As an ambitious woman, Angelia eventually learned that prioritizing her work over everything else did her personal life a disservice. Angelia describes her late mother as her number one and her happiest place as in her husband's arms. She skydives to seize the day and prioritizes her relationships to cultivate joy. Ultimately to build joy she says we must love ourselves first, teach others and practice the golden rule. We discuss card parties with chicken and beer.

Billy tries to balance his mind, body and soul. The ups and downs of patient care in medical training made Billy shift his perspective on happiness from thrill seeking to appreciating stability, not only in his own life, but in the lives of people he cares about. Much like me, Billy gets frustrated by disingenuous people and business people taking over medicine. He maintains his zen by mitigating that energy and disconnecting as needed. Music and gaming are compared to meditation.

Nature, sisterhood and learning new things give Monica joy on a day to day basis. Monica pursued adversity with the goal of professional advancement, but admits that there is a cost to this that's often shared with the people around you. She acknowledges that all of us are on the pursuit of happiness and on that journey there is value in living in the moment. She also amuses herself by keeping her husband aware of his responsibility to clean their house air filters, even if he jokes about it keeping him up at night.

In this episode, Jon discussed the value of gratitude, not sweating the small stuff and problem solving in the face of an obstacle. One of his greatest difficulties is watching friends experience unhappiness. Awful 90s action movies and daily shark book readings are appreciated.

Originally from St. Louis, various exposures to abuse taught Aaminah that she was the best person to refill her cup of joy with her own inner light. Early on, she was afraid to let in happiness because she feared that it would not last but eventually she wondered, what she was pushing away that might give her joy? Ultimately she decided to accept happiness, and negative circumstances, as fleeting and to allow herself to fully experience all of it. Workplace jokes & laughter behind office doors in Chicago Public Schools are mentioned. :)

In this episode, Tom talks about strengthening, lengthening and meditating. He shares his philosophy on embracing a minimalistic life and the value in enjoying your own company. We also touch on a serious threat to happiness in the present- focusing on the mistakes we made in the past.

*Thanksgiving Special*

In this episode, Ashley shares the importance of inner peace and gratitude for her overall happiness. She shares the value she places on time spent laughing with family. She also opens up about spirituality and the impact the loss of her mother had on her relationship with joy. The holy spirit is activated in this one.

Justin is the guy who will always take the extra step for someone else's happiness. In this episode, we discuss the joy that comes from accepting yourself and appreciating the people who love you as you are. Justin also tells us a little bit bout GetCho Podcast! Look out for Mr. Miyagi's wisdom!

Laughter is the key to Nadeem's joy, especially if he's making someone else giggle. Nadeem urges even the introverts to get out there and get involved with people or volunteering to boost their happiness. Resectomies (reversing a vasectomy that hasn't happened yet) and brain constipation (a result of too much screen time?) are invented in this one.

In this episode we talk to Josh about how much his life changed when he moved to a new city at age 37. He opens up about what he learned from feeling isolated, overcoming depression and how the passage of time has made him embrace each day. His greatest joy is giving to others. Drive through safaris bring a smile to Josh's face at least once.