heart aches as I stand with you in this new, uncertain landscape.

Even if youre among the rare few who avoided the direct impact of this calamity, we all know that no one gets through life without facing adversity. More than ever, I believe we must choose hope, and use our difficulties to move ourselves onward and upward.

Ive reflected a lot about adversity over the past decade while I battled a series of severe health crises that nearly killed me. Through it all, I had many opportunities to review my life and ask myself some tough questions.

How did I overcome so many serious problems? You might know the list, and its longan unhappy childhood, abandonment, an abusive marriage, a stalled career, financial ruin, the premature death of family members, and multiple illnesses.

There were so many external circumstances and forces I couldnt change or control, but my life-altering revelation was that I could change my way of responding to these challenges. The most valuable help comes from within, and peace comes when individuals work on becoming their better selves. I started that work in my thirties, when I discovered the transformative power of spirituality.

Spirituality isnt tied to any one religion or philosophy. It isnt the property of a priesthood or clergy. Spirituality is a personal awakening and relationship with our Mother Earth and the universe that increases openness and positivity.

My awakening began five decades ago through my practice and study of Buddhist teachings. Sharing the story of this most precious part of my life with you is a long-cherished dream. This book carries my personal guidance on how to create lasting happiness. It explains spiritual truths Ive learned on my unlikely path to joy, from childhood to today.

Here, I reveal my greatest untold life lessons, deepest realizations, and beloved ancient principles to help you recharge your soul.

I offer you these insights so youll have the tools to overcome your own obstacleseven if your challenges seem as impossible as those Ive facedand achieve your own dreams, so that you may become truly happy. I want you to open up your heart and mind, refresh your spirit with new hope, courage, and compassion, and change the world by changing your life.

Let me show you all the wonderful ways that Happiness Becomes You.

TINA TURNER

May 3, 2020

T hank you for being you, exactly as you are. Thank you for the tapestry of your life experiences, which have led you to read these words Ive written just for you.

Thank you for opening this book, so I may share with you the spiritual lessons Ive learned through more than eighty years of living.

Each of us is born, I believe, with a unique mission, a purpose in life that only we can fulfill. We are linked by a shared responsibility: to help our human family grow kinder and happier.

I first learned about the workings of the universe from my daily experiences growing up in Nutbush, Tennessee, a small rural town. I loved spending time outside, running through the fields, looking up at the heavenly bodies in the sky, spending time with animalsdomestic and wild onesand listening to the sounds of nature.

Even as a little girl, I sensed an unseen universal force as I walked through the wide-open pastures each day. Communing with nature taught me to trust my intuition, which always seemed to know the way home when I was lost, the best branch on a tree for swinging, or where a treacherous rock was hidden in a stream.

I learned to listen to my heart, which taught me that you and I are connected to each other and everything else on this planet. We are joined together by the mysterious nature of life itself, the fundamental creative energy of the universe.

In this complicated world of ours, where contradictions abound, we find breathtaking beauty in the most unlikely places. The brightest rainbows appear after the heaviest of storm clouds. Magnificent butterflies emerge from the drabbest cocoons. And the most beautiful lotus flowers bloom from the deepest and thickest mud.