After receiving a prompt from a friend and member of my Spiritual Abundance Facebook group, I purchased and read a book called The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.
The book is the year-long process by the author to finding happiness in everyday life. Here, in her words, is the beginning of her search.
One April day, on a morning just like every other morning, I had a sudden realization: I was in danger of wasting my life. As I started out the rain-spattered window of a city bus, I saw that the years were slipping by. “What do I want from life, anyway? I asked myself. “Well … I want to be happy.”
But before she decided what would make her happy, she needed to answer two questions:
- Was it possible to make yourself happy?
- What is “happiness”?
Everyone wants to be happy, but happiness is hard to define — as Gretchen found during her research. But she did discover that the opposite of happiness is not depression, but unhappiness! So she decided to work on boosting her happiness level by dedicated monthly resolutions on improving her life.
Monthly happiness themes Gretchen developed to focus on to reach her goals:
- January: Boost Energy (Vitality)
- February: Remember Love (Marriage)
- March: Aim Higher (Work)
- April: Lighten Up (Parenthood)
- May: Be Serious About Play (Leisure)
- June: Make Time for Friends (Friendship)
- July: Buy Some Happiness (Money)
- August: Contemplate the Heavens (Eternity)
- September: Pursue a Passion (Books)
- October: Pay Attention (Mindfulness)
- November: Keep a Contented Heart (Attitude)
- December: Boot Camp Perfection (Happiness)
Over the next year, I will share insights into each of her monthly topics as outlined. I hope you will follow along with me to look at the areas of your life to see if we can increase our happiness level together.
One thought on “The Happiness Project”