Inherently Happy

Inherently Happy

By Geoffrey Bennett UlrichSociety & CultureHealth & FitnessMental HealthEducationSelf-ImprovementPhilosophy
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Inherently Happy episodes

  • Happy Engagement - Ep. 480

    Happy Engagement connects you with the part of yourself that still wants to explore,

    Allowing you to reclaim any drifting gratitude and find the balance and growth in that,
    By going back to the basics on whatever it is you've started losing drive for,
    And pointing your mindfulness at something you were already good at.

    [full text below]


    Ep. 480 - Happy Engagement

    We begin as always

    with the Happy Creed.

    We Believe in Happy,

    in Balance and Growth,
    of being Mindful and Grateful, 
    Compassionate and Understanding.

    Yowza

    Haha
    My Happy Friends!

    Have you ever been so good at something that you lost interest in it?

    Or had so many choices that you didn’t even know what you liked anymore?
    Winning can be tragic, if you take things for granted for more than a minute,
    Because if you don’t have to work for something then it can become a bore.

    We all like a challenge—it makes us want to participate, experiment, and learn, 

    Whether at work or at play, finding meaning makes things more compelling,
    And then we engage with them more—it’s the fuel that makes our passions burn,
    Experiencing the possibilities and enjoying uncertainty don’t come from fortune telling.

    But what if you pointed that mindfulness at something you were already good at?

    What if you went back to the basics on whatever it is you’re starting to lose drive for?
    You can reclaim the gratitude that started to drift and find balance and growth in that.
    Happy Engagement is connecting with the part of you that still wants to explore.

    Haha

    Yowza

    3 min
  • Happy Again - Ep. 479

    When you triumph over adversity and return to stable ground,

    It could be said that you have found your way back to Happy again,
    Arising with renewed strength after very nearly having drowned,
    Which can instill a sense of thrill every now and then.

    [full text below]

    Ep. 479 - Happy Again


    We begin as always
    with the Happy Creed.

    We Believe in Happy,

    in Balance and Growth,
    of being Mindful and Grateful, 
    Compassionate and Understanding.

    Yowza

    Haha
    My Happy Friends!

    When you fall and get back up, you can focus on the up and not the down,

    But if you fall once more, then you may wonder if it’ll happen again,
    Falling is part of life, but fall while already underwater and you may drown,
    And you may start thinking of falling as less of an If and more of a When.

    Again can also be vain, I once had a co-worker try to explain my own job to me,

    I replied by restating my position as calm as could be,
    He started his next message with the word “Again” to flaunt his masterstroke,
    And when I explained his error, he called me to try to laugh it off as a joke.

    When you triumph over adversity and return to stable ground,

    It could be said that you have found your way back to Happy again,
    Arising with renewed strength after very nearly having drowned,
    Which can instill a sense of thrill every now and then.

    Haha

    Yowza

    2 min
  • Happy Out Of Control - Ep. 478

    Hating what the world throws at us changes nothing and can make us bitter,

    Turning us into total wrecks, broken and drifting like so much flotsam and litter,
    Being Happy Out of Control means accepting the ugly bits without becoming undone,
    Because while life may constantly try to break your spirit, you can still try to have fun.

    [full text below]

    Ep. 478 - Happy Out Of Control


    We begin as always

    with the Happy Creed.

    We Believe in Happy,

    in Balance and Growth,
    of being Mindful and Grateful, 
    Compassionate and Understanding.

    Yowza

    Haha
    My Happy Friends!


    I drew a cartoon of a cop writing a ticket for speeding, 
    And it was flagged for being dirty—talk about misreading!
    My social media was suspended for days pending review,
    Years of work were under threat, I felt unsure of what to do.

    It reminded me of the time I got accused of cheating in school,

    By a teacher who challenged everyone to the point of being cruel, 
    He tried to get me expelled my senior year, a goal he could not achieve,
    After I graduated I told him I didn’t cheat and he still refused to believe.

    Sometimes there’s just nothing to do—you can appeal, you can explain,

    While your fate’s with others who have no interest in saving you from pain,
    So, you have no choice but to await the decision, come what may,
    I graduated, and I’m still online, but the uneasy feelings don't just go away.

    Other times things happen so much bigger than we think we can handle,

    Like my mother getting sick and dying, other things can’t hold a candle,
    We’d been making plans to lease her a new car and then she was just gone,
    It’s enough to make one want to curl up in bed and become totally withdrawn.

    But hating what the world throws at us changes nothing and can make us bitter,

    Turning us into total wrecks, broken and drifting like so much flotsam and litter,
    Being Happy Out of Control means accepting the ugly bits without becoming undone,
    Because while life may constantly try to break our spirits, we can still try to have fun.

