What will make me truly happy? 

Recently I watched an Instagram reel where a psychologist shared data that suggests parents with young children are not as happy as those couples who are child-free or who have grown kids. In the comments section, you could hear the defensiveness. The frustration. The incredulity from parents of young children who felt misrepresented.

As someone with young children myself, I could see that many of us were grasping for how to explain why this wasn’t the whole picture. Of course there are some elements of “happiness” that go by the wayside when you have kids. At the same time, having young kids is a time of profound transformation and meaning (the elements of a great story).

I wanted to speak to this — not because I have any interested in convincing someone to have children — but because I think the conversation itself is fundamentally flawed. 

What if asking the question, ‘what will make me happy?’ is actually making us miserable?

What if there’s a better question to ask? 

I’ll unpack that better question in today’s episode.

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

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