Monday, January 4, 2010

The Happiness Project

I'm currently reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. The book follows Gretchen through a year in her life as she tries to define happiness and figure out what really makes her happy. Each month is dedicated to a particular subject (for example, January's theme is energy) and Gretchen discusses what she can do to bring more happiness into her life that month using that theme.

The book really inspired me to increase the amount of happiness I feel so I'm starting a Happiness Project Group which will meet every two weeks to figure out how to make our lives happier and more joyful.

How can you make your life happier? It could be as simple as vowing to meet with a friend once a week for lunch or taking up painting or joining a book club. Or it might mean resolving to stop bickering with your spouse.

What makes you happy is deeply personal but sharing your intentions with a group of like-minded individuals can really give you accountability. You've made a promise to yourself and the group is there to remind you to keep that promise.

I'm really excited about this group and think it will be a great way to help others and bring more joy into my own life at the same time.

Contact me if you'd like to be a part of the group. Depending on where everyone is located, we can either meet in my home, at a neutral location in Kitchener Waterloo or on the phone via free conference call. There are lots of options!

Here's to a happy 2010!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi.
You found me on twitter and I followed you here. Awesome.

I have a happiness project too. Check it out on www.eggday.blogspot.com

I too sent out query letters for a book to agents and got rejected by them...I'm not done working on it though.

Peace,
Juli

ambie said...

i would love to be part of a happy group. i live in ashland, ohio 44805 but could be with a phone group or email group. i suffer from bipolar disorder, so i know this could be wonderful my recovery. my email is ymg4cats@gmail.com
thank you very much. sincerely, yvonne gramse

WeightLoser said...

Hi!

I am running a newspaper in Mississauga and would love to put your fitness based horoscope in our paper for the August run.

Would you please email me at smilemississauga@gmail.com as soon as possible?

Thanks!
Hiba

Shy T-Rex said...

Great writing! I really enjoyed reading your posts. Would love to buy a copy of your book. You have a real gift. Serious. So I found your post on Sparkpages.com. This lead me to your blogs. I could not stop reading them as they were easy to follow and interesting.
Recently I did what you write about, followed my dream. This is 2 years in the making but it is "live". NO Publishers needed! I created, patented and marketed an exercise bike that holds your laptop... FitDesk. After many hurdles in manufacturing, China, uspto, etc, I sell them on amazon.com and my own site. Happy to say they do sell and people write me to tell me they exercise more than ever. So I am living proof that it can be done.
Marketing firms have told me to write a bio that makes the story "readable". I would like to work with you and join a happiness group to open up the joy of following a dream to others. Sounds like a win-win to me.

Unknown said...

I just read your article on Spark People about bad breath and oral hygiene. As a registered dental hygieneist, I am thrilled that you covered every possible source of bad breath. I will print this article and share it with my patients!

Many medications, as well as aging, contribute to diminshed salivary flow. Saliva helps to maintain a neutral PH (as well as "washing away" debris). A higher PH means a more acidic environment which can lead to a higher incidence of decay. Add in leftover debris and you have a food source for all that extra bacteria. Thanks for addressing this problem that so many people are concerned with in an easy to read and well thought out article!

Scott Niven said...

I read a study last Fall where they defined some of the things that made me happy long term. I don't remember all of the things, but one of them was to keep a "Happiness" journal and record the good things that happen to you each day, and the other was to express gratitude to people who have helped or done something for you.