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The Happiness Project

February 19th, 2013 | Posted by J in Books | Personal - (10 Comments)
the happiness project

“What you do every day matters more than what you do every once in a while.”

Writing in a journal religiously was never my strong suit. Sure, I have accumulated journals from when I was a kid that I’ve been keeping somewhere (for my eyes only) but I never ever use them up. It’s a major achievement if I at least reach mid notebook!

So imagine my face lighting up when my boss gave me this super cool gift, The Happiness Project, for my birthday! One-sentence journal? It’s perfect! And I love that it’s a 5-year record of daily happy moments, so when I update next year (and the year after that, after that, and after that), I will be able to see what I’ve written exactly a year ago.

The Happiness Project

My boss also lent me the The Happiness Project guide but I haven’t started reading it yet. Self-help books usually make me go Zzzzz. Let’s see if this one doesn’t.

On my new simplistic journal, the challenge is to write down one sentence reflecting what made me happy in a day. Why is this a “challenge”, you ask? I’ve been doing this daily exercise since I got the journal and to be honest, it’s hard thinking about something that made me happy on days that were CRAPPY (ALL CAPS for emphasis). If you know me personally (and partly, through this blog) you know that I’m always a jolly, glass-is-half-full kind of person. But the truth is, I have my own episodes that make me go “FML“, “KILL ME NOW“, “WTF, WORLD?!” Yep, I’ve been having a lot of those, especially lately. I try to contradict those thoughts with my mantra: “In everything, give thanks.“, “This too shall pass.“, “Someday this would all make sense.” which I say to myself as I utter a tearful prayer. But I know most people would be able to relate when I say, it’s not always easy under-reacting to life’s negative circumstances. Person only!! (Tao lang.)

On a perfectly good day, it would be a breeze writing in the journal, but on a day that I want to question everything, I will force myself to be like Pat Peoples who always tries to look for the silver lining in every cloud. Whether it’s as simple as a fine weather, a successful online campaign at work, a good old-fashioned belly laugh with friends, a pleasant workout, a day out with family (which rarely happens nowadays), or a good book or movie — these should always beat the bad moments and make their way to my one-sentence happiness journal. Now THAT is the challenge.

There is a daily happiness quote on every page of the journal and here are some that caught my attention thus far:

Aim to live so that you don’t look back, at the end of your life or after some great catastrophe, and think, “How happy I was then, if only I’d realized it!”

Happiness is contagious. Happy people make people happy.

Happiness, not in another place but this place, not for another hour but this hour. -Walt Whitman

Challenging yourself to learn something new brings happiness because it allows you to expand your self-definition. You become larger.

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?” -Robert Browning

I’m looking forward to finishing this Happiness Project in 5 years! Assuming I don’t lose the journal and/or if I’m still around then. :)

Light Reads

February 3rd, 2013 | Posted by J in Books - (5 Comments)
Every Day by David Levithan

The good thing about having an e-book reader is whenever you hear/read about a book recommendation (in the form of a tweet, a Facebook post, a blog entry, word-of-mouth, or a goodreads reco) you can just download the book and start reading it instantly. Below are three recent novels I finished which are, fortunately, light reads so I was able to just whip out my Kindle anywhere (while waiting for the train/taxi, waiting for my movie download to finish, or while I’m on lunch break hanging out at a coffee shop) and resume my reading.

***

Every Day by David Levithan

This is a fantasy story about a soul named A, who wakes up every day in the body of a different person. This is something that’s been happening to him since birth and it’s not something he can help. At exactly 12:00MN, he is painfully transported to another person’s body, so he learned from experience not to fight it anymore. He lives a certain person’s life for a day but does his best not to get attached or mess anything up.

A is not exactly a “he” but in the story, while he is in the body of a person named Justin, A unexpectedly falls in love with Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. So in the reader’s head, A is a guy. A lovestruck, hopeless romantic one. Every day since they met he does whatever he can to be close to Rhiannon, even driving hundreds of miles and skipping school. It’s tricky because, as mentioned, he wakes up every day in a different body and is usually hours away from Rhiannon. And it’s exactly this premise why I could not put the book down. Given that plot, wouldn’t you want to find out the ending of the story too?

I believe this book is for Young Adults but it gets you thinking (as a non-young adult :P) if you were in Rhiannon’s place, can you really love someone regardless of what they look like on the outside?

I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars, simply because it’s a unique story and it gave me a fleeting moment after I finished reading it.

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The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

The story is narrated by Pat Peoples, who has just gotten out of the mental institution (or what he calls “the Bad Place”), where he was staying for four years after a massive breakdown caused by his divorce. He is convinced that his life is directed by God and that he is destined to have a happy ending. Pat tries his best to get his life back on track until he is reunited with his ex-wife Nikki (or when, what he calls “Apart Time”, is over).

