For my tenth book review, I will be reviewing self-help book 365 Days of Happiness by Jacqueline Pirtle.

My Name is Jill, and I Am A Cynical Optimist

I was today years old when I heard a perfect two-word description of my personality, and I can’t wait to shout it from the rooftops (or write it in a blog post).
To all ye who read this, I hereby proclaim Jill V to forevermore be referred to as…
A Cynical Optimist.

What?
A cynical optimist. Or what Urban Dictionary says:

And true to form, after opening and reading the e-mail requesting I read and review the self-help book 365 Days of Happiness by Jacqueline Pirtle, I reacted exactly as a cynical optimist would.

My first thought was:

“Self-Help? No. Nope. Noooooo. No way.”

Moments later, however, I was typing the following response: 

“Sounds like an interesting and fun read! I’d love to review.”

Um, wut?

No, I’m not a glutton for punishment. This is just what us cynical optimists do when faced with the possibility of engaging in an activity we believe we will dislike. Yes, I had negative preconceptions toward self-help books from past experience. However part of being a reviewer is approaching a medium as objectively as possible to ensure that the end product, a subjective-by-nature review, is as free of personal biases as possible. It is essential to put a pin in my preconceived notions for such impartiality to occur.

Consequently, as I waited for 365 Days of Happiness to arrive in the mail, I allowed myself to develop high hopes for my upcoming reading experience. Maybe I’d actually enjoy and even benefit from reading it, I had thought to myself.

Could, that, in fact, happen?

Yes. And it did!

Locating Useful Needles in Haystacks of Insanity, Detriment, and Stuff You Can Google for Free

 

Left: the OG Self-Help Guru, Stuart Smalley.

Obviously, the title of this section is an analogy. Read on to find out what it means!

First off, I’ll give a full disclosure. 365 Days of Happiness did and does not sound like a book I would ever choose to read on my own, and for two reasons. One: I’m already pretty damn happy, even if my face usually infers otherwise (I often have to tell concerned folks that I am smiling on the inside. RBF is a definite struggle.). Two: I am hesitant to dedicate any of my precious free time to reading self-help books, aka the “categorical hot mess of uneven literary quality genre.”

I’ve always been skeptical of self-help books, for reasons stated quite succinctly in the link here.  In some of the worst offenders, the “help” or advice offered can be vague, not feasible for the average person, found easily [and free] with a Google search, or in the worst cases, terrible and even possibly harmful. Yes, an author’s pen can, in fact, be a weapon, just as their oft-vulnerable readers, can, in fact, be victims.

Thankfully, in every darkness, there’s a light. And there ain’t nobody more bright, sunny, and full of positivity and light than the author of 365 Days of Happiness, Jacqueline Pirtle.

J is for Jovial, P is for Positivity, JP is for Jacqueline Pirtle

According to the biography on the back cover of the book 365 Days of Happiness, author Jacqueline Pirtle has been an energy healer and mindfulness teacher since 2006. The term “mindfulness” has become very much en vogue over the past several years, and to be quite honest, I had never really been sure what it meant. So for anyone equally as ignorant as I, here is the definition, from Mindful.org:

“[Mindfulness] suggests that the mind is fully attending to what’s happening, to what you’re doing, to the space you’re moving through. That might seem trivial, except for the annoying fact that we so often veer from the matter at hand. Our mind takes flight, we lose touch with our body, and pretty soon we’re engrossed in obsessive thoughts about something that just happened or fretting about the future. And that makes us anxious.” 

Makes sense!

Through daily inspirations presented in one to two-page passages, Jacqueline Pirtle embarks on a journey with her readers toward the overall goal of improved mindfulness and newly-realized authenticity of self after 365 days or 1 year. Each day, Pirtle suggests the reader “let [the book] be the first inspiration for nourishing your body, mind, soul, and consciousness in the morning.”

Like a daily multivitamin!

Or, in my case, coffee. 😁

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7LXSQ85jpw[/embedyt]
Though unlike a book, one typically doesn’t keep the coffee maker next to their bed. Though that could be an idea worth trying… ☕☕☕

After reading one page a day for 365 consecutive days, Pirtle’s goal for the reader is for he or she to change for the better, with a marked increase in his or her overall happiness quotient. Basically, the reader has learned to live their best life, and now its time to walk the walk. The student has become the master.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=073Nqf83LS0[/embedyt]

Does all of this happen? Is Jacqueline Pirtle ultimately successful in her quest to “happy-tize” her reading audience? Did Pirtle perhaps end up adjusting my ‘cynical’ and ‘optimist’ quotients, decreasing the former while increasing the latter while I read her book, blissfully unaware?

To Find Out More, You’ll Have To Read This Book!

As a classroom teacher way back when, I recall hating the above sentence, as I found it both uncreative and infuriating as a book report conclusion. But I must admit, it does serve its purpose here. I’ll bet you now want to read 365 Days of Happiness, right?

