Should we be happy all the time? What does it mean if you aren’t happy? What are you doing in an effort to get happy and stay happy?

This podcast episode has been on my heart for a while.  I knew I wanted to talk about what I call THE HUSTLE FOR HAPPINESS.

This has been one of my harder lessons in life - a lesson that came to me through parenting and feeling like I was losing the race for happiness way too often. 

It is also a lesson I have the pleasure of teaching other women in life coaching. 

I call the episode ‘How to Be Happy’ but as you will hear, it is about something so much better than happiness. 

One of the biggest parenting myths I’ve had to unlearn is that if your kids are happy it means you are doing it right. Other related myths include - ‘happiness is what we should feel’ or ‘when we aren’t happy we are doing it wrong.’ On today’s episode, I want to unpack these happiness myths and share some of the things I’ve learned about happiness along my years of motherhood and womanhood. 

 

Here are the topics covered in this episode:

How my crying infant taught me a hard parenting lesson 
Why we need to stop hustling for hyper happiness
Why it’s okay if your kids (or you or your husband) aren’t happy 
The unrealistic demands of happiness
Three ways to be happier while enjoying the life you have 
Something even better than happiness 
How we are biologically driven towards happiness 
How to look for Perfect Moments 
Watching the stories we tell ourselves about being happy 

 

The relentless pursuit of happiness can be exhausting, especially for us as wives and mothers. But it doesn’t have to be that way! I hope these insights and simple tips will release you from the pressures of being happy and chasing happy and allow you to embrace your whole life - even all the messy, not-so-happy parts. 

 

If you would like to learn how to have more peace, purpose and presence in your life, I invite you to join The Life on Purpose Academy, my monthly group coaching program. This month, I've been teaching and coaching on the topic of coping with negative emotion. And I can't tell you how much freedom I see the ladies experiencing as they learn that they don't have to hustle for happiness. This coming month, I'm teaching on enjoying your life on purpose because I believe we can all experience enjoyment of our lives, even if they don't always feel good. Check out The Life on Purpose Academy. 

 

Links mentioned: 

How to Live Your Actual Life // blogpost

Simple on Purpose Community // Facebook Group

The Perfect Moments Project // blogpost // #theperfectmomentsproject

 

Quotes:
One of the biggest lessons I've learned is the myth that if your kids are happy, it means you're doing it right. 
Contentment is being able to find the joy despite the discomfort while happiness demands comfort.
Get the show transcript: