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The Happiness Project Analysis

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When we think about our own happiness we focus in on ourselves and our wants/needs. Yes, finding happiness is about you, but it is also about the people around you. They influence your mood with their mood. If they are irate, for example, they will act like it affecting your mood. Their anger infects you like a virus. This can go both ways; you can affect others in the same way. Your negative mood spreads to those around you. This strains relationships and creates tension that is not an ideal environment for developing happiness. To combat this you need to be the antidote for the virus. You need to spread a happy mood to others in small in big ways. In the book, The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin records her search for happiness through …show more content…

Starting at June, she focuses on others and she realizes an important piece of happiness for people saying, “You need close long-term relationships, you need to be able to confide in others, you need to belong”(142). She has realized that a part of her happiness is being the antidote to others. Starting small she refers to one of the world’s most forgotten day: birthdays. Everyone has that one family member who sends you a birthday card three weeks after your birthday. You may love them, but it rubs you wrong and makes you feel like no one cares. So when someone texts you a happy birthday right away there is a sense of gratification towards that person; strengthening the relationship and making you happy. Rubin’s goal was to send out happy birthday messages to all her friends, including those who she hasn’t talked to in a while. She used a website to send her reminders for when their birthdays arrived. While she was sending out her happy birthday emails, she was building up her relationships, but she realized that some of her friendships faded away. She rekindled her relationships with many people and even though they hadn’t talked in awhile, talking for just that amount of time on the phone made them all happier. Reaching out to people showed that she cared and caring is a big part of our self- esteem. It is a small gesture that goes a long way for long-term

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