Inherently Happy

Happy Resistance - Ep. 399

Strength is often measured in terms of brute force, 
If someone can fight oppression, then they must be strong, of course!
But sometimes power doesn’t need to be expressed at arm’s length,
For the ability to endure without collapsing is true mental strength!

 

[full text below]

Ep. 399 - Happy Resistance

We begin as always 
with the Happy Creed.

We believe in Happy, 
in Balance and Growth, 
of being Mindful and Grateful,
Compassionate and Understanding.

Yowza
Haha
My Happy Friends!

Strength is often measured in terms of brute force, 
If someone can fight oppression, then they must be strong, of course!
But sometimes power doesn’t need to be expressed at arm’s length,
For the ability to endure without collapsing is true mental strength!

I’ve often been told I’m too emotional by people who consider emotions to be weak,
And those very same people then resort to destructive habits as a coping technique,
When I, instead, recommend learning how to manage one’s emotions and moods, 
Through Happy thoughts, practices, and habits, like exercise, good sleep and healthy foods.

When tragedy befalls me, I don’t bottle it up, I express it, I let it out, I process,
This is not being too emotional or weak, this is dealing with it so that I don’t obsess,
So that I don’t let it fester and rot and turn me furious, manic, psychotic or numb, 
I don’t view my moods as things to be feared or avoided because, to me, well, that’s dumb.

That is misunderstanding the very nature of the human heart and mind,
Which help us to self-regulate our lives in the face of society’s daily grind,
If you deny your own ability to deal with life, then you’ll fight yourself every day,
You’ll fill yourself with shame and hatred, call yourself weak and throw your humanity away.

I used to try to fight my emotions because that’s what everyone told me I should do,
Unless it was anger, that was okay, so I became a vandal and a pyromaniac--wouldn’t you?
I drank, I smoked, I did drugs, I was mean to myself and to others--what a tough guy, right?
I got speeding tickets, I got into fights, I cut myself, and plotted revenge at all hours of the night.

I got arrested, I lost friendships, I got in trouble at work,
I called people names, I talked back and acted like a jerk,
I’d show them, I vowed, I’d make them regret it one day--they’d all see!
But this self-made poison wasn’t hurting them, it was only killing me.

The world didn’t owe me anything, I finally realized, it was the other way around, 
We’re all just trying to get through life as best we can, from delivery bed to burial ground,
And we should make use of all the resources we have and all the help we can get, 
It’s not weakness to train yourself to handle extreme emotions before you get too upset.

Fighters don’t wait until they find themselves attacked to learn what to do,
They practice every day to get so good that it becomes second nature. and so can you,
Because life is a challenge for everyone, we all face the same potential for bleakness, 
And trying to just white-knuckle your way through isn’t a strength, it’s a weakness.

Thanks to my regularly practicing dealing with my moods, and not shying away from them,
I have greatly improved my ability to deal with what life throws my way, from joy to mayhem,
From tragedy to triumph, because both extremes can lead to imbalance that can derail,
So, if anything--I’m less emotional in the sense that instead of collapsing, I prevail.

We all face challenges, no one gets away clean,
And all we can do is our best, whatever that may mean,
So, raise your own level of expertise to be able to stand strong, 
And come what may, you’ll withstand the onslaught and wind up where you belong.

Haha
Yowza

Happy Diligence - Ep. 398

Persist through obstacles, setbacks and strife,
Remain purposeful and consistent even in the face of worry and fear,
Regardless of whether the task is a small one or lasts your entire life,
Practice inner discipline and conscientiousness to grant you the strength to persevere.

[full script below]

Ep. 398 - Happy Diligence

We begin as always 
with the Happy Creed.

We believe in Happy, 
in Balance and Growth, 
of being Mindful and Grateful,
Compassionate and Understanding.

Yowza
Haha
My Happy Friends!

Happy Diligence means persisting through obstacles, setbacks and strife,
Where you remain purposeful and consistent even in the face of worry and fear,
Regardless of whether the task is a small one or lasts your entire life,
Practicing inner discipline and conscientiousness grants you the strength to persevere.

I may not be the smartest, or the fastest, but I am made of some pretty strong stuff,
So, I know that I always can, at the very least, work super, extra hard,
So that even if my skills are lacking, my tenacity might still be enough
To allow me to out-maneuver, outlast, and go the extra yard.

