On The Choosing Of Happiness

I’m not sure if I ever really talked about Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project. I searched my blog but nothing came up so I’m assuming that I started that post and it never made it’s way to completion or I already talked about it 64 times and this will just be a rehash – in which case, I’m sorry.

I’m not much for books of the self-help variety. Not that I’m too smart to learn new things or that I can’t use some sage advice every now and again but often self-help books are just so…preachy, which is why I was so amazed at how much I loved this book. I mean, huge. I loved it so much that any time someone gives me 30 seconds of talking space, I’m telling them to read it, I’m sharing it with people I love – this book is fantastical.

Ultimately, for me, the book boils down to one simple premise – you choose your happiness. That’s not to say that life isn’t going to try to drop a hurdle or fifty in your path – but you get the final say. I’m not quite sure why that was so revelatory for me – but it was. I’ve spoken before about self-improvement. About trying to be the best possible version of myself and this book really drove that home for me.

But, being a better version of yourself is hard work. The more I work on myself, the more I recognize just how conscious of my actions and words I have to be in order to be successful at this. Being a good person, a kind person requires effort. I think fundamentally I am both of those things, but not 100% of the time. I recognize that 100% is not an achievable goal, but I can try, right? So, I am. I have been and I feel a goodness of heart that I don’t think I’ve felt in a really long time & so I felt compelled to share that.

If you’ve read the book – I’d love to hear your thoughts. If you haven’t and you own a kindle/nook – let me know and I’ll email you a copy if you’d like.