The Happiness Project was my book choice for the summer reading assignment in my Advanced Composition Honors class. I chose this book because it was easy to read and looked appealing. The title looked promising because I wanted to learn how to improve some aspects of my life maybe. As I read the book, I saw some interesting quotes that changed and are important that everyone know about the book.
"One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy. One of the best ways to make other people is to be happy yourself. "
In the modern-day, people can not be nicest human beings. Many people resort to doing things such as mass shootings as seen in America, causing destruction and pain. Many of these people if noticed have issues are not happy individuals and usually, do not have an outlet to get help, which leads them to cause harm on a massive scale. Rubin includes this quote in the book to show how it has been proven that making other people can make you happy and how self-care is important.
This quote ties the whole book together because of how it ends with saying the best way to make people happy, is you being happy yourself, which is what Rubin is trying to convey. Giving back to people affects your body. When you are kind to others, and you are spreading positivity, you give off vibes that improve not only the lives of others but yourself. Many adults and teens are wrapped up in their busy lives of trying to do so many things and always being stressed. This quote is a perfect example of why individuals should take a step back for some self-care for their loved ones and themselves.
"It's easy to be heavy; hard to be light."
Rubin uses the quote by G.K Chesterson in her book to show how it is so easy to look at all the negatives and be ungrateful. Using G.K Chesterson is an example of an author, including a credible source to further prove her statement of how being lighthearted is better in life. This is meant to tell the reader how she wanted to become a more lighthearted person in her life and control her anger.
Becoming a lighthearted person can make an impact on someone's life. Using this quote allows the reader to allow themselves to understand that a negative mind is hard, but it is much more worth is the have a positive outlook on life even if it is harder to achieve. The author includes the quote some background on how she used this in her life to connect with the audience, proving that it can impact your life too.
"Buy some happiness."
The author of the book uses the phrase, "Buy some happiness" to show how money cannot buy any emotions, especially happiness, but if used correctly, it can. This is an interesting concept that Rubin introduces, which pulls the reader's attention because it is not something common that you hear. Having rich does not promise you a lifetime of happiness, but it used wisely and depending on what you're using it for, money can bring some sort of joy in a person's life. She says how money can allow you to have more opportunities and connect with the world, which is important.
Rubin, including this in the book is significant because it shows a different perspective which allows more readers and intended audience such as adults of all ages to relate although money does not give access to all life's joy but can help you here and there.
"I identified fog happiness during a party."
Fog happiness can be described as something that you do, but when closely looked at, it does not bring any sort of joy into your life. Rubin uses diction that is similar to what the emotion feels like. In this case, fog is when you cannot see clearly, and everything in front of you is blurry. When you connect fog and happiness, you can see how it can be now used to describe the particular feeling. The author including this is important to connect with the audience because they can read it and know that the author is a credible source they can use and relate to the book more, making them more susceptible to using Rubin's ways of happiness in their own lives.
"There's a Buddhist saying that I've found to be uncannily true: "When the student is ready, the teacher appears."
Rubin uses important figures in history to prove how some of the sayings helped her achieve the goal of becoming a happier person. The Buddhist saying that "When the student is ready, the teacher appears." is true because the teacher cannot teach without the student is willing to learn. If the student put no effort or shows no will to understand anything, there is no point of the teacher. Including this quote in the book adds credibility and can relate to audiences. Myself when I read the text, understood they Rubin included the quote and was hooked into reading more. I have experienced that saying in my life so many individuals reading the book could too.
"Do good, be good"
Rubin includes this saying along with the whole section of chapter 6, dedicated to being generous. The author involving the quote adds a little extra flair so the audience can read it and understand what the Rubin is trying to convey. The saying means that if you do good to people, you will become a good person. Kind acts and being generous even if it for something little can impact life is a big way. This saying strengthens the experience that she conducts in the section proving how being generous can make you a better person.
Rubin organizes the whole section about why being generous is so impactful around this quote, so she uses the organization of text to her benefit. The saying not only introduced the section but concludes it by saying how helping/being a good person can make you a happier person.
"I would take care to remind myself to remember how lucky I was to be eager for Monday mornings as I was for Friday afternoons."
This past summer, I made sure to do some self-care because it was very needed in my life. After junior year, I realized I overworked myself a lot and decided to do something for myself every day. I slept earlier and did small things every day before I went to bed, that made me happy. I noticed how I was a happier person in the mornings or the next day because I went to bed happy. Rubin talking about this in the book motivated me to continue
"Enthusiasm is more important to mastery than innate ability, it turns out, because the single most important element in developing an expertise is your willingness to practice."
This quote shows the whole point of the book and how Gretchen Rubin practiced numerous ways on how to lead a happier life. Rubin found many ways in which you can improve happiness by just doing the simplest of things like making your bed or eating the right foods. Rubin shows you how to change your life with following certain findings and methods by using her own experiences and history and science. You can see how the most important part of the whole book was persistency and practicing making the good habits that make you happier. During the 12 months, Rubin never gave up and kept up her positive and motivational attitude that influences/help others be their best version of themselves.
