Reddit reviews The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
We found 5 Reddit comments about The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Harper Paperbacks
Two suggestions!
The first is therapy.
The second is to read a book called The Happiness Project.
Here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/006158326X/ref=cm_sw_r_an_am_ap_am_us?ie=UTF8
The way you phrased the title reminded me quite strongly of this book. The author saw very clearly that her life was awesome, and that she wasn't enjoying it as much as it deserved to be enjoyed. So she spent a year specifically dedicated to learning how to be happier in her life- lots of small changes, fit in around her kids and her job and her relationship and her life, and it worked out in some interesting and potentially useful ways.
Ok, take this suggestion with a grain of salt since I haven't read it yet, but it got good reviews on Amazon so I bought it, I Am That Girl. Of course, it's mostly directed at girls. :x
I also started partially reading The Happiness Project, which was rather interesting about one lady's attempt to improve one area of her life each month. Although, some of her tracking seems kind of tedious--I think I could do it for a short time, but then it would feel like a lot of work, but it did seem like an interesting theory to have a theme each month.
Ok, I have a couple of suggestions, as for you, your general happiness and a little help around the house http://www.amazon.com/The-Happiness-Project-Aristotle-Generally/dp/006158326X
Use Pinterest for meal ideas, wardrobe ideas and even decorating ideas. Don't get obsessed though, Pinterest kind of has a bad rap for psycho moms who need everything in their lives to be homemade and perfect. But it doesn't have to like that, it can be a great tool for just ideas to get you motivated.
Oh yeah, I use this site http://www.justmommies.com/articles/home-organization-plan.php to help me keep the house clean, without it feeling so overwhelming.
Please feel free to PM me if you'd like any other suggestions. I have some tips on making yourself look more put together but I feel like I'm writing too much already and you just asked for book suggestions sooo, let me know!
The Happiness Project
Optimists may seem unrealistic to someone in the pits of depression, but there have been studies that have showed that optimists are far more successful and effective.
You can choose how to see things. When I react to something, my mind goes right to the negative. Let's say my boss criticizes me. My mind goes right to: I'm going to lose my job... I'm going to be homeless... I never get anything right... etc. This is assuming a lot of things that might not be anywhere near the reality of a situation.
An optimist might choose to see the criticism as a good thing - a chance to grow and learn - and not extrapolate to predicting doom. This is a far more productive course.
You can do "all the right things" on paper, but that is no guarantee of happiness for many reasons.
There are lots of good books out there about this kind of thing. You can go to Amazon and look up books on happiness.
I liked ["The Happiness Hypothesis"]. (http://www.amazon.com/Happiness-Hypothesis-Finding-Modern-Ancient/dp/0465028020/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1317856948&sr=8-5). My husband liked ["Stumbling on Happiness."] (http://www.amazon.com/Stumbling-Happiness-Daniel-Gilbert/dp/1400077427/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1317856948&sr=8-7) I am currently reading "The Happiness Project" and loving it... a friend recommended it.
All that said, the most effective way to treat depression is meds combined with therapy. Even with all the best books in the world, a wounded mind might not be able to do anything helpful with the information.