Happy Together

Saturday evening I moved to the next book in my queue, The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. While I do think that women's books about life-changes (see also Eat, Pray, Love) are the equivalent to the red Porsche of men's mid-life crisis, I have moved through chapters "January" and "February" fairly quickly.

In "Getting Started", Ms. Rubin gives us her Twelve Commandments for the year which are short, direct, and items I could see myself using as a mantra (excluding #11 No Calculation). [Note: although, I think she means it another way, a year without math? Wouldn't be prudent.] Her "Secrets of Adulthood" list is actually quite good as well. And so the author jumps into the experiment, devoting herself to one goal each month. In January, she pursues more vitality and in February, she wants to "Remember Love."

Thus far, she has been honest about her progress and lack thereof. I also liked that while her life is pretty satisfying currently, she admits that at some point in the future, it may not be, and this book is a method to create mindful actions and habits for times of adversity.