Ruth's Happiness Commandments
May. 2nd, 2008 08:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rsadelleI'm sure I've mentioned Gretchen Rubin and her Happiness Project blog before. In August, she had a "HUGE happiness epiphany - happiness projects for everyone!" Now, every Friday she has, "ItÂ’s Friday: time to think about YOUR Happiness Project." One of September's Friday posts was "Need help getting started? Write a list of happiness commandments for yourself."
I thought about it for a while, and came up with a list. I've had my list up on my bulletin board at work for a while now, and I think it's working for me.
Ruth's Happiness Commandments
Gretchen's first commandment is "Be Gretchen." For a while, I would say to myself, "Be Gretchen" to remind myself to be me. I thought about "Be Ruth," but to me, that implies that I know who that is. To me, "Be who you are" leaves more space for discovery.
Let go.
If you've been reading here for a bit, you know that I've been going through a period of letting go. This works in the moment, too, especially when I'm tense and angry. "Let go," I remind myself, and I feel better.
Ask.
Asking is amazingly powerful. I don't ask for things very often, from people or from the universe. I originally had "Ask for help," but then realized that it needed to be bigger than that.
Love.
I'd considered Leo's method to avoid being judgmental: Don't pass judgment. Understand. Accept. Love. I also considered, "I love you, eighty-year-old women," from Sylvia Boorstein's That's Funny, You Don't Look Buddhist. I decided, though, that the simpler, broader idea worked better as a happiness commandment.
Others I Considered
Lots of people responded to Gretchen's post and there were a few of their commandments that caught my eye:
I thought about it for a while, and came up with a list. I've had my list up on my bulletin board at work for a while now, and I think it's working for me.
Ruth's Happiness Commandments
- Be who you are.
- Let go.
- Ask.
- Love.
Gretchen's first commandment is "Be Gretchen." For a while, I would say to myself, "Be Gretchen" to remind myself to be me. I thought about "Be Ruth," but to me, that implies that I know who that is. To me, "Be who you are" leaves more space for discovery.
Let go.
If you've been reading here for a bit, you know that I've been going through a period of letting go. This works in the moment, too, especially when I'm tense and angry. "Let go," I remind myself, and I feel better.
Ask.
Asking is amazingly powerful. I don't ask for things very often, from people or from the universe. I originally had "Ask for help," but then realized that it needed to be bigger than that.
Love.
I'd considered Leo's method to avoid being judgmental: Don't pass judgment. Understand. Accept. Love. I also considered, "I love you, eighty-year-old women," from Sylvia Boorstein's That's Funny, You Don't Look Buddhist. I decided, though, that the simpler, broader idea worked better as a happiness commandment.
Others I Considered
Lots of people responded to Gretchen's post and there were a few of their commandments that caught my eye:
- You have a choice.
- Live in gratitude.
- Forgive myself.
- Notice the color purple.
- Be in awe.
- Help others.
- Nomads travel lightly.
- give freely, with no expectations and no regrets
- Be kind.
- strive for balance in all areas of my life