The Happiness Project

If people ask you 'What is your purpose in life?', and you have to answer it immediately, what would be your answer???

I once answered, 'To be happy.' - Simple and short.

But if you ask me this question again, my answer would be slightly different now.

I will answer, 'To make others and myself happy.'

When I purchased my new toys, I wrote the gift message for myself, which was shown above. My hubby saw it and he told me, 'Why are you so selfish? To love yourself more? I've given my love for you.' Maybe what he meant was that I should write 'To love my husband more.' Hehehe.. But if I wrote that, it would mean I don't love him enough, that's why I need to love him more. Right?

Why I wrote 'to love myself more'? Because I think I've loved others much more than I love myself. It's more like, I didn't pamper myself enough. Hehe.. Like most of the time, what my son wants, I'd buy it for him without thinking much. But what I want, I've to think over it again, whether I need it or not? Is the time right? Do I really need it? And so on. At the end, lots of time I just forget it.

The Happiness Project - A Five-Year Record

Alright! Aside from that, the title of this post is 'The Happiness Project'. Despite busy from month-end closing, I went to bookshop during my lunch time yesterday. I browsed the shelf and found a small but thick book above. It was wrapped in plastic so I had no idea how it looked inside. To satisfy my curiosity, I purchased the book. Anyway, if it's a kind of journal, I would have no problem in using it. Once reached office, I tore the plastic and this is how it looked inside.

Inside the book

WHY I KEEP A ONE-SENTENCE JOURNAL

Several years ago, I became alarmed by how little I remembered from my own past, so I looked for a realistic way to keep a colorful record of my life. Because keeping a proper journal seemed far too daunting. I decided instead to keep a one-sentence journal.

Every night, I just write one sentence. And now I've kept my journal for several years, I know that one sentence is indeed enough to keep memories vivid. A one-sentence journal is very satisfying: it's manageable so it doesn't feel like a burden; it gives me the feeling of accomplishment and growth that's so important to happiness; it helps me to recall happy moments; and it gives me a reason to reflect on my experiences in a loving and grateful way. 

We tend to overestimate what can be done in short term, and underestimate what can be done in the long term, a little bit at a time. Writing one sentence a day sounds easy, and it is; at the end of the year, it adds up to a marvelous record. 

-Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project

So, there was the opening words of the journal. The rest, it was as per shown above. Each day, there is different quote related to happiness. If you notice, the year was kept blank. So you have to fill up the blank based on which year you write the journal and this can be used for up to 5 years and more.

Gretchen Rubin with The Happiness Project

The author has written books, such as The Happiness Project and Happier at Home. I've just bought The Happiness Project this afternoon. I guess I would have to read it first, then to write in the one-sentence journal.

Actually, I know that happiness can't just be found by reading book, but live in it. However, just wonder what she wrote and it would add my knowledge.

Just add on, I am so glad that I've back to read more books nowadays. Now I'm still reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. It has a very nice and smooth stories, brings you to different feelings and emotions. At first, I thought it would be a challenge to read such a thick book, but I was wrong. It is really good. And you know what? Today I found 1Q84 in the library. It's even thicker than The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Hahaha.... We'll see if I have enough time to read it within 3 weeks. Hope the story will be good too...

Well, happy weekend everyone! Hope you had a great time too!!!