I give myself small deadlines to help keep my motivation alive, 
I finish smaller projects, while I chip away at the bigger ones, 
It grants me a sense of accomplishment, which, in turn, boosts my drive, 
And ensures that I keep following the path of my dreams wheresoever it runs.

I practice my moods, and I work through my pain,
I teach myself to be resilient, I train my heart and my mind,
But I also allow myself to be silly, to laugh, and to play in the rain,
To smile at strangers, and write about what it means to be kind.

For Happy Diligence isn’t just about how to be tough,
But also how to be tender when you need to be too,
How to be Human, which is sometimes smooth, sometimes rough,
Because Life is, ultimately, something each of us is just trying to make it through.

Haha
Yowza

Happy Harmony - Ep. 397

Using the perspective of the Inherently Happy Way
To act as a guidepost to plan out your day,
Shows you the road we each need to drive
And the tools to maintain it to make sure that you thrive.

[entire script below]

 

Ep. 397 - Happy Harmony

We begin as always 
with the Happy Creed.

We believe in Happy, 
in Balance and Growth, 
of being Mindful and Grateful,
Compassionate and Understanding.

Yowza
Haha
My Happy Friends!

Using the perspective of the Inherently Happy Way
To act as a guidepost to plan out your day,
Shows you the road we each need to drive
And the tools to maintain it to make sure that you thrive.

‘Cause when you’re balanced, you have equilibrium, 
When you grow, you improve,
Balance reveals patterns--you can practically see ‘em,
And Growth helps you change, adapt and move.

When you’re mindful, you’re aware,
When you’re grateful, you hold good favor in high regard,
Mindfulness helps keep you attuned to how, what, and where,
And Gratitude grants you grace for when things get hard.

When you’re compassionate, you can feel what others are feeling, 
When you’re understanding, you have connection,
Compassion shows you empathy, the first step towards healing,
And Understanding teaches you forgiveness and reflection.

Together they give you self-purpose, self-acceptance, and self-respect,
And this Happy Harmony allows you to see that in others--I know ‘cause I checked.

Haha
Yowza

 

 

Happy Smart - Ep. 396

Science shows us what Logic, Nature and the Body are and can do,
Philosophy shows us why People, Life and the Self are worthwhile subjects to pursue,
And Art shows us how Words, Images and Music express the experiences we all go through.

[entire script below]

Ep. 396 - Happy Smart

We begin as always 
with the Happy Creed.

We believe in Happy, 
in Balance and Growth, 
of being Mindful and Grateful,
Compassionate and Understanding.

Yowza
Haha
My Happy Friends!

Let me tell you a little about the nine kinds of smart, 
You can add them to a spreadsheet or graph them on a chart, 
To help you recall the facts I’m trying to impart.

Some people call them talents, others say they’re learning styles, 
But even if you call them traits that the heart and mind compiles,
They often tend to show themselves in a variety of skill profiles.

You can sort them somewhere under the Three Great Considerations,
Ways of interacting with reality in all its fluctuations, 
Those being Science, Philosophy, and Art and their various specifications.

Science shows us what Logic, Nature and the Body are and can do,
Philosophy shows us why People, Life and the Self are worthwhile subjects to pursue,
And Art shows us how Words, Images and Music express the experiences we all go through.

Logic as in patterns, Nature as in environment, and Body as in sports,
People as in empathy, Life as in existence, and Self as in reflection when feeling out of sorts, 
Words as in language, Images as in design, and Music as in rhythm that transports

When we show an interest in any of these areas we learn how to connect, 
We see the relationships between thoughts and feelings, between cause and effect,
And we learn about truth, harmony, integrity and realize what it means to come correct.

The Three Great Considerations of Science, Philosophy and Art, 
Are ways to engage with the world through the mind and the heart,
And all the methods of doing that are what teach us to become Happy Smart.

Haha
Yowza

Gradually Happy - Ep. 395

Sudden attraction can prove a distraction,
And get you more thorns than flowers,
While a gradual reaction can gain you some traction,
And let you develop your powers.

 

[entire script below]

Ep. 395 - Gradually Happy

We begin as always 
with the Happy Creed.

