Come On, Get Happy

I've mentioned in a few posts that I've been reading "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. First of all, I'm a sucker for a lot of "self help" books, especially ones that teach you how to be happy or how to obtain happiness. I consider myself a pretty happy individual, but much like Rubin says about herself in the book, I can be pessimistic, get annoyed too easily, and just have way too many downright negative thoughts.

The thought of spending a year researching happiness and trying different methods to obtain a happier state was really interesting to me. I'm also the type of person, like many, who constantly come up with goals or resolutions and continually break them. I get on exercise or healthy eating kicks, only to give up a few weeks later.

First I must say, I couldn't put this book down. Each chapter represented a different month with new goals and the last month/chapter, December, Rubin spent perfecting all she'd learned. To be completely honest, at times I didn't really agree with Rubin's way of thinking, but for the most part the book was useful if you're trying to reach happiness and just an all-around fun read.

My favorite chapters were about boosting energy (she spent much of the month organizing - something I love doing!), buying happiness (because who doesn't love thinking that money CAN buy happiness), and working on keeping a contented heart and a positive attitude. I couldn't totally relate to chapters on marriage and children, because I'm not there yet, but some things did resonate. She talked a lot about always wanting praise from her husband and a lot of times I do that with my boyfriend. I want all this love and attention but often forget that boys share their love in different ways and it opened my eyes to being more understanding.

Rubin's tricks to keeping her resolutions were to keep a Resolution Chart that she saw every day and making up Splendid Truths. To learn more about these, check out her website. I know her book is getting a lot of buzz and I sincerely recommend you check it out. It was a relatively quick read and something that you can look at over and over when you need a happiness boost or even find some answers at how to deal with life.

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