The Happiness Project

There's only so much whining about pregnancy I can do without getting boring and monotonous, so I am planning on discussing other things that strike my fancy. Today, for example, I want to talk about this book that I recently finished reading for a book club I belong to.

The book is called, "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Ruben (her blog is here: http://www.happiness-project.com/ ).This is not the kind of book I normally would pick up off the shelf (at a store or the library), but since it was one of the book club books, I read it. And I am really glad I did!

Gretchen does a great job explaining about why she started the project. No, she wasn't depressed. No, there were no major upheavals or catastrophes or bad things going on in her life. In fact, she had a great husband, two healthy wonderful children, a job she loved, and financial stability. But, she didn't appreciate those things as much as she thought she should. She sometimes felt like life was passing her by and that she could do more to fully appreciate it. So, she got this idea for a Happiness Project; she made goals to become happier and live her life more fully. She wanted to do this while living her normal life, rather than doing anything extreme (like living on a tropical island for a year, for example). Her introduction clicked with me, because that's exactly how I was feeling. I have a great life, tons of blessings, I have everything I would put on a list of 'wishes' if I ever made one (although a bit more money might be nice, haha). But, I still get unhappy about things; I snap at my kids, I complain about various things to my husband, I sometimes feel sorry for myself, although when I try to define why, I'm hard pressed to do so.

Rather than waiting until a bad thing happens in life and we say, "I wish I could go back to then", we should appreciate the 'then' now. Gretchen's book is set up with 12 goals that she tackled, one each month, that helped her focus on the good things and live her life more fully. She explained that she spent months determining which goals were important to her happiness and figuring out what tangible steps she could take to track her progress in each area. She made a daily check-off sheet to help her stay accountable.

I have started my own happiness journal, where I've made notes of things that I could do to improve my life and my appreciation for things I have. I'm still in the planning stages of my project, but there are definite areas I'm planning to focus on.

For now, even before I have my goals figured out, I have benefited from reading the book. My feelings of discontent have been validated (by finding someone else in the same situation), which has diminished them to almost nothing. I feel like I am appreciating the time spent with my children much more than I used to, I'm less cranky and spend less time getting upset over the little things. I'm trying to be more positive, especially in my interactions with others, and focusing less on the negatives in my life (which are few).

I'm very excited for our next book club meeting so we can discuss this book. If you are looking for something new to read, I highly recommend this book to everyone. Even if you're perfectly content with your life, there are things I think you (and everyone) can benefit from.