Gretchen Rubin's Blog, page 259

Happiness Question: What's an obstacle to your happiness?

Every Wednesday is Tip Day, or Quiz Day, or – today – Question Day.

If you're doing a happiness project, it's worth spending a fair amount of time thinking about…unhappiness.

Although it's helpful to focus on the positive, to count your blessings, and to remind yourself of what makes you happy, it's also very important to pay attention to what's undermining your happiness.

Unhappiness, although less pleasant than happiness, is...

Video: Keep a Food Journal.

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 Mindfulness. Last week's resolution was Use cues to cultivate mindfulness. Did you follow that resolution? How did you do? Did it boost your happiness?

This week's resolution is Keep a food journal. I've tried several times to keep a food journal, because so many studies show that...

In Which I Go to a Dance Parade and Reflect on Happiness.

This Saturday, my husband suggested that we all go downtown to watch the annual dance parade. I'd never heard of it, but for the past three years, New York City has had a dance parade, where thousand of dancers, from all sorts of dance organizations, dance their way down a parade route. Some of the dancers were from "real" dance schools or groups, others were from dance/exercise classes, and many groups, we suspected, had been organized for the sole purpose of marching on Saturday.

This...

"Do Not Fail To Do What Ought To Be Done, and Do Not Do What Ought Not To Be Done."

"Do not fail to do what ought to be done, and do not do what ought not to be done. Otherwise your burden of suffering will grow heavier."

--The Dhammapada

One of my Twelve Personal Resolutions is Do what ought to be done, but I'd never come across this particular enunciation of that idea. It sure covers a lot of situations.

* I was very pleased to read this post on David Pollay's blog, where he talked about The Happiness Project in a discussion about What's your calling?

* If you'd...

Think About Your Routines -- Daily, Weekly, Yearly.

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. Each Friday's post will help you think about your own happiness project.

One of my Secrets of Adulthood is "What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while." But it's easy to kid myself about what I do every day, as part during my usual routine, and what I do once in a...

"Conversation (Real and Virtureal), Pajama Parties, and Avoiding Self-Criticism."

Happiness interview: Aidan Donnelley Rowley.

Aidan Donnelly Rowley and I were set up on a blind coffee date, as writers who live in the same neighborhood, by the indefatigable Danielle LaPorte. Which is a bit odd, because at that time I'd never even met Danielle, who lives in Vancouver, but only knew her through the internet. When I met Aidan, we discovered that we have another mutual friend right here in our neighborhood...small world!

Aidan is a novelist who also has a blog, Ivy League...

6 Tips for Coping with Boredom.

Every Wednesday is Tip Day.

Samuel Johnson wrote, "It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery, and as much happiness as possible." Little things make us happy, and little things can drag us down.

One "little thing" that can be a source of unhappiness is boredom. Sitting in traffic. Doing laundry. Waiting in a long line at the grocery store.

I've found that the more I focus on my boredom or...

Video: Use Cues to Cultivate Mindfulness. (If You're Not Very Mindful, You'll Need Reminding.)

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 resolution is Mindfulness. Mindfulness can bring many benefits. It brings clarity and vividness to present experience. It may help people end unhealthy habits and patterns. It can enhance a sense of well-being and calm troubled spirits.

Last week's resolution was to Meditate on koans. Did you...

Why It's Helpful To Send Back a Positive Reflection of a Person's Actions.

In his thought-provoking book, Self-Insight: Roadblocks and Detours on the Path to Knowing Thyself (Essays in Social Psychology), David Dunning describes a very interesting study that compared two classrooms of fifth graders. One class received several messages about the importance of not littering. The other class was told that it was a very neat and tidy class – the janitor told the class they were neatest class in the school, the teacher remarked on it, etc. It turns out that the second...

"What Is Commonly Thought Big...What Is Commonly Thought Small."

"Let us not take it for granted that life exists more fully in what is commonly thought big than in what is commonly thought small."

--Virginia Woolf

* I just discovered the blog Momalom, written by two sisters -- "Life with three kids; because it's all we ever talk about anyway."

* Join the happiness discussion on the Facebook Page. Lots of interesting comments there.