Finding The Way to Happiness in Sweetwater, Tennessee

Kyker Funeral Home has been distributing booklets called The Way to Happiness for five years to help the people of Sweetwater, Tennessee.

R. Neil Kyker is the President of Kyker Funeral Home in Sweetwater, TN, and has been part of the firm since 1980. In 2009, Kyker decided to spread a message of hope to all who come through his doors by distributing copies of The Way to Happiness. He says, “I was trying to figure out a way to help these people. When I saw The Way to Happiness, I saw truth and values that, as a society, we have gotten away from. This seemed the best way to instill basic values again.”

The Way to Happiness was written in the early 1980s by humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard, after seeing the society’s moral values on a decline. The book offers twenty-one precepts to better survival, some as simple as Take Care of Yourself and Love and Help Children. It is because of the universality of the book and its ease of reading that it has been made available for broad distribution in neighborhoods and communities the world over.

Kyker showed The Way to Happiness book on film to his staff, who all agreed it had a good message and ought to be spread to others. That’s when the office began offering the booklet to those coming in.

When asked what type of reaction Kyker has seen, he said, “It’s all been very positive… customers have come back in for more copies for their families. One lady wanted her grandchildren to have copies.”

Kyker hopes that by spreading this message to others that more responsibility and order will be present in the society. He says he wants more people to take care of the environment, “I can’t help but think of littering because it’s pretty prevalent. You get guys throwing beer cans in the back of the truck and then they blow out because the driver isn’t responsible for it.” The booklet has a chapter called Safeguard and Improve Your Environment which discourages littering.

For more information, visit thewaytohappiness.org.