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I'm Happy for You (Sort Of...Not Really)

Finding Contentment in a Culture of Comparison

Kay Wills Wyma

About I'm Happy for You (Sort Of...Not Really)

Discover freedom, authenticity, and joy when you stop letting competition and jealousy hijack your life.

Do you find yourself measuring your value against your friend’s house, body, marriage, resume, paycheck, organic garden, or Pinterest-worthy holiday décor, and coming up lacking? Do your college roommate’s Instagram snapshots bear little resemblance to the scene at your house this morning?

Excessive comparison and competition sap our energy and steal our joy. Our friends become our audience and judges, and our kids become part of our brand. Add social media’s constant invitation to post and peruse, and it’s no wonder that we’re left exhausted, discontent, and lonely. Thankfully, there is another way!

With refreshing candor and humor, Kay Wyma shares her experiences with comparison living and offers readers the simple remedies that helped her and her family reboot their perspective and discover freedom, authenticity, and joy.

Praise

Praise for
I’m Happy for You (Sort of…Not Really)

“Kay Wills Wyma once again champions a much-needed culture shift—with heartfelt insight she challenges us to choose contentment over comparison. I’m Happy for You gently exposes the growing obsession with self-promotion and one-upmanship that’s wearing us all out and, thankfully, offers wise solutions.”
—Tracey Eyster, Founder of FamilyLife’s MomLifeToday.com; author of Be the Mom and Beautiful Mess

“Kay Wills Wyma captured my attention with her belly-laughing good storytelling steeped in reality as she tackled a question that’s long overdue for an honest answer: What should we do about this comparison trap we find ourselves falling into daily? When comparison steals contentment, it’s a problem that demands a solution. Kay gives it to us in a way that is easy on the heart and good for the soul.”
—Elisa Pulliam, author and life coach

“Who knew comparison was so prevalent and destructive? Awakening to this alone is worth the time invested in reading this honest and sometimes raw literary gem. Comparison’s thievery of joy is arrested by the ‘just let it go’ practicality Kay offers so transparently and humorously. It might just put you on the path toward contentment and gratitude, a road less traveled.”
—Robin Pou, executive coach and attorney mediator; coauthor of Performance Intelligence at Work

“Kay Wyma has managed to address what we’re all dealing with on a daily basis—the ability to instantly compare our life to someone else’s with just a mere look at our phone. There we can see all the ways we are failing to be the best mom, the best wife, the best friend…and the list goes on. In the pages of I’m Happy for You, Kay offers insight into why we do this and how we can stop the cycle. If you’re looking to live a life of contentment and authenticity and to be okay when your kid is the C student and not the valedictorian, you’ll find comfort and realistic solutions in the pages of this book.”

—Melanie Shankle, New York Times best-selling author of Sparkly Green Earrings
“I’m Happy for You is honest and funny, while tackling a serious problem that is stealing our joy: comparison. Kay creatively uses stories and personal confession to reveal the pitfalls of comparing, while offering a solid ladder—built on godly wisdom—to help us climb out of that pit. I wish I could pass this book on to every woman who has worn herself out trying to achieve unrealistic standards. There’s freedom on these pages.”
—Jennifer Dukes Lee, author of Love Idol

“Kay Wyma hit a home run on the Focus on the Family radio program when she talked about ways moms can combat the entitlement mentality in their kids. In her new book, she scores another hit with an insightful discussion of the pitfalls of comparing your life to others, especially through social media. Her advice is timely and relevant.”
—Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family

“Victims of comparison drive-bys litter the Internet. There are virtual warehouses of new ways to covet your neighbor’s home, decorating skills, summer vacation plans, or Pinterest-perfect kids’ birthday parties. In this paralyzing culture of obsessive comparisons, this book is the detox we all need. With a sense of humor and an unrelenting honesty, Kay walks us through the steps to finding our worth again in the God who never compares us but always only calls us by name.”
—Lisa-Jo Baker, community manager for (in)courage; author of Surprised by Motherhood

“There is no joy to be found in comparing ourselves to others. Fortunately, with both cultural relevance and biblical foundation, Kay Wills Wyma accurately defines not only the comparison problem, but offers a solution. I’m Happy for You is a must-read for anyone caught in the comparison trap.”
—Joshua Becker, best-selling author of Simplify; founder of Becoming Minimalist

“For years I’ve said ‘Comparison is the kiss of death of gratitude.’ Whether we stroll the shopping malls, thumb through catalogs, shop online, or inadvertently compare ourselves to others, we are imperceptibly overwhelmed with longings to be like someone else, to have something else, believing it somehow enhances our identity. The pursuit of bigger, better, newer, and more never stops. With a compelling lilt, Kay Wills Wyma’s pen pulls us along only to expose and confront our comparison battle. From one co-struggler to another, Kay brings us perspective and relief.”
—Dr. Michael Easley, former president of Moody Bible Institute; teaching pastor; host of Michael Easley inContext

“Kay Wills Wyma has opened a powerful window on the reality of comparison and how it’s impacting all of us, including vulnerable young lives. With social media, instead of just keeping up with the Joneses, we’re now keeping up with the world. Kay navigates us through the pressures we all face and teaches us how to be genuinely happy for others and deliberate about our current situation and future plans at every stage of life.”
—Kathy Ireland, chair/CEO/chief designer at kathy ireland Worldwide

About Kay Wills Wyma

Kay Wills Wyma has five kids, ages four to fourteen, and one SUV with a lot of carpool miles. She holds a bachelor's from Baylor University and an MIM from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird). Before transitioning to stay-at-home mom, she held positions at the White House, the Staubach Company, and Bank of America. She and her husband, Jon, live with their family in the Dallas area.

