The Happiness Project: Book Review

With pictures like this posted during my travels:

 

and this . . .

 

Many of you were intrigued by the pretty little book cover I had in my lap all weekend.    I actually began reading The Happiness Project, by Gretchin Rubin sometime during the holidays, but got side tracked with our busy lifestyle as of late.

That’s not to say I was not/did not enjoy the book!  Quite the opposite.  I found that I enjoyed that it took me longer-than-normal to read, because I gave myself time to let the thoughts and concepts found in the book to ruminate during that time.  While this book could be considered self-help, I found it more informational in a way that it inspired me to find ways to boost MY OWN happiness in unique-to-me ways while reading about the authors personal experiences.

Summary

The Happiness Project follows the author, Gretchen, during the development of and execution of a 12 month “happiness project.”  During this time she dedicated each month to 12 different resolutions: Vitality, Marriage, Work, Parenthood, Leisure, Friendship, Money, Eternity, Books, Mindfulness, Attitude, and Happiness.   Each chapter of the book follows Gretchen during her development, experience and changes through the year.

Something the author stresses through out the book is that she is not unhappy.  Before entering into this project, she noticed that there were elements of her life that she could intentionally work to better, work to make “happier.”   This project is a case study of sorts of a healthy, middle-ish aged family woman who is just looking to become the best version of herself that she can be, which is something I think we can all strive to do :).

Review

As I already mentioned, it took me a little while to get through this book.  Partly due to my schedule, and partly due to wanting to give it time. 

Personally, I founds Gretchen’s experience AND her writing very relatable.   Going into it, I was a bit concerned that certain chapters would not relate to me specifically (IE: parenthood, eternity, books).  But quite the contrary, I found that even in these sections, I was having little “aha” moments of how I myself could implement some of these practices into my own life.

For me specifically, the chapters that I really loved were: Marriage (read it twice), Eternity and Mindfulness.  The vulnerability Gretchen showed by sharing the good, bad, and the ugly of her own self and experience made the entire read enjoyable while also beneficial for me as a reader.

I left my book on the plane as I finished it.  I figured I had had a challenging week or so, and the book was helpful.  I hoped that by leaving it for someone else, they, too, could get something out of it.

So, Cheer’s to Gretch on an inspiring and enjoyable read.