Why The Happiness Project Influenced My Life by Florisel

Why The Happiness Project Influenced My Life by Florisel - May 2017 Scholarship Essay

I have always been a very big lover of reading books. More specifically they have romance books but that really is only because I am a hopeless romantic. The one book that has managed to not be a romance has been The Happiness Project. This book was filed under the self-help section and I could honestly say that this book is exactly that. Although it is actually the very first self-help book I have owned and have actually looked through I believe that this is what self-help books should look like. This book is filled with all the inspiration needed to get through the year.
When I first discovered The Happiness Project I was not really looking for it in a way it ended up coming to me. While browsing for a new book to read this one showed up and I knew I needed to read it. Being the person I am, I immediately searched for the reviews because I needed to make sure it was a book worth reading. As soon as I saw the reviews ravning about how this book changed their life I knew it was meant for me to read. What I did not know was that by reading this book my life was about to completely change for the better.
The Happiness Project is a book written over the course of a year. Each month is a new topic and a new idea to focus on for that month. I loved the idea of focusing on a new topic each month because that meant you did not have to overthink about something for too long. The book focused on how the idea of happiness has gone through a lot of research and it was mostly her going through each happiness idea and seeing whether it was actually a true idea. One quote in the book that hits hard was, “Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail, but every day is a clean slate and a fresh opportunity.” This topic made me personally truly understand that it is okay to start a new day as if the day before never happened. I saw how happiness does not have a certain factor needed it could happen through any sort of effort one tries to make.
I am not going to lie at times I was that person that only managed to see the bad. I did not like it but it was just the way things were for me and it seemed completely normal. I now regret being that person but that is not me anymore and I have this book to thank for that. I now saw that life should not be filled with sadness and a regret for all the things that could not be changed. I now saw that things are only as good as I make it and spending all my time wallowing was not going to make anything better in anyway whatsoever.
It has been about a year since I have read The Happiness Project and yet I think about it as if I barely read it yesterday. I have been truly affected in a good way on how this book managed to make me want to live good again and to focus on making myself a happy person. Although it seems selfish for a part I can not make others happy if I am not a happy person it may sound cliche but it is the truth. Now I am not saying I read the book and all of a sudden became a new person but to some extent this book helped me want to become a better and happier person. As of now the only thing I can do for myself and others is to focu on being happy and hope it passes on to others.