Act The Way...You Want To Feel!

I can't get my eyes off this book The Happiness Project

I use to be such a reading junkie and recently got back into it. I'm telling you ladies, reading is so soothing for the soul. I started back again about 3 months ago and ever since, i have felt amazing. Especially books like this or The Power of Now. Another great read.

I went to Chapters this morning before work since i had 2 hours to kill and ohhhh my there was the $1 and $2 dollar sale. Yes, that's right. Hard cover books on sale for $1. Oh my, i was in heaven. I was just telling my foster son Kirk, that i need another book shelf as i don't have any space to put my books. My current shelf is over packed. Well, i did it. i purchased 16 books. I know...i know....oh well, they were only $1 or 2 each (wink wink)

Well, as i have mentioned in a previous blog, I'm reading The Happiness Project again and for some reason I'm getting way more out of it than the first time. I guess it is because I'm applying one of her rules READ OUT LOUD to yourself. Boy oh boyyy does it ever make a difference.

Gretchen has a list of Commandments in which she lives by and applies to all areas of her life.

• Be Gretchen
• Let it Go
• Act the way i want to feel
• Do it now
• Be poilte and fair
• Enjoy the process
• Spend out
• Identify the problem
• Lighten up
• Do what ought to be done
• No calculation
• There is only LOVE

A question she gets asked so often and i will quote her own answer:
"One question I get a lot is, “So you’ve been doing this Happiness Project. Are you actually happier?”

The answer is YES. But that doesn’t mean that I’m happy all the time, or that I’ve reformed all my bad habits that make me unhappy........Once again, I realize that the secret is to live according to my Twelfth Commandment: “There is only love.” So hard, but it’s the way to happiness."

 


If we can apply these rules to every area of our lives, life would be so much better. I mean, i have been trying a few of them (i will get to all of them) and the few that are really working are; Do It Now. She explains that if something takes less than ONE minute, do it now. Like putting the dishes away or making the bed when you get up.
Or; Act The Way You Want To Feel. I have been doing this almost my entire life. As a child facing the tribulations i encountered at home and on the street, i learned to brush my shoulder off and keep on smiling. Only now, i have mastered a different approach to this. I face it, cry or scream if i have too...maybe i just keep on smiling instead ..and i let go. Because i know how it will make me feel and what is the point of all that waisted energy? I act happy because it's how i strive to feel every morning. If something or someone upsets me, i pay it no mind. I want to be happy and that is my goal. Than there is; There is Only Love....so true. No matter what goes on around you, if you keep this in mind, you will judge less. You will laugh more and you will love deeper.

I challenge you to try on these Commandments and tell me how it works :-)
I'm the happiest i have ever been and believe me if i was a sucker, i would have every reason not to be, from childhood to 2009, however I'm in control of my own Happiness and i choose To Be Happy!