Hi guys welcome to episode 535 of the wildly successful lifestyle podcast! I hope this finds you happy and healthy. And if that’s not where you are, I hope you know it can be. Happiness is something that is universally wanted but seems elusive to so many. Chasing happiness is a full time job for a lot of people. I like to think of happiness like a butterfly. IF you chase it, it will flutter away, always just out of reach, but if you sit calmly for a period of time amongst butterflies, one will undoubtedly land right on you. The key is to put yourself in a place where butterflies are and be intentional when you’re there.
So many of us think that oh if only I had that person or that job or that car I would finally be happy. I will then settle into being happy. And then you get the person or the job or the car and you realize nope that’s not it.
I drive a 2013 Range Rover so it’s 12 years old and I absolutely love it. I like the square body style and the new ones don’t have that now. I sort of pride myself on keeping my cars until they are not reliable anymore. For me, I like having no car payments. I like the idea that Eric and I have cars that are paid for. I haven’t always been like that. I used to think oh if I only had a new car, I would be happy and then I got a new car and I realized after five or six months OK now this is just my same old car and by the way I have this payment every month that I have to make for four or five years so now anytime I start thinking about wanting a new car I remember the feeling of having a new car and it becoming just the same old thing with a new car payment And I quickly fall back in love with my 12-year-old Range Rover for so many reasons, not just that it’s paid off. I remind myself of all the reasons that I really do love it but the point is I can fall back in love with it. I find reasons to love what I already have. I also know now that happiness doesn’t lie in a new car.
I have definitely gone through life thinking oh if I only have this new outfit or this new pair of shoes or this new hairstyle, I will be happy, but what I have found to be true is happiness doesn’t lie in anything external it may bring you a sense of giddiness and excitement for a moment, but true happiness has to come from within.
And I used to hear people say that and thought what are you even talking about come from within and then life experience showed me over and over that external things are temporary, anything external that we’re banking on for our happiness is only temporary. The new car gets mundane, the new lover gets too real, the new purse just didn’t do what I thought it would. That Rolex wasn’t the answer either. I chased happiness all over the place and it wasn’t until I got calm and recognized that happiness wasn’t the next new thing, it was a place inside of me that loved what I already have, was grateful for where I already am, and gave love for the pure pleasure of seeing someone else happy. Happiness is a state of mind where you know things are always working out for you even when they seem like they aren’t.
I can remember when I was younger thinking well it’s easy for that person to be happy they have that lover or that job or that car so of course they’re happy, who wouldn’t be?. I never thought about the possibility that maybe they had all that because they were happy first.
Happy people attract good things, it’s one of those laws of the universe that is undeniable. Now it doesn’t mean that bad things don’t happen to them, they just know to look for the good in all things.
So how do you find that happiness inside you? Being aware of the thoughts that make you unhappy is one way. Quieting your mind through meditation daily is another way because it’s easier to stop thinking at all than it is to stop thinking negative thoughts. Also, As much as you don’t want to, ask yourself every morning what are three things I already have that I absolutely love? And finally when things aren’t looking so good always ask where’s the good in this? There’s always something bad to look at and there’s always something good. Your brain is trained to identify the bad, you have to be intentional to identify the good.
My challenge to you this week is to give yourself a chance for happiness, the more you quiet your mind, the more you choose good feeling thoughts, the more intentional you become, the more happiness surrounds you. We have it in us to be happy. We were designed to be happy. That’s why it feels so off when we aren’t.
Put yourself where butterflies are and there will always be butterflies.
Share this with 3 people who deserve to be happy. I love you guys. I’ll talk to you in a few days!