    Haha

    Yowza

    3 min
  • Pleasantly Happy (too) - Ep. 477

    A place you fear can become a sanctuary,

    What once was dark and filled with fright,
    Turning your imagination into something scary,
    Can look completely different in a different light.

    [full text below]

     

    Ep. 477 - Pleasantly Happy

    We begin as always

    with the Happy Creed.

    We Believe in Happy,

    in Balance and Growth,
    of being Mindful and Grateful, 
    Compassionate and Understanding.

    Yowza

    Haha
    My Happy Friends!

    There’s a cemetery at the end of Pleasant Street,

    A place that terrified me when I was a kid,
    I feared the ghosts and monsters I might meet,
    So after dark, staying far away is just what I did.

    But the living scared me more than the dead ever could,

    And one evening some bullies chased me home from school,
    So I ran as fast as possible through a damp and tangled wood,
    Until I reached that cemetery—thus breaking my cardinal rule.

    I ran inside just as the streetlights came on,

    Then turned around and saw my pursuers stop short,
    They stalled beneath the light, while in the darkness I was gone,
    Because, unlike with me, the dead weren't their last resort.

    The place I'd feared had suddenly become my sanctuary,

    Not because the cemetery had somehow changed that night,
    But because sometimes what seems frightening and scary,
    Looks completely different when seen in a different light.

    Haha 

    Yowza

    2 min
  • Happy Better - Ep. 476

    Being sorry doesn't mean you can't still learn to be better, 

    To avoid the same mistakes, like a real go-getter,
    And set an example—if just for yourself, be your own pacesetter.

    [full text below]

    Ep. 476 - Happy Better

    We begin as always

    with the Happy Creed.

    We Believe in Happy,

    in Balance and Growth,
    of being Mindful and Grateful, 
    Compassionate and Understanding.

    Yowza

    Haha
    My Happy Friends!

    Some will apologize for things not their fault, 

    Others won’t say sorry even for assault,
    But apologies are just words, not precious items in a vault.

    The real value comes from not just saying sorry, but in making amends,

    That’s the kind of accountability and respect that can turn enemies to friends,
    And keeps mindful growth intentional instead of made from odds and ends.

    Sometimes, however, the damage is done,

    You can’t undo the past, or go back to square one,
    There’s no way to fix it, for the race has been run.

    But that doesn’t mean you can’t still learn to be better, 

    To avoid the same mistakes, like a real go-getter,
    And set an example—if just for yourself, be your own pacesetter.

    Haha

    Yowza

    2 min
  • Imperfectly Happy - Ep. 475

    You can be a good person without saying Yes to every request,

    Spreading yourself too thin keeps you from doing your best,
    And sometimes goofing off can help you recharge and reset,
    Even telling people No when needed can be the safest bet.

    [full text below]

    Ep. 475 - Imperfectly Happy

    We begin as always

    with the Happy Creed.

    We Believe in Happy,

    in Balance and Growth,
    of being Mindful and Grateful, 
    Compassionate and Understanding.

    Yowza

    Haha
    My Happy Friends!

    I have never, nor will I ever claim to be a saint,

    And anyone who thinks I am one—well, I assure you, I ain’t.
    Sainthood takes sacrifice, making it too tough a gig, of course,
    Only doing those things that register as being a positive force.

    For the rest of us we just do our best and sometimes a little less, 

    Aiming for perfection is a great way to make an utter mess,
    But that doesn’t mean you’re necessarily broken, crazy or bad, 
    Like everybody else we’re just trying to keep from going mad.

    You can be a good person without saying Yes to every request,

    Spreading yourself too thin keeps you from doing your best,
    And sometimes goofing off can help you recharge and reset,
    Even telling people No when needed can be the safest bet.

    You can have bouts of bitter, grouchy, cranky spite, 

    Be all out of smiles for a while, ready to pick a fight,
    And it doesn’t suddenly make you unworthy or wrong,
    Just don’t start thinking it weakens what makes you strong.

    Haha

    Yowza

    3 min
  • Happy Obstacles - Ep. 474

    A Happy Obstacle isn’t something that is necessarily easy to overcome, 

    It’s something you understand before tackling either in part or total sum.
    Like, a door is a wall, until you find the handle.
    The night an abyss, until you light a candle.

    [full text below]

    Ep. 474 - Happy Obstacles

    We begin as always

    with the Happy Creed.

    We Believe in Happy,

    in Balance and Growth,
    of being Mindful and Grateful, 
    Compassionate and Understanding.

