The Happiness Project

For the last year-and-a-half I have been a part of an amazing book club.  The idea started when my friend picked up this book off the shelf at Barnes and Noble.  She said, "I've always wanted to do a book club.  Would you be in it?  Let's do this book." 

I secretly thought she was a little bit crazy. 

I LOVE books.  I am a reader, so the book club part was not my issue.  But the The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society?  Seriously?  That did not sound good to me AT ALL.

Turns out she knew what she was talking about.  The book was great, and getting together with old and new friends was even better.

Nineteen books later, we are reading The Happiness Project.  I am on page 38, and I am already all worked up about this book. 

"Worked up" is the best description I can come up with, because I cannot tell if this is going to be a good thing or a bad thing, but at the moment it is definitely creating some angst. 

I am currently pondering this quote from the book:

"I wanted to change myself but accept myself.  I wanted to take myself less seriously - and also more seriously.  I wanted to use my time well, but I also wanted to wander, to play, to read at whim.  I wanted to think about myself so I could forget myself.  I was always on the edge of agitation; I wanted to let go of envy and anxiety about the future, yet keep my energy and ambition."

My first thought:  This woman is crazy.

My second thought:  This woman could be me. 

I forged ahead to read about her journey of identifying twelve resolutions to tackle, one for each month, excited about what I might discover that I would want to transfer into my own life.  I read through month #1 - Boost Energy. 

How?  Go to sleep earlier....Exercise better....Toss, Restore, Organize...Tackle a nagging task....Act more energetic. 

There were some good things in there, really.  But by the end of chapter one, I was not feeling motivated, I was feeling TIRED. 

This has not been the greatest summer ever.  I have been working too much, seeing my kids too little, studying enough to get through class, and trying to keep family life running somewhat smoothly. 

It's possible that I need a Happiness Project.  I am going to forge ahead in the book and hope that my perspective changes.  Because if a book called The Happiness Project leaves me feeling depressed and deflated, I am not going to be impressed. 

I have already earned the label "Emotional Freak" this summer, and once in a summer is plenty for me.  That may have to be tomorrow's post....