This was a thoroughly enjoyable book. It was recommended in one of the other books that I had read, so was very pleased to stumble upon it at the Princess Christian bookshop in Pretoria.
It is all about Gretchen Rubin's experiment of doing things a bit differently, making small changes to be happier. As she says, it is not that she was unhappy or depressed, but wanted to explore whether she would be happier by making small changes. Each chapter is a month of the year where she implemented changes.
I like her conversational writing style. The book really resonated with me, ultimately everyone is on a path in search of happiness. Gretchen did not want to go on a sabbatical or go to India to try and find herself, but did get a lot more joy out of things that she did on a daily basis. As she says, everyone's happiness project will be different, however there definitely are a couple of things that she did that I am trying and keen to explore further. For example, she really likes children's literature and started a children's lit book club with her friends with a similar interest. I have no intention or desire to start such a book club, but it did get me thinking about the books that I grew up with. So, the last time I visited my Mom I brought "Brolloks & Bittergal" by CJ Langenhoven back home. I must admit that I am looking forward to re-explore the book. Although with that said, I am quite shocked at how macabre the book is after just reading the first page but more on that another time.
The other daily small change that Gretchen did was to get eight hours sleep. I am trying this, but have not been all that successful. The other thing that she reminds herself to do is to "be Gretchen", I am also using this as a guide to "be Regine", and to focus on what I truly want to do and what I really like, not what I think I should like or should be doing.
Over the last couple of years my life has become a lot more goal orientated, which I really enjoy - isn't it terrific to tick things off the to do list? Someone had told me that you should not have resolutions, because it is not something you stick to. However Gretchen explains it quite nicely by saying that you "hit a goal and keep a resolution". One of the things that I want to do a lot more of this year is to laugh, be spontaneous and to have fun. You can't really have these as a goal, it's not something you can tick off, so I like the idea of having it as a resolution, something which is ongoing.
Some of the things I am already doing that she writes about (*air punch*), e.g. tackling a nagging task. Ever since reading Tim Ferriss' The 4-hour Work Week, I have been scheduling my diary differently to focus on one task that has been on the 'to do' list for way too long before going through daily e-mails. I feel a lot more productive, and I can attest to the fact that ticking off that nagging task definitely contributes to one's overall happiness. The other thing is to enjoy the moment and to be more mindful of the present moment. Another thing is to stimulate your mind in different new ways. At the beginning of the year (again after The 4-hour work week) - I set myself a goal to learn Xhosa and have a five minute conversation at the end of the year. (So far, this is going very slowly, I have however invested in an audio book and am enjoying the challenge of getting my tongue around all the different clicks.
The days are long but the years are short - why would / could / should we not all strive to be happier every day?
This is a highly recommendable read. 10/10
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