Making Happiness a Project

I would have to say (regardless of my past few posts), overall I’m pretty happy with my life. I may, on days where I have gotten a reasonable amount of sleep, even go so far as to say I am very happy. But, like Gretchen Rubin, the author of [amazon_link id=”006158326X” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Happiness Project[/amazon_link], I think happiness is something that should be worked on and courted, especially when times are good.

I’ve read The Happiness Project twice, once with a bit of skepticism, and again with an eye to giving it a try myself. A lot of the book, and a lot of the posts on Gretchen Rubin’s blog, really resonate with me. So much so, in fact, that I’ve started making notes on what I want to build my happiness project around.

  1. Be Yourself – Gretchen’s first rule is Be Gretchen, and I think that is an excellent place to start. Of course, I won’t be Gretchen, I’ll be me. And to me that means…
  2. What you like is what you like, and realize it is okay to want to like things but still not like them
  3. Going cold turkey works best for me
  4. Get lots of sleep, even it means no stitching/knitting/reading (wah!)
  5. Detailed to do lists are just too complicated for my life
  6. If it will take less than 5 minutes, just do it

It is just a start, but these are a few solid observations about my life (and what I keep trying to do wrong), that just might make me a little happier.