Gretchen Rubin
Gretchen Rubin
Gretchen Craft Rubin is an American author, blogger and speaker...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAuthor
CountryUnited States of America
weather picnics positive-marriage
Happiness: "You Bring Your Own Weather To The Picnic."
frustration skills irritation
Turns out that people who try new things, go new places, learn new skills, etc. are happier. This can be tough, because novelty and challenge also bring frustration and irritation - but if you can push through that, novelty and challenge can bring enormous happiness rewards.
happiness selfish discipline
The belief that unhappiness is selfless and happiness is selfish is misguided. It's more selfless to act happy. It takes energy, generosity, and discipline to be unfailingly lighthearted, yet everyone takes the happy person for granted. No one is careful of his feelings or tries to keep his spirits high. He seems self-sufficient; he becomes a cushion for others. And because happiness seems unforced, that person usually gets no credit.
focus
Focus Not on Having Less or Having More, But on Wanting What You Have.
choices way different
If I pretend to myself that I'm different from the way I truly am, I'm going to make choices that won't make me happy.
relationship laughter eye
Laughter is more than just a pleasurable activity...When people laugh together, they tend to talk and touch more and to make eye contact more frequently.
lonely men differences
The most reliable predictor of not being lonely is the amount of contact with women. Time spent with men doesn't make a difference.
procrastination writing exercise
Step by step, you make your way forward. That’s why practices such as daily writing exercises or keeping a daily blog can be so helpful. You see yourself do the work, which shows you that you can do the work. Progress is reassuring and inspiring; panic and then despair set in when you find yourself getting nothing done day after day. One of the painful ironies of work life is that the anxiety of procrastination often makes people even less likely to buckle down in the future.
helping-others volunteer boost
Volunteering to help others is the right thing to do, and it also boosts personal happiness
creativity ideas pouring
Pouring out ideas is better for creativity than doling them out by the teaspoon.
long way easy
[S]tudies show that one of the best ways to lift your mood is to engineer an easy success, such as tackling a long-delayed chore.
light easy heavy
It's easy to be heavy; hard to be light.
letting-go running ambition
It was time to expect more of myself. Yet as I thought about happiness, I kept running up against paradoxes. I wanted to change myself but accept myself. I wanted to take myself less seriously -- and also more seriously. I wanted to use my time well, but I also wanted to wander, to play, to read at whim. I wanted to think about myself so I could forget myself. I was always on the edge of agitation; I wanted to let go of envy and anxiety about the future, yet keep my energy and ambition.
growing
We are happy when we are growing.