We believe in Happy, 
in Balance and Growth, 
of being Mindful and Grateful,
Compassionate and Understanding.

Yowza
Haha
My Happy Friends!

Sometimes you can see without feeling,
You’ll notice a sunset, a rainbow, or a flower,
But it doesn’t make you jump up and hit the ceiling, 
‘Cause you’re just trying to get home before rush hour.

Some other time you’ll catch a glimpse of a poster for a movie you’ve never seen,
And without context it doesn’t really register as something you’d even want to see,
But then your friend tells you they think you’d find it really peachy keen,
And so you watch it, you love it, and now that same poster is as lovely as can be.

You can also be this way with human beings,
At first, everyone may seem like extras in the movie that is your life,
But then as you get to know them through multiple seeings,
You may begin to feel something about them, could be joy, could be strife.

You might meet an attractive person who is simply hateful, 
Or a person you initially barely register, but who turns out to be a delight,
And this can make you value deeper connections, and be grateful, 
And maybe not judge so quickly before you know what’s right.

I myself can look at something beautiful and not immediately care, 
While at the same time clinging to something tattered and torn,
It’s not to say I can’t grow to love something pretty if I find more there, 
Or that I’ve only ever liked ratty things since the day I was born.

I just don’t really do the “love at first sight” thing anymore,
I don’t get infatuated from a glance or a nice smile,
I have been burned by that way too many times before,
Where spending time with them made me feel like I was on trial.

So, now I take my time to connect before I attempt any form of attraction,
I can still appreciate sunsets, rainbows and flowers,
I just don’t let dreams of a pot of gold become a distraction
From my journey to becoming Gradually Happy, and fully engaging with my Happy powers.

Haha
Yowza

Happy Mindset - Ep. 394

If no matter how bad you want something you never get it, you’ll hate the endless yearning, 
But with a Happy Mindset, you’ll realize that the opposite of Winning isn’t Losing, it’s Learning.

[full script below]

Ep. 394 - Happy Mindset

We begin as always 
with the Happy Creed.

We believe in Happy, 
in Balance and Growth, 
of being Mindful and Grateful,
Compassionate and Understanding.

Yowza
Haha
My Happy Friends!

I’ve known smart, attractive, rich, and talented people who still hated their lives quite a lot,
Because they were stuck in the past, or in a shame spiral, or hung up on guilt and regret,
They could never be grateful, only ever seeing all the things they hadn’t quite got,
They never saw opportunities, only obstacles, for everything to them was a threat.

I mean, I know, sometimes it feels like the world is doing everything it can to make life tough,
No matter how bad you want something, you never get it--so, what’s the point of yearning?
Well, that all depends on your Mindset, really. A Mean one will make you Mean, sure enough,
But a Happy Mindset knows that the opposite of Winning isn’t Losing, it’s Learning.

Trying the same thing over and over only leads to progress if you learn along the way,
And Progress is just another way of saying Winning by a matter of degrees,
You may not win first place every time, but you can still gain strength and skill every day,
And that’s how you can keep your spirits up when everyone else has a feeling of unease.

I got punched in the face once by a very angry man who I was only trying to assist,
He couldn’t see that, though, he could only perceive all the things he felt he was missing,
So, ignoring all the good things around us, he just cursed, kicked the air and balled up his fist, 
And then when I didn’t back down, pretty soon it was the ground I was kissing.

But did I cry or wonder why the world had been so cruel? Did I weep or wail?
Not at all, I just got back up and watched him get hauled off by the cops.
He sucker punched me, which is pretty dirty, but he went to jail,
And I learned that not everyone wants my help and would just rather bust me in the chops.

The outcome of any situation, therefore, should not be one’s sole motivating factor, 
Because then you’ll miss the journey, the wisdom, the lesson and the hope, 
You’ll just condemn yourself to having meltdowns like a leaky nuclear reactor,
Where even the slightest frustration makes you think you’ve lost and therefore can’t cope.

Now I get sad, sure, I get mad too, I’m a person, but I know those feelings are fleeting,
Because I always aim to maintain my Happy Mindset even if it takes a few tries,
Not everything works the first time you do it, but it’ll never work if you keep retreating,
So, just keep at it, keep trying for improvement because isn’t that the real prize?

