good reads-the happiness project by gretchen rubin

dr

so, have you heard of this book? gretchen rubin's the happiness project chronicles a year of her life that she dedicates to making herself happier. each month she had a set of resolutions to try to follow. by the time december rolled around, she tried to do all of her resolutions all the time. 

here is a month by month run down of some of resolutions gretchen had

january-boost energy (sleep more, exercise, organize, tackle a task, act energetic)

february-remember love (quit nagging, don't expect praise, fight right, no dumping, give proofs of love)

march-aim higher (blog, fun in failure, ask for help, work smart, enjoy now)

april-lighten up (sing, acknowledge people's feelings, be a house of happy memories, time for projects)

may-be serious about play (more fun, be silly, go off path, start a collection)

june-make time for friends (remember birthdays, be generous, show up, don't gossip, make friends)

july-buy some happiness (buy a modest splurge, buy needful things, spend out, give something up)

august-contemplate the heavens (read about catastrophes, gratitude notebook, spiritual master)

september-pursue a passion (write a novel, make time, forget results, master new technology)

october-pay attention (meditate on koans, examine true rules, stimulate the mind, keep a food diary)

november-keep a contented heart (laugh, use good manners, give positive reviews, find refuge)

december-boot camp perfect

over the course of the year, she decluttered, she was true to herself, she spent money on things that truly made her happy, she realized things about herself that she wanted to change, she remembered to "be gretchen" or be yourself.  

i'm not sure that i would do an entire year like this, i mean, she was doing research and writing blog....she's a writer so it kind of fell right into her line of work. sure, she could have just written more biographies, but still I don't have the time to dedicate to researching different ways to make ones self happy or different philosophies of life along with the rest of my life.....family, friends, photography, church, chores, etc. but, this book does give you something to think about....what could you do to be happier?

some of her ideas that really struck home with me were to declutter. 

in the end, gretchen was happier. it wasn't something that kept track of but more of a feeling she had. she just felt happier. sure, there were some things that she thought were grand ideas that she ended up scratching, but that happens to us all. i think that something she learned was not to beat herself up over the stuff that doesn't work out. 

so as we are approaching a new year, this book gives me a little something to think about. what are some of the things in my life that i could change to make me (and my husband and kids) a little happier? a little bit of reflection is good for us all. i think there are areas that we can all improve on. 

what would make you happier?