Product Details

240 pages | Published by WaterBrook

On Sale Date: May 5, 2015

Trim Size: 5-3/16 x 8

Carton Quantity: 24

Sneak Peek

Is comparison-living hijacking your life?

 Click here to download chapter one of  I'm Happy For You(Sort of... Not Really)

Tired of performing? Feeling weighed down by the pressure to be Pinteresting? Does your friend’s wardrobe, body, marriage, paycheck, vacation plans, or photoshoot-worthy home décor leave you wishing your life looked more like that?

You’re not alone.

With its focus on smarter, faster, thinner, and ever-better, our cultural obsession with comparison is undercutting relationships and sapping contentment. Our friends become our audience (or judges), and our titles, activities, even kids become part of our brand. Factor in social media’s constant reminder of what everyone else is doing, and no wonder we feel drained, discontent, and isolated.

Thankfully, we don’t have to live this way!

With disarming candor and humor, Kay Wills Wyma explores the troubling effects of living in an excessively competitive culture—and reveals simple yet effective ways to escape the comparison trap. Join Kay and her family as they learn how to recapture contentment and discover freedom, authenticity, and joy along the way.

 

 

Press Release

For Immediate Release

Published by WaterBrook, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC
Contact: Brett Benson, Senior Publicist
bbenson@penguinrandomhouse.com / 719-264-5661


The Lost Art of Contentment: Finding Joy in a Comparison-Driven Culture

 
Take a deep breath and slowly put down that smartphone. Get an honest look at life apart from the endless stream of social media. It’s time for  a perspective shift. In a world where virtually every moment is spun into a milestone and experiences are captured, cropped and filtered to perfection, it’s easy to fall head-first into the comparison trap.
 
In I’m Happy for You (Sort Of…Not Really): Finding Contentment in a Culture of Comparison (WaterBrook, May 5, 2015) popular blogger, speaker and author Kay Wills Wyma asks one timely and thought-provoking question; “Is it possible to have peace in the midst of relentless pressures to compare?”
 
Wyma answers this question as she shares candid and often humorous accounts from her life as a mother of five. She witnesses first-hand how comparison, whether in a business meeting or the carpool lane, can steal joy and replace it with a spirit of competition and discontent.
 
With wit and sincerity, Wyma – along with fellow sojourners who honestly share their own experiences in a fishbowl world – reminds readers that contentment is found when we make a few adjustments like:
· Accepting, embracing, and doing our best rather than fight to be the best.
· Choosing to see the beauty in every human being…including ourselves.
· Shifting our focus from what could be to what actually is – which in turn helps us find extraordinary joy in our ordinary lives.
 
Ultimately, the key to living a contented life is learning how to celebrate someone else’s success. Wyma explains that it can be as simple—and sometimes, as difficult—as saying, “I’m happy for you” and really meaning it.  
 
I’m Happy for You (Sort Of…Not Really) is a breath of fresh air for every person who feels stifled by the fog of life’s constant worries that they just aren’t measuring up. Readers will be enamored with Wyma’s laugh-out-loud, straightforward writing style as she discovers that contentment arrives when we “peel our thoughts away from self-absorption and (are) able to see those with whom we share life. And not simply see them but fully embrace the life we live with instead of against each other.”
 
Praise for I’m Happy for You (Sort Of…Not Really)
“Kay Wyma hit a home run on the Focus on the Family radio program when she talked about ways moms can combat the entitlement mentality in their kids. In her new book, she scores another hit with an insightful discussion on the pitfalls of comparing your life to others, especially through social media. Her advice is timely and relevant.” —Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family
 
“The pursuit of bigger, better, newer, and more never stops. With a compelling lilt, Kay Wills Wyma’s pen pulls us along only to expose and confront our comparison battle. From one co-struggler to another, Kay brings us perspective and relief.” —Dr. Michael Easley, former president of Moody Bible Institute; teaching pastor; host of Michael Easley inContext
 
“Kay Wills Wyma once again champions a much-needed culture shift—with heartfelt insight she challenges us to choose contentment over comparison. I’m Happy for You gently exposes the growing obsession with self-promotion and one-upmanship that’s wearing us all out and, thankfully, offers wise solutions.” —Tracey Eyster, author of Be the Mom and Beautiful Mess
 
“With both cultural relevance and biblical foundation, Kay Wills Wyma accurately defines the comparison problem and offers a solution. I’m Happy for You is a must-read for anyone caught in the comparison trap.”—Joshua Becker, founder of Becoming Minimalist
 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kay Wills Wyma has five kids, ages 7-18, and one SUV with a lot of carpool miles. Before transitioning to the role of stay-at-home mom, she held positions at the White House, The Staubach Company and Bank of America. In 2012, Wyma courageously tackled the issue of youth entitlement in her first book Cleaning House: A Mom’s 12 Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement (WaterBrook Press, May 8, 2012). She has been featured on The TODAY Show, USAToday.com, CNN-HLN, the Glenn Beck Show, and Focus on the Family, among many other media outlets. She attended Baylor University and the Thunderbird School of Global Management. She and her husband Jon live in Dallas.
 
Website: http://www.themoatblog.com/
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MOATblog

ISBN 9781601425959 ● Trade Paperback ● 240 Pages ● $14.99 U.S./$17.99 Canada
eBook:  ISBN 9781601425966 ● $9.99

Contact Publicist

Brett Benson