Happiness Happens: Podcasts

 

This month is Happiness Happens Month and I'm blogging about things I often take for granted, but that make me happy!

Coincidentally, as I was taking my daily walk, thinking about all the pretty things I was seeing and might blog about today, I started listening to a Podcast that was about that very topic! 

The podcast was How to be a Better Human and the Episode was titled: "How to lead a happier, more fulfilling life (with Dr. Robert Waldinger)."

Here's a description of the episode:

Listening to your favorite song, going on vacation, chocolate… What makes YOU happy? Today’s guest, psychiatrist Dr. Robert Waldinger, is the director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, an 83-year-old project--one of the longest-running studies of adult life ever--that tracks how life experience across decades affects health and wellbeing in middle age and beyond. Robert shares the surprising things he’s learned about what makes a meaningful life and what to do--or avoid--in order to have a long, fulfilling existence. Robert is the author of numerous scientific papers as well as two books, and he teaches medical students and psychiatry residents at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He is a Senior Dharma Teacher in Boundless Way Zen. To learn more about "How to Be a Better Human," host Chris Duffy, or find footnotes and additional resources, please visit: go.ted.com/betterhuman

The episode was really interesting, but since I'm a bit of a Happiness Junkie, I already knew about the Harvard Study that they discussed and the results.  Bottom line is the importance of relationships to our happiness.

Yeah, yeah..  relationships are important.. and even in this podcast, they talk about married people "on average" are happier than single people. But there are so many other relationships in our lives.  Sometimes they're just fleeting and sometimes they're life-long. But they can all add to our happiness. 

One thing, in particular that I thought was insightful in this podcast was how Robert answered the question: What makes you a better human? He said it was something he learned from the Dalai Lama: 

"Kindness is my religion"

I think it's so true that if we can go through this life being kind, we will bring happiness to ourselves and to others.  That insightful thought brought me happiness today!

It also made me happy that this topic was so relevant to exactly what I was thinking about without me searching for it! It was like the Podcast Universe read my mind!

Podcasts, in general, are something that I find incredibly wonderful! I just love that this awesome information from such a variety of sources is available to us for free! It's like having an infinite library of entertainment and education and thought-provoking discussions available to us any time!

I was especially grateful for podcasts in the 6-weeks I was recovering from eye surgery and couldn't easily read. My daughter-in-law was so thoughtful in creating a large playlist of a variety of podcasts that she thought I'd like to listen to.

Podcasts have also been especially nice for those nights when I'm having trouble sleeping. There are even podcasts to help you sleep! There are also podcasts to help you learn Spanish! (Another goal of mine.)  There are podcasts about making better podcasts! Basically, there are podcasts about everything and anything!

And as long as I'm raving about podcasts, I'll go ahead and put a plug in for my own podcast, Carpe Diem Connections.  Even though I've taken a break from podcasting, I'm excited about the people I met and all I learned while I was actively podcasting.

How about you? What podcasts do you listen to?