I’m Corey Strong and this is Being Happier-the podcast.
This season I am returning to you with something more, something that will help set you on the path towards being happier in life. While I do not believe it’s possible or even healthy to be completely happy, I do believe that if we learn the proper balance we will indeed become happier and whole individuals…becoming the best version of yourself…
Hello everyone and welcome back to our 2 nd season… This season is going to speak to the heart of those of us who who may be struggling to find our inner solace, during a time when the world around us feeling conquered and often times hopeless. I have come to the realization that happiness is made up of primarily a combination of 3 things, enjoyment, satisfaction and meaning… and believe it or not there is a science behind how we connect these things.
During the pandemic, I spent a lot of time reading The Times as well as The Atlantic and the articles that stood out the most to me were those that spoke to the topic of finding joy and happiness during the hard times… these stories of ordinary people searching for happiness inspired me to think about what being happy means to me, and what am I willing to sacrifice in pursuit of being happy.I know in my own life, I spent a lot of time making other people happy, but not in a good and healthy way.
I had the disease to please…saying yes to everything. I can remember when I use to do that then I would be at an event, so resentful, thinking to myself like what am I doing here?, all because I wanted to please everyone. The fascinating thing about being that way is that you eventually burn out, it’s like God, or the universe, whichever you like to call it almost lets you hit a brick wall… so you can snap out of that type of detrimental cycle.
Eventually there are certain points in your life, when you have to ask yourself, why am I doing what I'm doing? And, and what is the mission of my own life? And the truth is for me, as I thought about it and prayed about it and talked to the people I love about it, it was very clear, my, my, the mission of my life is to lift people up and bring 'em together in ideas of love and happiness. Ive done this through my music and now with this podcast. So you have to ask yourself the probing questions in order to get a realistic idea of what your idea of happiness looks like.
Right now there are actual studies that show that Americans are at an all time low when it comes to happiness, although I don’t think you even need a study to figure that out. I mean just look around you, look on the internet, the news, even at the people walking down the streets in your neighborhood, you see it everywhere… people are visibly angry or at the very least irritated by some many things. Conspiracy theories are on the rise, those things can really drive you insane as well if you keep hearing enough of them.
The other day I was talking to a friend of mine the other who lives in San Francisco, I always tell her she’s rubbing her beautiful weather in my face because here on the east coast its gray, its cold its rainy well its winter …then one thing lead to another and we started talking about how climate change has affected all of us, and studies support the theory that every year we are getting sadder due to climate change as well as…get this…. people are becoming less happier at alarming rates due to the fact that people are less likely to live a spiritual or religious life, or find a life of meaning in, in those institutions. They're less likely to have a close relationship with their families. People have fewer and fewer friends who know them well. People have less of a, a, a sense that they're serving others with their work.
In college I studied psychology and one of the most fascinating things that I learned is that we all know that they we want to be happy, but when it comes down to what it that actually looks like for them, it becomes hard to define, but why is that? I believe that part of the reason is because it's not something that you can define in any meaningful way. We think it's a feeling. We think it's a journey . It isn't either. Happy feelings are nothing more than emotions. And emotions are nothing more than information that we need in reaction to the outside circumstances. And if happiness were in fact the journey and the end all be all, why would you want to be completely happy as the destination? You'd be dead in a week? Because you actually need negative emotions and experiences to cultivate your mind, to keep you vigilant, to keep you safe and to be happy. Negative emotions are just as important as happy ones are. You need negative emotions to keep you alive and safe…
People also look at social media and think well if I just had the private jet or the yacht, I’d be completely happy and that’s simply not true because those things are temporary, the happiness that comes along with them is fleeting.It’s just a matter of time before someone comes along with an even bigger yacht or a faster jet than the one you thought would make you happy. There will always be just one more thing that you think will make you happy.
Even before the age of social media we have somehow been indoctrinated with the idea that if we have money, power, pleasure or even fame, that we would be happy and that couldn’t be any farther from the truth. I’m here to tell you that money, fame, none of that will bring you lasting joy, sure it will feel good in the moment, but when that moment is up you go back to feeling like crap and sometimes even worse than you did before you even had them. Now if you’re lucky enough to acquire all of those things or at lease some of them, it can be used for good by supporting your faith which can be religious or non religious just consciously striving to live better , your family, your friends and your work, work that serves. not your 9 to 5.… all things that bring your a sense of purpose. So you see these things can serve you based on on how you serve others. so heres and example that you can use to put this idea into perspective. Let’s just say you get that a five-hundred thousand Instagram followers or whatever your number happens to be, it's never high enough, by the way…..You’re gonna be thrilled. But that's a lie in the end. But rather your attention should be drawn to how you use your immense following? is it to bring awareness to the bigger picture in life or are you just going to use it to make duck faces and show off your fancy outfits? There’s nothing wrong with those things. okay…But if you get those things, they should only ever be in service of a cause greater than yourself.
Okay so heres the fun part!… over the next couple of weeks we will end each episode with a series of thought provoking and meditative questions, we’ll refer to this as out Being Happier Modules. These modules are a form of positive psychology, that is highly transformative. Asking yourself questions is a great way of focusing your attention and setting your priorities. When you ask yourself something, your brain can't help but try to answer it. Give it something worthwhile to answer. Asking yourself meaningful questions on a regular basis can change your focus and your life.
so grab a pen and a notepad so you can jot down a couple of questions… if you’re driving of course so not try to write and drive, We will post the questions in the podcast description or you can go to www.coreystrong.com /podcast and find them there.…
Step 1 : Defining True Happiness
There is a world of difference between searching for happiness and following your joy. Your first task is to reflect on the following questions:
What is my definition of a happy life?
Are I living it?
When am I at my happiest?
Next, I want you to identify what inspires you, nourishes you and fans the flames of joy within. Being clear about this will help you to be true to yourself, to be honest, to make better choices and to have the courage to say a big YES to what really matters most to you in life. Say YES to BEING HAPPY TODAY.
I feel like this is a great spot for us to end the show today… to my listeners… Thank you as always for being here. If you loved the show please rate it 5 stars… I look forward to hearing how the Being Happier Module helped affected you. You can send me an email or a voice recording to coreystrongpodcast@gmail.com
May I say, if you're listening to this episode, I bet you're thinking there's someone in your family or in your life who also needs to become happier, so please share this podcast with them, give them a copy of the module. Remember that teaching others how to become happier is a gift for their wellbeing, A roadmap to enhance their lives. So do it. See you next week.