I recently finished reading the book 'The Happiness Project' by Gretchen Rubin. Gretchen writes a memoir of the year she spent trying to be happier. I was drawn to this book for a couple of reasons: I am a bit of a self-help junkie and it was sitting right there in the self-help section of the bookstore (one of my favorites!), and the cover was bright blue. I feel that the color of a book speaks volumes about it's content. I know that theory is in direct violation of the old adage, 'don't judge a book by its cover,' but how many people really follow that rule? Regardless of the the reason I picked it up, I am glad that I did. I really loved this book. She's so straightforward in her approach to happiness. I feel that I learned a lot about myself while I read her happiness strategies. She tackled everything from clutter to nagging her husband and exercising more. It was really inspiring to read about the changes she saw in her life.
I think I'd like to do a bit of a happiness project of my own, though maybe nothing quite as extensive as Gretchen's. This feels like a good time to start to me. I have some pretty big things in the year ahead of me. I've made a lot of goals for myself, from running a half marathon to graduating with my bachelor's degree and [hopefully] starting a career. I think being more conscious of the little [and big] things that make me happy, and things I can do to make myself happy has the potential to make a big difference in my life.