I certainly want to again!

Since I did not have 365 days to write this review, I had to read 365 Days of Happiness the same way I’d read any other book. Which is in varying quantities of page chunks at once.

I would NOT recommend that, as the messages within each passage have less of a substantial effect when they are read one after the other. Which is why I plan to read the whole book again soon, and this time, properly, over the course of one year’s time.

Pirtle’s Off The Chain Dedication = My Own Inspiration

During the introduction of 365 Days of Happiness, author Jacqueline Pirtle talks about her decision to spend every day of the year 2017 devoted to her own happiness. She then says,

“I wrote every single day about the things I do to honor my own joy, and I used these writings to create the 365-day step-by-step guide….”

After I read that, I knew Pirtle was the real deal. To have a goal in mind, and then to devote an entire year to work on attaining said goal while also pairing said goal with a year-long writing project containing mandatory daily components…. that is quite a pipe dream, to begin with. But to execute that goal successfully? The fact that Jacqueline Pirtle was actually able to take time and reflect on her own happiness every single day, while also successfully finding the time AND the motivation to write for 365 days straight is just mind-boggling to me. What about the days that she wasn’t feeling well? Or was ultra-busy? Or just didn’t have any writing mojo?

Color me thunderstruck because I KNOW I’d have gaps in that writing schedule! Damn.

But rather than feeling jealous that I could never be as dedicated to my writing as Jacqueline Pirtle, I instead find her impressive feat inspiring, and will use it to push myself to work harder. Because as Jacqueline says at the end of every passage in her book,

“That IS happiness!”

Guidance That Resonates With All Readers

Earlier, I had stated that 365 Days of Happiness did and does not sound like a book I would ever choose to read on my own due to the fact that I am already a very happy person. Typically, if you already are satisfied in an area, you don’t read self-help books in an attempt to improve in that particular way. However, I found out after reading 365 Days that I could still benefit from the book’s content even with my cup o’ happiness already full. This was quite an interesting takeaway.

Although I am already pretty happy with my life, several of Pirtle’s inspirational passages resonated with me. In fact. I found myself highlighting or writing notes on many of the 365 pages of this book. Of the first 50 pages, I ended up highlighting at least one sentence on 26 pages. Over half!

Before concluding, here are my favorite five daily inspirations of the first 50 pages of the book. For each passage, the main idea is summarized by yours truly in quotes, followed by a picture of my personal page notes as written in my copy of the book, and a few more musings.

#5: Day 5, or “The Importance of Prioritizing You”

Remembering to attend to and nurture my own happiness is difficult. Why? Because I have a husband, two children, two dogs, a house, and a full-time job on my plate. However, self-care is extremely important for a person’s mental well-being, even if that person’s a wife and a mom! Therefore, I need to work on remembering to schedule moments in the day just for myself in order to nurture my own happiness.

#4: Day 21, or “Trust Your Heart”

Always place trust in my what my heart tells me. Why? Because my heart will always let me know what I really, truly want. What my heart wants, I want; and it’s as simple as that. When the heart speaks to me, I physically feel it in my gut as well. Thus, I should never ignore or question my gut, because that’s actually questioning my heart!

#3: Day 48, or “A No To Others Is A Yes To You”

Women struggle with saying no, and constantly. Sometimes we actually say ‘yes’ when we really, really don’t want to. Why do we do this? Perhaps we don’t want to be disliked, or would ‘feel bad’ saying no, and want to avoid hurting feelings. Woman (and men) need to look at saying ‘no’ in a brand-new, more positive manner. Equate a ‘no’ to someone else with a ‘yes’ to ourselves. Being able to say ‘no’ when necessary keeps us all true, happy, and in a certain way, sets us free!

#2: Day 32: “The Power of Knowing Thyself”

According to Pirtle, “Being in your heart” means to know yourself. I should always be sure to live a life of truth and love, know what I need and want, love myself, and live my truth. In essence, don’t let anyone dull my sheen. Since I turned 40 last year I really feel I do live this way now and Pirtle is right, it is powerful AF!

#1: Day 44: “The Recipe For Joy Contains 99% Amusement”

Pirtle states the key to living a joyful life as follows: “There is nothing ever serious enough to be serious about, but there is always everything amusing enough to be amused by.”

And I’ll just let the mic drop there.

Final Thoughts

I plan to reread the book 365 Days of Happiness by Jacqueline Pirtle in the way Pirtle intends it to be read; by reading one passage per day before getting out of bed. In this way, I hope to start off each day on a positive note for not just a year, but beyond.

Which now, upon further thought, seems to be an undertaking that is very unlike me to want to take on. I mean, I’m an optimist and all, but typically I’m MUCH more of a cynic. What is UP with this recent shift in my attitude?

Could it have been something I… read? 😮

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Thanks for reading! Until next time!

Disclosure: The book was provided to the reviewer. All thoughts belong to the reviewer and have not been influenced.