The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Len gifted me with this book, thinking it would appeal to me, and he was right! I enjoyed it all the way through, despite some nagging gaps in the author's thinking. They were nagging to me, because Rubin draws on some excellent research and ideas, many of which resonated with me, and yet she missed so many other possibilities! The biggest miss for me was the idea of happiness being derived from service and unselfishness. These are similar ideas and were pretty much lacking throughout the book! However, her commitment to be happier in order to create more happiness in her family is somewhat unselfish and related to a sacrifice, I guess. And she is young! She only has two small children! Her life will get more complicated and her ideas more sophisticated. More wisdom and less self-centeredness will hopefully evolve! Having said that, there are many tips and tricks worthy of emulation...making and keeping resolutions, setting goals, and being consistent are among them. She admits in the book to being relatively untested and untried by tragedgy and serious challenges, so maybe this depth will come in time! Worthy of a read, and I plan to at least visit the website to see if the online tools might be useful for me. She encourages everyone to create their own "Happiness Project" and offers tools to get going. We'll see...some nuggets are definitely here...and I especially enjoyed the excerpts from the readers who contribute to her blog. One idea that has power is to "Be Gretchen." In other words, really find out what she enjoys and what brings her happiness. This becomes a theme throughout the book as she struggles to find out who she really is. I liked the openness of this struggle and her honesty about wanting to like things that she does not. That theme was refreshing and insightful and one from which I can learn!