Author Gretchen Rubin is famous for her research and writing about happiness and human nature. In her new book, she distills decades of work into a collection of witty and memorable aphorisms intended to help readers better navigate life.
This one’s called Secrets of Adulthood: Simple Truths for Our Complex Lives, and it’s one of those books you can give to a graduate or set out on a table for occasional doses of wisdom and clarity. It’s essentially a list of bullet points that offer insight on things like organization,work life, decision-making and relationships.
A few examples:
- What we do every day means more than what we do once in a while.
- The person who knows the most facts doesn’t always have the best judgment.
- Don’t put things down; put them away.
- When struggling with a tough decision, always choose the bigger life.
- Telling someone to calm down often has the opposite effect.
- Leave some room in the suitcase.
And the one I try to remember whenever plans go awry: Misadventures often make the best memories.
Few of Rubin’s bits of advice are revolutionary, especially if you’ve been an adult for a decade or three. But I did find myself nodding along and appreciating her knack for capturing big truths and boiling them down to simple and memorable phrases.
This is a book you could easily read in one sitting. But it would be better to keep it handy and refer to it every now and then, whenever you’re feeling stressed or just crave a little insight.
