May I recommend the purple bracelet?

"And he said, 'You have to understand that the pursuit of happiness is a mistake. It's like, you don't chase happiness out there. You learn that you're happy inside you and then you go running. Then you go into the world.'"

-Dr. Robert Holden, founder of the Happiness Project, author of Happiness Now!, who has dedicated his life to studying the pursuit of happiness.

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So, you know that whole "happiness is not something that you have to find, it's something that it's inside of you" thing? Well, I'm a big believer in it. Call me corny, or crazy, or call me Pollyanna-ish, whatever. I honest-to-God believe that happiness begins with loving yourself and then that loving kindness spreads outward from there, and you see the world as a better place.

But enough about me, let's talk about you. Maybe you, like me, see yourself as this type of person, too.

If so, I recommend this book that I read (and am re-reading) called a Complaint Free World. Or, if you're not like me, and prefer instead to worry about the demise of the western world's media coverage, the incline in feline cat leukemia numbers, the cost of milk these days, gluten allergies, or the level of mercury in fish, then this book might be for you, too! You might be surprised how much you get out of it.

The book says that the average person complains 15-30 times per day. Geez!

Here's how this works: you get a purple bracelet from the complaint free world people. They say it's free, but I couldn't find a way to get around the $10 donation for 10 bracelets. Pretty reasonable if you ask me. You put on the bracelet, and then if you complain, gossip or criticize, you switch the bracelet to your other wrist. Your goal is to go 21 days, in a row, without complaining. The book says the average time is 4-8 months to accomplish it. I haven't made my 21 days yet! In fact, I'm on day 1 all over again today. teehee

Here's what I like about this book: it's about finding your Buddha nature, or being Christ-like, without those words ever being written down. I didn't even know it was written by a minister (Reverend Will Bowen) until I was well into it. So it's not churchy, or preachy, or any of those things that you don't want to read. It's about the inception of the project, tips on being positive, letters written by other people who have completed the challenge, and other good stuff, too.

I, personally, have noticed that I complain most often when someone else starts to complain around me. Totally my bad. I can't wait until I get my bracelet so I can just point to it and smile when the ranting begins.

So check out their site if you're interested. And if you're looking for more on the same topic, the Pope-rah (Oprah) did a special on "the pursuit of happiness." Also, if you're interested, there is a satisfaction with life survey on Oprah.com, too.