The Happiness Project

by Gretchen Rubin

Nevertheless, even while I was writing about happiness and focused precisely on the issue of handling criticism, I never did manage entirely to “Enjoy now” with no anxiety about the future. I spent a lot of time arguing with imaginary critics of my happiness project. “You have it easy,” one whispered in my ear. “No cocaine, no abuse, no cancer, no divorce, no three-hundred-pound weight loss…you didn’t even have to quit smoking!” “What about the millions of people who go to bed hungry?” another added. “What about people who suffer from real depression?” “You don’t care about plumbing the depths of your psyche.” “You’re not spiritual enough.” “The idea of a one-year experiment is stale.” “You just talk about yourself.” Oh, well, I told myself, if it’s not one thing, it’s another. If I do my project my way, I’m unspiritual and gimmicky; if I tried to do it a different way, I’d be inauthentic and fake. Might as well “Be Gretchen.”