Maura Sweeney: Living Happy Inside Out | Storytelling | Inspiration | Personal Growth

We all want to be happy, but what if that desire for happiness makes us afraid? Often, we focus on the "cost" of change rather than the ultimate benefits we hope to enjoy.

The cost of happiness can show up in a variety of ways. Each one of them reveals itself via a private nudge, especially when we're paying attention to life cues.

Listen as I share three of my own stories about confronting the cost of happiness: 1) facing a type of self-incarceration so I could adjust for future freedom; 2) acknowledging a life phase was over and shedding old things to prepare for a new, purposeful life chapter; and 3) confronting a private "aha!" moment and choosing to drop childish thinking so I could move into greater realms of authenticity and emotional adulthood.

Are you ready to pay the cost for experiencing greater happiness? This podcast will help challenge and inspire you to pay in – and expect to gain big benefits in the end.

Then listen to Margaret from Waterford, Connecticut as she shares what makes her happy from the inside out, too.

#Fear #ComfortZones #Spirituality #Consciousness #Happiness #Authenticity #Freedom #Empowerment

Have you ever felt all alone, crying for help, wondering if anyone in the universe was listening to your call? Perhaps you're experiencing that kind of daunting vulnerability right now.

You are definitely not alone; the call for help is common to us all.

This podcast delves deeper into the cry for help, viewing it from an an alternate angle and a more encouraging, perspective.

Your call for help may actually indicate something quite positive. Your greater self may be anticipating new growth and expansion even as your limited ego struggles for footing in the midst of impending change.

The process might feel challenging and even overwhelming. However, I offer two analogies from nature that will put things in a different light. I also offer two stories from my past so you can learn how my own cries for help stretched me for things to come.

Feel inspired as well as challenged. Expect to see how your own daunting circumstances might actually be preparing you for future growth and transformation.

Listen in as Florison from the Netherlands shares what makes him happy from the inside out, too.

#ComfortZones #Growth #Transformation #Metamorphosis

Remember The Golden Rule, the credo that reminds us to do unto others as we would have them to do unto us?

Many of us agree that The Golden Rule sounds great in theory. Over time, however, we discover that people around us don't always abide by it. Perhaps we don't abide by it, either.

My previous podcast on Respect feeds right into this latest subject, delving into the nebulous and often challenging arena known as interpersonal relationships. Within this current podcast, I share how I've endeavored to employ The Golden Rule on personal and professional fronts, and offer a final tale that might greatly surprise you!

If you've ever pondered why the world behaves the way it does, and wondered what can be done to turn it around, tune in for a listen.

Expect to be challenged and inspired. More than that, expect to operate as a potential world changer as you increase your peace and happiness while you're paving a way to the peace and happiness of others!

Finally, listen in as Patti Mocco shares what makes her happy from the inside out, too.

#GoldenRule #Happiness #Atonement #Peace #Influence #Power #Inheritances

In our quest to live a happy life, the desire to feel respected by others plays a big part. But what happens when we're not sufficiently respected? What do we do and how do we respond, especially when we feel humiliated?

When such challenges occur, we can respond by counter-attacking those around us. Choosing to do so, however, can further erode our self-respect while undermining the respect we might offer to others.

Is there another way to handle disrespect and humiliation? Can we possibly take a negatively charged, disrespectful situation and turn it around for good? This podcast may provide you with an "aha!" thought – or even two – on the topic.

In this latest podcast, I share several personal stories on the subject of respect. Follow me as I recount uncomfortable situations with others: peers, an authority figure, and even close family members.

In it, discover that there's more than one way to respond when disrespect comes knocking at your door. Respect runs in more than one direction, and you might become an unwitting vehicle to help others learn respect – even as you're busy upholding your own.

Finally, listen in as Enrique Nuss from Guadelajara, Mexico shares what makes him happy from the inside out, too.

#Embarrassment #Humiliation #Respect #Happiness #WellBeing #Life #Stories

You might not be dealing with anger, but you could easily find yourself in the negative emotional zone known as fear.

Fear is the opposite of peace; it's the antithesis of love. By its very nature, fear separates us from the awareness of peace, security, happiness and so many more positive, life-affirming emotions.

In this latest podcast, I share a personal story from my background. Busting the myth of the "perfect childhood," I talk about a weakness in my own household that left me feeling fearful. That fear caused me to self-protect and create my own wall of emotional isolation.

Ultimately, those suppressed feelings found their outlet in a dramatic moment of anger, one that needed to be addressed in a helpful rather than harmful way.

Come along with me on my journey. I convey the surprising role of love in dissipating negative emotions and paving a path to the awareness of love, grace and peace.

Your experiences with negative, fear-based emotions may arise from a variety of sources. This podcast will help you remove some of your own barriers to love and free you to enjoy greater happiness and well-being.

Finally, listen in as Jenny from East Bridgewater, Massachusetts who shares with us what makes her happy from the inside out, too.

