Let's Start This Year Off Right - The Happiness Project

With no travelling plans for the holidays, hubby and I were able to happily sit around the house and do nothing. Actually, I read a book. A really good book. It's called The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and it was a wonderful and thoroughly enjoyable way to pass the time. I feel like I spend a lot of time looking for ways to be happy. Take this blog, for example. I started it for the sole purpose of writing the "sparkles" in life and I wanted to put a smile on people's faces when they read it. I'm constantly seeking out ways to bring more sparkle into my life even if that means subjecting my family to yet another smile card or a truly moving picture. Some people might find that nauseating, but I enjoy it.

Anyway, on to the book. I was so excited to have an opportunity to review it because it seemed to fit perfectly with what I was trying to do with my blog. Reading it was a truly satisfying experience. In The Happiness Project, Rubin records her journey of how she dedicated a year to improving her life. Each month she focuses on a different area of her life as she test-drives the wisdom of the ages, current scientific research, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier. Now, I'm all for books about being happy, but so many of them seem to focus on how to be happy following a tragedy, or when you're already down. This one stood out to me because the author chose to focus on the things that really matter, while everything in her life was fine. In other words, happiness should be something that we work on at any time, not just when we're sad.

I learned so much from reading The Happiness Project and this year I'm going to give my own happiness project a shot! From reading the book, I love the way it's organized - I'm not an organized person at all, and it's hard for me to keep things in order. Using The Happiness Project as my guide however, I have no doubt that I'll be able to create my own happiness experience. I also learned of its accompanying blog, a site which I'm slightly addicted to now. My advice to you for the new year would be to read the book - and remember that the days are long but the years are short.

The Happiness Project is available for purchase at bookstore and at the website here.