Pat is clearly delusional but in an adorable way, he is a character you can’t help rooting for. On the road to self-improvement, he eventually learns the real score between him and Nikki, with the help of his friend Tiffany. The last few chapters are crucial because it’s where all the issues (and a love confession) blow wide open.

In just one day, I finished The Silver Linings Playbook since the chapters are short and entertaining the whole way through. While reading it, I was also downloading the movie version starring Bradley Cooper (hot!) and Jennifer Lawrence (even hotter! lol). The film is different from the book in many ways (they focused more on the story of Pat and Tiffany and not on Pat’s personal journey pining for his ex-wife) but I liked both versions equally.

After I read the book and watched the movie (all in one day!) I honestly felt that I was becoming a little cuckoo, too! Pat’s philosophy in life is if you look hard enough for the silver lining, you will have a happy ending. It’s not exactly a crazy philosophy :)

This is a 4 out of 5 stars for me.

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The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The story is about a 16-year old girl named Hazel, a medical marvel/survivor who was diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer. Hazel might still be sick, but with the help of her parents, she tries to live her life as normal as she can (even though she is tethered to an oxygen tank probably for the rest of her life). One day, she meets Augustus Waters at a cancer support group. They get to know each other and a wonderful love story begins. Together they face life, and the creeping doubt that death could be just around the corner waiting for either or both of them.

The Fault in Our Stars is a YA book, but it’s honestly a little heavy because it deals with sickness and loss. (Or maybe I just find it heavy because I relate it to my father’s death #IHateYouCancer.) The book is filled with good and funny life insights from the two protagonists, which I think are too much coming from teenagers. But this is just a light YA read so I shouldn’t read too much into it.

I rate this book 2 out of 5.

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After these three recent light reads, I’m ready to go back to “long, serious, and heavy.” Game of Thrones Season 3 is looming, it premieres 03.31.13! Will now resume A Storm of Swords (third volume of the A Song of Ice and Fire series). The Casual Vacancy and 1Q84 are next on my list.

Any book recommendations for me? :)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

December 21st, 2012 | Posted by J in Books | Entertainment - (0 Comments)
Perks of Being a Wallflower

According to the Mayan calendar, today (December 21, 2012) is the day the world is destined to end, at 7:11pm (Manila Time) to be exact. I don’t believe this to be true because the Bible, which is the foundation of my faith and my being, teaches us differently about it. (“…the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”) But like many, I look at this day as the perfect time to reflect on the world, as we know it, coming to an end. To be honest, it really scares me to think about how I’m going to leave this earth someday (Is it going to be painful? Will I physically suffer a long time? Will it be as quick as the blink of an eye?). But the afterlife, meeting my Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ, is something I look forward to with much glee!

So I will try to connect my reflection on the world ending to the book/movie “The Perks of Being A Wallflower” because this is actually what I really want to blog about. LOL. We really don’t need another site talking about the Mayan prediction, do we?

Perks (for short), was the first novel I read on my Kindle. And last night, I got to watch the film adaptation and loved every second of it! I’m happy about how the movie turned out because it is very faithful to the book (save for some parts which I think they should have also highlighted, such as the sister’s pregnancy and the father’s affection). But I think I like the movie more because of the perfect way Logan Lerman portrayed the character of Charlie. He’s just as endearing and naive as in the book it’s impossible to not love him!

The story of Perks is about an adolescent boy named Charlie who has just started his freshman year in high school. He is a wallflower – shy, unpopular, and misunderstood. But Charlie soon makes friends with two Seniors, Patrick and Sam. Their friendship greatly affects Charlie’s self-confidence and his view of society. But amidst all the fun, drama, and first-time experiences with his friends and family, there is still something peculiar about Charlie. As to why he is like that, it is revealed in the last few chapters of the story. Go find out! :)

I noticed that while reading/watching Perks, Charlie’s feelings and realizations in the story (he has A LOT of them) unconsciously become that of the reader’s/viewer’s, too. Which is to say, Stephen Chbosky, the author, is simply brilliant for establishing that!

There are so many quotable quotes from Perks, but just like everyone else, I was moved by this particular exchange between Charlie and his favorite teacher, Bill:

Charlie: Why do nice people choose the wrong people to date?

Bill: Well… we accept the love we think we deserve.

Charlie: Can we make them know they deserve more?

Bill: We can try.

The epic “We accept the love we think we deserve,” if we come to think of it, is really just a simple line. But upon hearing/reading it, it can reverberate loudly inside your heart. It’s a sad, thought-provoking statement that kind of fits this fateful day, our last day on earth (hypothetically speaking). There are so many tragic love stories that happen everyday, and it makes you wonder, how many people accept a dysfunctional type of love because they think that’s what they deserve? And how many of them eventually wake up from it and choose to pursue the type of love they truly deserve?

These are obviously hard questions that many would be afraid to answer. So let’s just focus on an easier question: Do we want to face our last day on earth filled with regrets?