Monday, January 25, 2010

The Happiness Project

In keeping with my New Year's Resolutions...I've set out with a list of books to read to help me enhance my life. The first book I read is The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.

Gretchen was a lawyer who clerked for Sandra Day O'Connor and then choose to become a full-time writer. This book is her memoir of a year she spent trying to be happier. She plans a new 'resolution' each month and charts her progress over the month. It really was an eye-opener in a lot of areas. For example, one month she pledges to "Enjoy the Process". She talked about enjoying the time with her children no matter how ho hum it might be. She talked about while on vacation she walked with her toddler daughter up and down a few steps for what seemed like forever, but her daughter had such pleasure out of going up and down and Gretchen really let herself enjoy the process. She recognizes that the 'days are long, but the years are short' when it comes to her children.

She also talked about being a better wife, friend, sister, daughter and daughter-in-law. I really enjoyed this book. It helped me put things in perspective regarding how to live a happier life. One of the highlights of reading this book was after I read it, I sent her an email letting her know that I enjoyed it. She EMAILED ME BACK! Now I'm friends with her (in my mind!). Check out her blog here.


3 comments:

Kimberley said...

good for you! i need to read it!

The Robinsons said...

sounds interesting. i'm reading, "throw out fifty things... clear the clutter, find your life" we'll see how that goes. clearing the clutter part that is.

Melody said...

I'm going to have to check this one out.