Haha
Yowza

 

Artfully Happy - Ep. 393

Our human lives contain both joy and bereavement,
Through it all we have Art, a crowning achievement,
Art is for communicating the Human Condition,
Thereby elevating it, a most valuable mission.

[full script below]

Ep. 393 - Artfully Happy

We begin as always 
with the Happy Creed.

We believe in Happy, 
in Balance and Growth, 
of being Mindful and Grateful,
Compassionate and Understanding.

Yowza
Haha
My Happy Friends!

Our human lives contain both joy and bereavement,
Through it all we have Art, a crowning achievement,
Art is for communicating the Human Condition,
Thereby elevating it, a most valuable mission.

Art is a way of interacting with reality, one that asks “How?”
Just like Science asks “What?” and Philosophy asks “Why?”
Art is a way of accessing Happy in the here and now,
Which you can then revisit or share with others by and by.

Art, along with Science and Philosophy, is one of the Three Great Considerations of humankind,
Because asking “How?” makes us think about quality and skill,
About form and content, and depth of heart and mind,
And helps us express our Happy creative Will.

Art is a way of interacting with the world and the people in it,
It can help us form connections and stimulate our souls,
It can happen over the course of a lifetime or in less than a minute, 
It can be about things experienced in passing or passionate life goals.

It is craft, it is feeling, it is life, it is history,
It helps us make some sense of the Great Mystery,
It delves deep and shows us that we are not alone,
Because being Artfully Happy goes straight to the bone.

Haha
Yowza

Divinely Happy - Ep. 392

We seek to solve the mystery of our Life Sentence--is there a cause at the end of the line?
Will we find paradise, doom or is it all just an endless merry-go-round operated by the Divine?

 

[entire script below]

Ep. 392 - Divinely Happy

We begin as always 
with the Happy Creed.

We believe in Happy, 
in Balance and Growth, 
of being Mindful and Grateful,
Compassionate and Understanding.

Yowza
Haha
My Happy Friends!

Humans live with the knowledge of our own impending death,
From even before we’re born, the terminal countdown begins,
As we only have a limited time before we’ll draw our final breath,
In a race we all must run, but one that nobody ever wins.

And so we cling to beliefs that afford us some peace along the way,
We try to catch a glimpse of the divine to get some clue as to what’s out there,
We meditate, vision quest, lucid dream, we hope, we wish, we pray,
All to solve the mystery of our Life Sentence--are we doomed or does somebody actually care?

If we ask for answers, will we get them? Or is it far beyond what’s even possible to know?
And if we feel changed by the pursuit, is that merely from our efforts or something more?
We just want to discover the cause, so that when we seek a certain effect, it’ll actually show,
Then maybe we’ll feel like we understand something, and get a hint at what’s in store.

When we go past this living organism phase--do we carry on, transform, or just end?
I grew up down the street from a cemetery where several generations of my family are buried,
I used to fear it after dark until I discovered that my bullies feared it more--’twas a godsend!
Then I spent many nights among the dead trying to commune, but the results never varied,

Answers came there none. 
Ghostly friendships, not a one, 
I tried as hard as any late night divinity seeker could--not one to be outdone,
But my ancestors and their grave neighbors remained silent and decidedly un-fun.

I was there on moonlit nights when the fallen snow made it bright in all directions,
I was there on gloomy nights too, when I had to feel me way around,
At the very least I found it peaceful there, even if I made no direct divine connections,
It was still less hectic than my own world beyond that tranquil ground.

Nowadays when I see people who claim to have a direct link to the divine, I wonder,
What am I doing differently? I try to be helpful, I try to be patient, I try to be kind,
I sometimes have to cut off contact with toxic people who try to pull me under,
But still I offer words of encouragement through my work, a product of my heart and my mind.

And this work isn’t meant to replace faith, of course, it’s more of a bridge from here to there.
For those who have nothing, it can be a framework at the very least, something to cling to,
And for those who already have a belief system, it can still act as mental health care.
Humans are obsessed with the unknown, we’re Divinely Happy in everything we do.

I’m no different, I want to know what’s out there just like everybody else does,
And I’ll keep looking for clues just like the Detective of Divinity I am and always will be,
And in the meantime, I’ll also try to focus on being Happy just because
Being Happy is better than focusing on bitterness and hate, this I know, believe you me.

