Gretchen Rubin's Blog, page 255

I'm So Judgmental. I Want to Conquer This! Any Suggestions?

One key thing I've learned from my happiness project is that I'm much more likely to stick to a resolution if I make it concrete. The more specific I am with myself, the more easily I can hold myself accountable, and the more easily I can keep the resolution.

So, for example, instead of resolving to "Get more fun out of life," I resolve to "Start a children's-literature reading group." Instead of resolving to "Stay calm in the morning," I resolve to "Get enough sleep" and "Wake up an hour...

"True Life Is Lived When Tiny Changes Occur."

"True life is lived when tiny changes occur."

* A friend told me to check out The Blah, Blah, Blahg (love the name). When I went there, I saw why -- the writer was writing about her thoughts about a happiness project.

* There's been a lot of interest in the one-page discussion guide for book groups. Because so many people mentioned that they're reading The Happiness Project with their church group, or in a spirituality book group, and the like, I wrote another one-page...

Need a Happiness Boost? Read a Good Book.

I'm working on my Happiness Project, and you could have one, too! Everyone's project will look different, but it's the rare person who can't benefit. Join in -- no need to catch up, just jump in right now.

I'm in four book groups, if you can believe it, and one recurring challenge for each of the book groups is picking the next book. At the last meeting, as we were debating various options, one of my friends said, "I just really want to read something that I love. It's been a while since I...

"Even the Things That Frustrate Me Are the Product of Choices I've Made to Have the Life I Want."

Happiness interview: Melanie Rehak.

Every happiness project is different. Melanie Rehak's happiness project? She devoted a year to food: working in the kitchen staff of a small restaurant, working on some of its supplying farms, and coaxing her picky-eater toddler to try new foods. Her book just hit the shelves: Eating for Beginners: An Education in the Pleasures of Food from Chefs, Farmers, and One Picky Kid.

None of Melanie's undertakings would appeal to me, and yet I loved her book. I...

7 Tips for Dealing with a Sweetheart Who Is Constantly Crabby.

Every Wednesday is Tip Day.

If you're in a relationship, your sweetheart's happiness matters a lot to you. Not only because you care about that person's happiness, but also because -- due to a phenomenon called emotional contagion -- you're very likely to "catch" that mood. Unfortunately, bad moods are more catching than good moods.

What do you do if the love of your life is driving you crazy by being crabby...

Video: Cultivate Gratitude -- Find a Way!

2010 Happiness Challenge: For those of you following the 2010 Happiness Project Challenge, to make 2010 a happier year – and even if you haven't officially signed up for the challenge -- this month's theme is Eternity. Last week's resolution was to Imitate a spiritual master. Did you try to follow that resolution? Did it help to boost your happiness?

This week's resolution is Cultivate gratitude. A grateful spirit is very important to a happy life, and in fact, the more I think about...

"No Man Ever Found the Happiness of Possession Proportionate to That Expectation which Incited His Desire..."

"It is generally allowed, that no man ever found the happiness of possession proportionate to that expectation which incited his desire, and invigorated his pursuit; nor has any man found the evils of life so formidable in reality, as they were described to him by his own imagination; every species of distress brings with it some peculiar supports, some unforeseen means of resisting, or powers of enduring."

To read a book-length, research-supported examination of this...

Find Ways to Make Holiday Traditions More Fun. (At the Very Least, Have Some Holiday Traditions.)

Two of my resolutions are to Start a new family tradition and Do something festive.

I want to do something more with the Fourth of July. When I was growing up, this was always a very fun holiday. We were often on vacation in my parents' hometown, North Platte, Nebraska, which was a great place to celebrate the Fourth. We bought a lot of family-style fireworks – sparklers, snakes, poppers, wheels -- and shot them off in my grandparents' backyard, plus North Platte had various town activities...

"Working on My Novel, Remembering that Life Is Long -- and Yet Not Overscheduling."

Happiness interview: Christina Baker Kline.

I got to know novelist Christina Baker Kline through a writing group I joined -- which is now connected with the very helpful writing site, She Writes. Christina's wonderful novel, Bird in Hand, just came out in paperback -- joining The Way Life Should Be.

Christina also has a very interesting blog, Writing Life, "notes on craft and the creative process."

I wanted to ask her about her views on happiness because her work wrestles with this question...

Buddhism Has 8 Auspicious Symbols. I Chose My Own Set of Symbols. What Are Yours?

Every Wednesday is Tip Day – or List Day.

I get a tremendous kick out of the numbered lists that pop up throughout Buddhism: the Triple Refuge, the Noble Eightfold Path, the Four Noble Truths. In fact, it was Buddhism that inspired me to write my Four Splendid Truths (after I formulated the First Splendid Truth, I just had to assume that I'd end up with more than one).

However, it's surprising to me that Buddhism...