The Happiness Project – by Gretchen Rubin

Happiness is something that we all chase and often we get stuck in a grove chasing the wrong things that we believe will lead us to a greater level of happiness.

I keep striving forward, always running, yet looking back sometimes I wonder if perhaps I could have been happier in past moments. My mother keeps telling me not to miss out on all that I have by working too hard.

Perhaps I need to soak up more of the present. Enjoy more of what I have and make fun out of all the simpler things that are available to me everyday, available to me right now.

Gretchen Rubin’s book The Happiness Project is a light and fun read but what I really enjoyed was the seemingly simple ideas and experiments that she trials in her own personal life to raise her happiness. It really makes you think about how simple and happy life can be if only ‘we’ allow it.

In twelve months Gretchen devoted her life to this project and was on a journey and mission to make change in her life. It was on a bus trip one day that she realised that “the days are long, but the years are short.” She decided that time was passing and that she wasn’t focusing enough on the things that really matter.”

Sound familiar? For many of us this probably rings true.

She discovers in this book many techniques and lessons on how we can be happier. Obviously what she experiences will be different for all but some of the same fundamentals can be applied.

She found that money could actually raise happiness when spent wisely. Doing new and unfamiliar activities or challenging yourself can also be good happiness raisers. But the thing that probably stood out the most to me throughout her entertaining journey is that is was all the smallest, simple and even free things that make the biggest difference.

One example from the book was each week to have dinner without utensils or tableware. Fun for the kids but I know I would enjoy that just as much. Can you imagine having a meal of curry without tableware? I mentioned it to my partner and she certainly wasn’t too sure about the idea.

Living life with the simple intention of enjoyment can take away the stress and pressures of regular life and make you really appreciate each moment a little bit more.

Life sometimes has expectations of us beyond what it is truly about. We feel we cannot stop and smell the roses or we might just miss out on that rabbit we are chasing but the truth is that if we don’t stop we certainly will miss out on life.

I think I will be reading this again sometime just to inspire me to chill out and enjoy the ride a bit more.

If this book sounds of interest you can purchase The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
here.

Please leave your thoughts, comments & questions below.

Peace, passion and purpose…

Other books by Gretchen Rubin