EP 101: Choose to Be Happy!
By the time Audrey Rindlisbacher was 19 years old, her father and two close friends had passed away unexpectedly. Through these trials Audrey learned for herself that life is very fragile. She knew that we have to make the most of the day we are in, because we never know when it might be the last day for us or someone we love.
"Many people live as if someday theyāll arrive at āhappinessā like one arrives at a bus stop. They figure that someday everything will fall into place, they will take a deep breath and say, 'Here I am at lastā¦happy!' Hence their life story is one of 'Iāll be happy whenā¦'" ~Andrew Matthews
When we relegate our happiness to the future, we rob ourselves and others of the chance for deeper connection, joyful moments, and greater fulfillment. The mindset of waiting to be happy keeps us from seeing all the beautiful things in our lives right now. When we realize that happiness is a choice, that it is, "something we make inside ourselves," we are able to shift our focus from all the things that are making us unhappy, to all the things that can bring us happiness and fulfillment every day.
Join Audrey and other women in The Mission Driven Mom Mastermind FB Group for a replay of a "Lighting Our Lamps: Morning Inspiration for Moms" FB Live from the spring of 2020, where Audrey shares stories, quotes, and tips that will inspire you to choose happiness today.
Listener's Guide:
Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast.
2:29 Why We Are Unhappy
3:22 Happiness is a Decision
4:45 Audrey's Story
5:55 "Learning in Wartime"
7:37 I Made a Decision-Andrew Matthews
10:23 From The Hiding Place
13:54 How Can I Be Happy Today?
15:38 Sharing Gratitude
Quotes from this episode:
āTruth seldom is sweet; it is almost invariably bitter." ~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
āBeing happy can be one of the greatest challenges that we face and can sometimes take all the determination, persistence, and self-discipline we can muster. ā ~Audrey Rindlisbacher
āIf weāre unhappy, itās because life is not as we want it. Life is not matching our expectations of how it āoughtā to be. We want the future, not 'the now'. We donāt want what is, we want what isnāt. Too much of this and you go crazy.ā ~Andrew Matthews
āLife is not perfect. Life is about being exhilarated, frustrated, sometimes achieving, and sometimes missing out. So long as we say āIāll be happy whenā¦ā weāre deluding ourselves.ā ~Andrew Matthews
āHappiness is a decision. Many people live as if someday theyāll arrive at āhappinessā like one arrives at a bus stop. They figure that someday everything will fall into place, they will take a deep breath and say, āHere I am at lastā¦happy!ā Hence their life story is one of āIāll be happy whenā¦ā ~Andrew Matthews
āEach one of us has a decision to make. Are we prepared to daily remind ourselves that we have only a limited time to make the most of what weāve got, or will we while away the present, hoping for a better future?ā ~Andrew Matthews
āThe world is not perfect. The degree of our unhappiness is the distance between the way things are and the way we āthinkā they āoughtā to be.ā ~Andrew Matthews
āValue people. Don't go to bed angry. Let people know how much they mean to you.ā ~Audrey Rindlisbacher
āMake today one you would want to end on.ā ~Audrey Rindlisbacher
āMost folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.ā ~Abraham Lincoln
āIt's not what happens to us in life that determines our happiness as much as the way we react to what happens.ā ~Andrew Matthews
āYou've got today. That's all you've got. You might as well be happy.