    Yowza

    Haha
    My Happy Friends!

    A Happy Obstacle isn’t something that is necessarily easy to overcome, 

    It’s something you understand before tackling either in part or total sum.
    Like, a door is a wall, until you find the handle.
    The night an abyss, until you light a candle.

    At my day job, I was told a student employee would work “the end of Summer,”

    I took it to mean “and then no more,” but it meant “then Fall, Winter and Spring.”
    So, I separated them before they were done—oops, bummer,
    And had to do some extra steps to try and undo the whole thing.

    No big deal, granted, though I still don’t like making extra work, of course, 

    But I made a joke about it, saying “I blame the English language for being vague!”
    “Damn English!” I said, quoting Joan of Arc—probably—atop her war horse,
    Leading France into battle to push back the occupying English plague.

    So, rather than consider every misstep an omen of disaster and doom, 

    Try to check and see
    If it really is what it appears to be,
    And not just an unlocked door into a poorly lit room.

    Haha

    Yowza

    3 min
  • Happy Suffering - Ep. 473

    Happy Suffering is not enjoying pain,

    But knowing that it can remain, 
    And living on despite the strain.

    [full text below]

    Ep. 473 - Happy Suffering

    We begin as always

    with the Happy Creed.

    We Believe in Happy,

    in Balance and Growth,
    of being Mindful and Grateful, 
    Compassionate and Understanding.

    Yowza

    Haha
    My Happy Friends!

    If something hurts today, it may just go away, 

    If it hurts tomorrow as well, it can start to feel like hell, 
    But if it’s there every time you wake, it becomes a background ache.

    Sudden pain demands attention, but ongoing pain barely gets a mention.

    It’s something you learn to accommodate, not surrender to but habituate,
    Which means becoming accustomed, like it’s a lifestyle, not just once or once in a while.

    So, first you have to discover what type of suffering you’ve got, simmering or very hot,

    Then you determine if you need treatment or a coping skill, a fix or strength of will,
    If treatment, then it may improve, but if you must cope, it doesn’t help to mope.

    If you have discomfort that’s always there, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care,

    But that you can learn to ignore, like closing a window or shutting a door, 
    It carries on while you live out front, living large not like a runt.

    Happy Suffering is not enjoying pain,

    But knowing that it can remain, 
    And living on despite the strain.

    Haha

    Yowza

     

    3 min
  • Deadline Happy - Ep. 472

    Ever notice how a deadline can be just the thing

    To focus your attention when going for the brass ring
    And all the excitement that that can bring?

    [full text below]

    Ep. 472 - Deadline Happy

    We begin as always

    with the Happy Creed.

    We Believe in Happy,

    in Balance and Growth,
    of being Mindful and Grateful, 
    Compassionate and Understanding.

    Yowza

    Haha
    My Happy Friends!

    Ever notice how a deadline can be just the thing

    To focus your attention when going for the brass ring
    And all the excitement that that can bring?

    Sometimes what makes you bleed, 

    Pushes you to what you need, 
    At low drag and high speed.

    That’s what it means to be Deadline Happy, 

    To do the work and make it snappy
    And keep it all from getting sappy, 

    But, like with anything, it can be overdone, 

    Robbing the peace and stealing the fun,
    Then the kind of joy you’ll have is none.

    Haha

    Yowza

    2 min
  • Obsessively Happy - Ep. 471

    I have a tendency to obsess,

    And while I know this very well, 
    It changes little (and sometimes less).

    The grind of deadlines can be hell,

    Resulting in turmoil, noise and stress,
    Imposing my own exile in a dungeon cell.

    But then I think of Happy, yes,

    And its power to both uplift and dispel
    The joyous and the horrible, both of which I possess.

    [full text below]

     

    Ep. 471 - Obsessively Happy

    We begin as always

    with the Happy Creed.

    We Believe in Happy,

    in Balance and Growth,
    of being Mindful and Grateful, 
    Compassionate and Understanding.

    Yowza

    Haha
    My Happy Friends!

    I have a tendency to obsess,

    And while I know this very well, 
    It changes little (and sometimes less).

    The grind of deadlines can be hell,

    Resulting in turmoil, noise and stress,
    Imposing my own exile in a dungeon cell.

    But then I think of Happy, yes,

    And its power to both uplift and dispel
    The joyous and the horrible, both of which I possess.

    Haha

    Yowza

    2 min

About Inherently Happy

From the publisher's feed

Quick reminders about Balance, Growth, and the Everyday Divinity within ourselves. More or less. With your pal Happy Lord Geoffrey. HaHaHappy.org