So I just started this book called The Happiness Project. I think I first heard about it in People magazine, and I figured it sounded intriguing - so why not add it to the good ol' library list. I mean who doesn't want more happiness in their life right?So Goodreads describes the book like this..."Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany one rainy afternoon in the unlikeliest of places: a city bus. "The days are long, but the years are short," she realized. "Time is passing, and I'm not focusing enough on the things that really matter." In that moment, she decided to dedicate a year to her happiness project. Rubin didn't have the option to uproot herself, nor did she really want to; instead she focused on improving her life as it was. Each month she tackled a new set of resolutions: give proofs of love, ask for help, find more fun, keep a gratitude notebook, forget about results."
And within the pages of this book she documents her happiness project. As I mentioned earlier, I just started the book, so I am only a few pages in, but I have already taken bits and pieces away from the book and wanted to share a few of them with you!
So within the first few pages of the book she writes about WHY she started this happiness project in the first place. She writes, "I wasn't depressed and I wasn't having a midlife crisis, but I was suffering from midlife malaise - a recurrent sense of discontent and almost a feeling of disbelief. "Can this really be me" I'd wonder as I picked up the morning newspaper and read my e-mail. "Can this be me?"...and "Is this really it?" I found myself wondering, and answering, "Yep, this is it". But though at times I felt dissatisfied, that something was missing, I also never forgot how fortunate I was. When I woke up in the middle of the night, as I often did, I'd walk from one room to another to gaze at my sleeping husband tangled in the sheets and my daughters surrounded by their stuffed animals, all safe. I had everything I could possibly want - yet I was failing to appreciate it. Bogged down in petty complaints and passing crises, weary of struggling with my own nature, I too often failed to comprehend the splendor of what I had. I didn't want to keep taking these days for granted. The words of the writer Colette had haunted me for years: "What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd realized it sooner." I didn't want to look back, at the end of my life or after some great catastrophe, and think, "How happy I used to be then, if only I'd realized it."
I love what she writes here because I think it is so very true! How often do we take the time to recognize our blessings? We get so caught up in life that we forget to notice just how good that life is! And one of her main goals for the happiness project was to "prepare for adversity - to develop the self-discipline and the mental habits to deal with a bad thing when it happened." Doesn't sound like a bad idea now does it?
You can change your own life by starting your own happiness project. Rubin writes, "First is the preparation stage, when you identify what brings you joy, satisfaction, and engagement, and also what brings you guilt, anger, boredom, and remorse. Second is the making of resolutions, when you identify the concrete actions that will boost your happiness. Then comes the interesting part: keeping your resolutions."
So what do you think...will you try it??
If interested and want to know more check out her website HERE.
And within the pages of this book she documents her happiness project. As I mentioned earlier, I just started the book, so I am only a few pages in, but I have already taken bits and pieces away from the book and wanted to share a few of them with you!
So within the first few pages of the book she writes about WHY she started this happiness project in the first place. She writes, "I wasn't depressed and I wasn't having a midlife crisis, but I was suffering from midlife malaise - a recurrent sense of discontent and almost a feeling of disbelief. "Can this really be me" I'd wonder as I picked up the morning newspaper and read my e-mail. "Can this be me?"...and "Is this really it?" I found myself wondering, and answering, "Yep, this is it". But though at times I felt dissatisfied, that something was missing, I also never forgot how fortunate I was. When I woke up in the middle of the night, as I often did, I'd walk from one room to another to gaze at my sleeping husband tangled in the sheets and my daughters surrounded by their stuffed animals, all safe. I had everything I could possibly want - yet I was failing to appreciate it. Bogged down in petty complaints and passing crises, weary of struggling with my own nature, I too often failed to comprehend the splendor of what I had. I didn't want to keep taking these days for granted. The words of the writer Colette had haunted me for years: "What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd realized it sooner." I didn't want to look back, at the end of my life or after some great catastrophe, and think, "How happy I used to be then, if only I'd realized it."
I love what she writes here because I think it is so very true! How often do we take the time to recognize our blessings? We get so caught up in life that we forget to notice just how good that life is! And one of her main goals for the happiness project was to "prepare for adversity - to develop the self-discipline and the mental habits to deal with a bad thing when it happened." Doesn't sound like a bad idea now does it?
You can change your own life by starting your own happiness project. Rubin writes, "First is the preparation stage, when you identify what brings you joy, satisfaction, and engagement, and also what brings you guilt, anger, boredom, and remorse. Second is the making of resolutions, when you identify the concrete actions that will boost your happiness. Then comes the interesting part: keeping your resolutions."
So what do you think...will you try it??
If interested and want to know more check out her website HERE.
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