The Happiness Project By: Gretchen Rubin

[jhern29]

I have had this book on my to-read shelf for probably more than a year, and after reading it I couldn't believe that I waited so long to dive into it. The book centers around the author Gretchen's idea of starting a "Happiness Project." Gretchen is aware how lucky she is to have a wonderful husband, two kids, great job,etc., but she found that day to day she was just going along with the motions and wasn't really happy with how she was spending her time and energy. So she decides to do a year long project and each month focuses on something different. For example, one month it is energy, one month is focusing on friends, one month it is on money, and so on. One of the things that really caught my attention was how realistic all of her goals were. She acknowledges in the beginning of the book, that yes, it would be great to pull an Eat, Pray, Love type of adventure, but she didn't have the time (2 kids), she didn't want to spend the money, and she also was aware that life would probably go back to the exact same way when she got back. She wanted something that would make her present surrounding better. This was great, as I can't just escape life for a year as well...no matter how fun that would probably be.

Once I got into the book I found that I was marking pages, underlining sentences, and thinking about the changes I can make in my own life. There were so many little ideas that the author had that I really wanted to try and apply in my own life. Not only that, but I started coming up with my own challenges. The book was the author's own story, but as a reader, I also felt that she was talking about so much I could also relate to my own life, which made me feel connected to her even more. I really recommend this book for anyone who is going through the motions and feeling life is getting to be a little monotonous. Like Rubin, I am happy in my life as a whole. I have a wonderful family, a job that pays the bills, friends I can count on for anything, etc. However, sometimes I forget that sometimes I need to splurge on myself or to let my loved ones know how much I love them. Rubin shows that by giving to others, we are also helping ourselves and can inevitably make a more happy life.