Wouldn’t it be easy if we could all just find the buried happiness treasure and be totally set for life?     

Transcript:

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat, Happiness Curator and Kindness Crusader.  And today, I am letting you in on a not-so-secret, secret.  Happiness is not something you find.  It’s not something that one day you wake up and you are finally happy.  And it’s certainly not found in the dreams or material items we pursue.  

When you achieve the dream or job promotion, you won’t find more happiness.  When you get a new car or a bigger house, it won’t make you happier.  It’s scientifically not possible to find fulfilled happiness in this way.  

Happiness comes from within.  It’s a process, not an event.  It’s a journey, not a destination. Happiness is about becoming, it’s about being.  And that is all work we do on the inside.  

If you have a good life or a not so good life, all of the fulfilled happiness is inside you.   

Many thought leaders and experts will say Happiness is a choice. From Kirk Wilkinson, author of The Happiness Factor or Shawn Anchor, author of Happy Secrets to Better Work and countless others.  But here’s the thing.  What does that mean? 

I think it means that the work is internal.  I also believe this is a sliding scale.  If you are experiencing depression, telling you to be happy will not help you and you need to seek medical advice.  

We know that happiness is made up of our genetics, our circumstances and then what we can control.  Scientists differ on the ratios to split that pie, but 20-40% of our happiness pie can be determined by us -- that’s great news. 

If happiness is a choice, and you are living a good life, then why is it so hard to be happy? Maybe it’s easy, intellectually, to make the choice to be happy?    But you can try that and still not be happy. What the researchers are getting at is that it’s the journey rather than the goal. 

That’s why this is a daily podcast.  It’s a journey.  More than anything it’s a reminder to choose happiness.  Today, I invite you to show up for your happiness in exactly the way that feels right for you.  Until next time, remember, kindness is contagious. And spreading kindness will in fact, boost your happiness. 

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