#Miracles #Alcoholism #Forgiveness #Peace #Wellbeing

Are you a person of integrity?

In this latest podcast, I take up the definitions of integrity. Not only do they include honesty and moral uprightness, but definitions for integrity speak to a person's state of being "whole" or undivided.

There are many ways in which our sense of being "whole" or "undivided" impacts our thoughts and intentions about ourselves and others. In particular, when we see ourselves as divided rather than part of the whole of society, we can lose our peace and compromise the expression of our higher self.

Listen in as I share a few anecdotes and hear an apt, famous quote on the topic. Then, expect to be challenged to check into your own relationship with integrity.

May you find your vision expanding, your consciousness growing and your ability to become a person of integrated character adding to your happiness and the betterment of the world.

Finally, listen to Ally, a university student from Cape Cod, Massachusetts as she shares what makes her happy from the inside out, too.

#Character #Spirituality #Society #Happiness #Peace #Justice

I recorded this latest podcast at a park rather than from my familiar, sound-controlled closet. The change-up of venues was prompted by yet another day marked by upsetting "news" reports.

Such ever-escalating, emotionally charged reports are fostering fear and division not only among the U.S. populace; they're threatening the equilibrium of people in several Western European countries, too.

The intoxicating and reality-shifting power of hyper-sensationalized news had prompted me to reclaim my reality and source. I found it anew while enjoying nature and quietude, even as I'd invited listeners to do the same.

In this podcast, hear me share a vivid childhood impression of "reality." Next, listen as I convey some recent impressions of how people interact in more natural, everyday settings when there is no "news" to narrate the dialogue or to artfully frame the supposed problems.

If you've felt challenged by negative reports from external news, discover reflections, encouragement and a few empowerment tips. Find your reality and your peace from a more reliable source than the ever-shifting news: find it within you.

Then, listen in to my former college friend Patty Hall as she shares what makes her happy from the inside out, too.

#Empowerment #FakeNews #Peace #Happiness #Faith #Division #Spirituality

Are you protecting someone, or something, to your own detriment?

We can all train ourselves to believe in something quite strongly. We may adamantly protect a person, a belief or even a dogma, even when such protection proves illogical.

In this podcast, I talk about Stockholm Syndrome, a term coined several decades ago when victims of a Swedish bank robbery curiously protected their own captors, refusing to testify against them in court.

The idea of protecting other people, ideas or even dogmas is universal; it's part of the human condition. The notion often shows up when we're part of a religious, peer or group mentality. Within such confines, we often refuse to consider facts or ideas that fall outside the scope of commonly agreed-upon thought.

While we might be open-minded in certain ways, some of us remain highly defensive and protective in others.

Listen in as I explain a few experiences I've had in life. See if you can relate and feel more empowered as a result.

Our willingness to open the doors to new light, broader perspectives and alternate ideas not only frees us from hidden fears. It ultimately helps us enjoy greater freedom, harmony and happiness.

Finally, listen in to Casey from Southington, Connecticut talk about what makes her happy from the inside out, too!

#Lies #StockholmSyndrome #Cults #Freedom #Peace

Are you waiting for someone else to create happiness, or are you ready to create some yourself?

In this latest podcast, I take up the topic of Happy Hours! Discover the elements that make a happy hour truly happy and start thinking outside-the-box.

Though I talk about my earliest recollections of family "happy hours" during the 1960's era of cocktails and martinis, I expand the notion about where – and how – happy hours happen. Join me through a few of my own experiences in life as I created different versions of happy hours. Then be inspired and challenged to make a happy hour happen that's all your own.

In my first ever challenge of this type, I invite listeners to write and send me photos or videos of their own versions of "Making Happy Hour Happen."

Then listen in as Brigitte Plugge from The Hague, Netherlands shares with us what makes him/her happy from the inside out, too!

#Happiness #Creativity #Empowerment #Inspiration

When paving the path to happiness from the inside out, we can supercharge our travels by checking in with our emotions. They can speak to us plainly in ways that intellect alone cannot.

This latest podcast got its genesis from two recent encounters, both of which left me with positive, expansive feelings. Those same encounters inspired me to reflect upon two previous experiences from decades ago that provided me with earlier cues to forming healthy relationships. The first was negatively motivated, leaving me questioning myself, my worth and the type of friendships I'd want to keep at bay. In contrast, the other always left me feeling supported, valued and loved.

If you've been struggling with familiar, toxic or other unhealthy relationships that drain your energy and joy, you'll want to pay attention to this podcast.

Giving a nod to Maya Angelou's adage reminding us how people don't remember what we say or do, but they remember how we made them feel, you'll emerge feeling fresher, and more inspired by this podcast.

Discover new ways to assess your healthy relationships. Then empower yourself to refine -- and redefine -- the parameters of some less sound ones, too.

Finally, tune in to Veronika Ligeti from Luxembourg as she shares what makes her happy from the inside out, too!

#Empowerment #Empath #Happiness #Reflection #Energy