What’s happiness got to do with it? Let Tina Turner tell you all about it in her new inspirational how-to guide.
According to a description from the publisher, the book, Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good, details how Turner — who just turned 81 — has used the practical principles of Buddhism to overcome “despair, adversity and poverty” and rise to “joy, stability and prosperity.”
In the December 2020/January 2021 issue of AARP The Magazine, Tina details some of the struggles she’s had to overcome: the fact that, she says, “my mother did not want me,” being abused by her ex-husband Ike Turner, a suicide attempt, and health challenges including “a stroke, a kidney transplant and colon cancer.”
“The greatest gifts of wisdom are often found within such challenges,” Turner tells the magazine. “I had to make peace with my past, and forgiveness sets us free…[it’s]…about cutting the chains of negativity from whatever has caused us pain.”
The living legend also says she wants to encourage “as many people as I can to cherish their lives.”
As for her own happiness these days, Tina admits, “I don’t perform anymore, and I don’t miss it. I do other things and think any creative endeavor helps to nourish your soul…anything that requires your heartfelt focus is creative energy.”
She adds, “I’ve definitely grown happier as I’ve matured, and have even greater patience and love for others. But you have to love yourself first. People used to talk about my legs as much as they did about my talent, but I was blind to my own beauty.”
Turner concludes, “My advice to women who worry about aging is to nurture gratitude for your life. Out of that will come happiness. And happiness is sexy!”
By Andrea Dresdale
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