The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee Spreads Positivity on Night Out Against Crime

The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee participated in National Night Out Against Crime by distributing the booklets at a neighborhood event.

The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee volunteers joined community partners, neighbors and police for National Night Out Against Crime on Tuesday to help put an end to rampant crime.

"True joy and happiness are valuable," begins the common sense guide, The Way to Happiness, written by humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard in the early 1980s. Since then, the book has sparked a movement and has been reprinted and passed hand to hand to a wide variety of cultures and peoples. In Tennessee, The Way to Happiness Association works with communities and neighborhoods to spread the booklet to as many people as possible. Organizers say that when the booklet is passed from hand to hand, it is like oil spread upon a raging sea, the calm flows outward and outward.

The Tennessee Association launched its campaign to distribute the booklet in 2009. Since that time, the group has visited local health fairs, festivals and community gatherings.

National Night Out is meant to stop crime before it starts. It was designed to heighten awareness; generate support for, and participation in, local anti-crime programs; strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back, according to natw.org.

This year marks the 36th annual event to combat drug use and prevent crime. Neighborhoods frequently celebrate with a mix of food, dancing, information booths and crime forums to help promote safer living.

The Way to Happiness booklet details 21 precepts predicated on the fact that one's survival depends on the survival of others. According to thewaytohappiness.org, "This code of conduct can be followed by anyone, of any race, color or creed and works to restore the bonds that unite humankind." The Way to Happiness aims at giving people back a sense of what is right and wrong in a way that is easy to understand. In the three decades since it was authored, some 80 million copies of the book passed hand to hand.

For more information, visit twthtn.org.