Haha
Yowza

 

 

Happy Empowerment - Ep. 391

Providing encouragment and support to others feels Nice, 
And so you provide empowerment not once but twice.

 

[entire script below]

Ep. 391 - Happy Empowerment

We begin as always 
with the Happy Creed.

We believe in Happy, 
in Balance and Growth, 
of being Mindful and Grateful,
Compassionate and Understanding.

Yowza
Haha
My Happy Friends!

There’s two kinds of empowerment upon which I shall report,
Those you give others, and those you give yourself, being the two I shall name,
The kind you give others contains encouragement and support, 
While the kind you give to yourself contains exactly the same.

I am always trying to streamline complicated processes that frustrate and irk,
I don’t break the rules, I just try to find loopholes where people seldom look,
And as a result I often come up with new ways of solving problems at work,
And then I write down those protocols so I can train others with my little guidebook.

But I often find that others would rather that I continue to do those tasks still,
And they don’t even bother reading my directions even when I add a cartoon,
Turns out they don’t want to be empowered to do some things and never will,
So, I seek my own empowerment elsewhere to find an escape that can’t come too soon.

So, I write, and I draw--and I sing and dance too but that’s just for fun,
I do these works to empower myself, to encourage and someday support, hopefully, too,
And I share them because if they can encourage this human I know I can’t be the only one,
And going by the encouraging feedback, that which empowers me also empowers you!

Happy Empowerment is that supportive encouragement that helps me and you cope,
“If this guy can do it, then I should be able to as well,” is what you may well say,
I don’t have my ideal career, freedoms or family life and yet I still allow myself to hope,
And I share that hope with others through art and the Inherently Happy Way.

And sharing can be its own form of empowerment--it feels Nice,
So, I encourage you to utilize the same methods that I myself employ,
Namely to be empowering not once but twice,
First by giving encouragement and support to others and in so doing increasing your own joy.

Haha
Yowza

 

Happy Assumptions - Ep. 390

Assumptions save time, but at what cost?
Check them with reality or you might get lost.

[entire episode script below]

 

Ep. 390 - Happy Assumptions

We begin as always 
with the Happy Creed.

We believe in Happy, 
in Balance and Growth, 
of being Mindful and Grateful,
Compassionate and Understanding.

Yowza
Haha
My Happy Friends!

You ever assume things? ‘Course you do, we all do.
We assume big things like that tomorrow will arrive as expected,
And small things like a rubber ball will bounce back to you,
And even medium things like mistakes will repeat if left uncorrected.

I once assumed a driver who cut me off on the road had it in for me,
So I raced up beside him and threw him a glare,
Only to realize that he was in his own world on the phone and did not see,
Didn’t care, wasn’t being mean because he was completely unaware.

My assumption met reality and my assumption failed,
I had built something up that existed entirely within my own mind,
Oh, how spectacularly wrong I was, I wailed,
How quickly I felt justified in becoming monumentally unkind!

I thought it was my right, nay, my obligation to fix that guy’s wagon, 
When he was already having a hard time of it and so I immediately felt bad, 
Was I the bully? Oh, no! That mustn’t be! I didn’t want to be a fire breathing dragon!
Laying waste to the countryside because someone made me slightly mad.

So, I slowed my roll, 
calmed myself down, 
regained control, 
and unclenched my frown.

I thought of all the things we assume that may not be helpful at all,
Assuming all plants are safe to eat, for instance, is not the best way to go,
But also assuming that some activities are no fun when they could be a ball,
You have to try new things to know for sure, but you can be careful even so.

I’ve assumed that bullies were all out to get me, but they were making assumptions too,
They thought I was a threat to what they considered cool and so wanted to mock me,
But if they got to know me, some of them actually quite liked me--a friendly breakthrough!
Where they saw that reality wasn’t quite as bad as they had assumed--and that’s the key!

Having assumptions is a handy shortcut for a lot of things--water is wet, fire is hot,
But we still have to test those assumptions against reality to make sure we’re staying on track,
Otherwise we may discover truths that are exactly the opposite of what we thought,
And instead of moving forward we find ourselves lost and having to go all the way back.

Haha
Yowza