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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 they’ll arrive at “happiness” 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 last…happy!’ Hence their life story is one of ‘I’ll be happy when…'” ~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.
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:
“Truth seldom is sweet; it is almost invariably bitter.” ~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
“Being 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. ” ~Audrey Rindlisbacher
“If we’re unhappy, it’s because life is not as we want it. Life is not matching our expectations of how it ‘ought’ to be. We want the future, not ‘the now’. We don’t want what is, we want what isn’t. Too much of this and you go crazy.” ~Andrew Matthews
“Life is not perfect. Life is about being exhilarated, frustrated, sometimes achieving, and sometimes missing out. So long as we say “I’ll be happy when…” we’re deluding ourselves.” ~Andrew Matthews
“Happiness is a decision. Many people live as if someday they’ll arrive at “happiness” 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 last…happy!” Hence their life story is one of “I’ll be happy when…” ~Andrew Matthews
“Each 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 we’ve got, or will we while away the present, hoping for a better future?” ~Andrew Matthews
“The world is not perfect. The degree of our unhappiness is the distance between the way things are and the way we ‘think’ they ‘ought’ to be.” ~Andrew Matthews
“Value people. Don’t go to bed angry. Let people know how much they mean to you.” ~Audrey Rindlisbacher
“Make today one you would want to end on.” ~Audrey Rindlisbacher
“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” ~Abraham Lincoln
“It’s not what happens to us in life that determines our happiness as much as the way we react to what happens.” ~Andrew Matthews
“You’ve got today. That’s all you’ve got. You might as well be happy.” ~Audrey Rindlisbacher
“We clothe experiences with our words and with our thoughts. We determine what meaning to attach to the experiences we have.” ~Audrey Rindlisbacher
“We can change the way we think by first, changing the way we talk.” ~Audrey Rindlisbacher
“If you want to be happy, be happy!” ~Audrey Rindlisbacher
“Happiness isn’t something that depends on our surroundings. It is something we make inside ourselves.” ~Cor ten boom
“Feed and nurture your happiness by focusing on what you have.” ~Audrey Rindlisbacher
Books from this episode:
