Inherently Happy

Bad Happy - Ep. 457

You deserve love even if it's hard to come by,
You have value even if it's tough to find,
There's a spark deep inside you that refuses to die, 
An Inherently Happy source of your spirit, heart and mind.

[full text below]

Ep. 457 - Bad 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!

Have you ever felt that you were bad?
Not as in a failure, or in a foul mood,
But that you’d gone completely mad,
Where something was fundamentally wrong with your attitude?

I used to feel that way because I was bullied for years, 
Every support system I thought I had failed me,
My school, my neighborhood, my family, my faith, my peers,
I couldn’t understand why nothing helped to even the slightest degree.

Everything felt like a personal attack,
And I started daydreaming of vengeance on my own behalf,
Of increasingly gruesome ways to fight back,
And instead of bothering me, they made me laugh.

I was turning bad, when once I had been so good, 
Once I had been popular and well-liked,
Never imagining any darkness could cloud my golden childhood,
So that when it did, the pain and terror spiked.

And it came out in destructive ways,
I broke things, I burned things, I cut myself too,
In order to impress others--but to prompt fear, not praise,
Which only isolated me further, which didn’t help my point of view.

I convinced myself that bad was good, that being mean was fun, 
I didn’t need friends, faith or family, I smoked and hung out in a graveyard at night,
I pictured scenarios where I would destroy just about everyone,
But even at my lowest point, I still felt that it was unfair, that something wasn’t right.

That I still deserved love even if it was hard to come by,
That I had value even if it was tough to find,
That there was some spark deep inside me that refused to die, 
An Inherently Happy source for my spirit, heart and mind.

And I’m so glad I never let go of that notion,
I’m ecstatic that I never completely gave up hope, 
Because the Happy that connects all of us is an endless ocean,
And acknowledging and embracing it is what gives life infinite scope.

Haha
Yowza

Shame Happy - Ep. 456

Shame Happy means taking every mistake as proof that you're the worst,
Instead of treating them as a chance to grow,
You have to believe that you deserve good things first,
And accept that you're Inherently Happy, because you are, you know.

[full text below]

Ep. 456 - Shame 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!

Life can be a lot, but we can control our reactions like they’re on a dimmer switch, 
Where we regulate our responses, turning them down when they try to go too high,
It takes practice, and an intentional mindset to soften the scream of that fever pitch,
But it’s well within the power of the Balance and Growth we all have to hit that bullseye.

Part of the trick is not being afraid of the extremes, so that you don’t panic,
This is why I recommend training your emotions through roleplay or art,
For it helps you teach yourself to recognize the moment you begin to feel manic,
Allowing you the time and confidence to adjust those patterns before they start.

All the feelings we think of as good can turn bad if we let them go long-range,
The same way the bad ones can be manageable if we don’t let them go that far,
So, something like shame, for instance, can help nudge us towards change,
Or it can turn toxic if we internalize it and mistake it for who we really are.

Then we become Shame Happy, taking every mistake as proof that we’re the worst,
When literally everything that happens to us can be treated as a chance to grow,
But that’s only possible if you believe that you deserve good things first,
And accept that you are Inherently Happy, because you are, you know.

Haha
Yowza

 

Form Happy - Ep. 455

We don't have to be so Form Happy, we can just let life be messy and live it anyway as best we can.

[full text below]

Ep. 455 - Form 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!

It’s nine-thirty at night as I write this, I often start late, that’s kind of the norm,
But I still usually finish writing, recording, drawing, and posting by midnight,
I usually make the lines rhyme, which forces me to keep it nice and tight,
Changing the content, while staying on message, but rarely playing with the form.

But life isn’t always so consistent--for example, not fifty miles away there’s a wildfire,
I get alerts on my phone and there’s evacuations already, hundreds of acres burned,
What can you say to a person whose whole life has become so dire?
Is Balance and Growth really what they need when their world is upturned?

Well, maybe, I’ve been through fires myself since moving to the West Coast,
Been evacuated, even burned out of my home, and keeping perspective can help,
Learning to let go of what doesn’t matter, looking for joy where you can find it,
Kindness can come from unlikely sources, connection and compassion can be found.

We don’t have to be so rigid,
We don’t have to be so strict, 
We don’t have to be so Form Happy,
We can just let life be messy, 
And live it anyway 
As best we can.

Haha
Yowza

Mood Magic - Ep. 454

If you see moods as tools to help you process the Human Condition, 
You won’t worry so much about letting yourself feel all the feels,
It doesn’t make you weak but resourceful, like a Mood Magician,
Instead of someone who fights their feelings, white-knuckling all their ordeals.

[full text below]

Ep. 454 - Mood Magic

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!

They say that if you want something done you need to give it to someone busy,
Because they’re able to handle it, they already know how to keep things going,
So, they can just add more stuff to the mix at full speed without getting dizzy,
Staying active means you’re better able to keep life flowing and growing.

And this applies to more than just workloads, but to emotional health as well,
Emotions can sometimes seem like work, when life gets heated and a little too much,
The tendency is to want to shrink everything down when things start to swell,
But the more you shut yourself off the more you train yourself to lose touch.

But if you see moods not as burdens, but tools to help you process the Human Condition, 
Then you won’t worry so much about letting yourself feel all the feels,
It doesn’t make you weak, it makes you resourceful, like a Mood Magician,
As opposed to someone who fights their feelings, white-knuckling all their ordeals.

Me, I’m able to handle what comes at me not because I’m a calm individual, no, 
But because I’m a mood juggler, keeping all my moods always on the move,
I can switch ‘em this way and that ‘cause I always know where I’m at in the show,
And I always know that no matter what, no and, if or but, I can always find the groove.

Haha
Yowza

Happy Quarter Million - Ep. 453

Being able to mark time and observe accomplishments, no matter how small, 
Is a good way to boost motivation, encourage growth and enhance well-being,
For myself, I write every day, but the longer projects can feel like hitting a wall,
So, I do smaller ones, like this podcast, proving I can finish things, which is freeing.

[full text below]

Ep. 453 - Happy Quarter Million

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!

The Inherently Happy podcast has hit yet another itty bitty milestone,
You know, if you go in for that sort of thing, as it doesn’t really change much,
Just that we can rest assured that those of us who know about it aren’t alone,
And if others find out what you listen to they won’t think you’re out of touch.

A quarter million downloads of this Happy human’s weekly schedule of posting, 
Of reminding myself about things that occupy my mind in any given week, 
Of my intention to try to actively aim for Balance and Growth without coasting,
Not that I can quit my day job or that most people have ever even heard me speak.

But that’s okay, it’s for me, and anyone else who can get something out of it,
So, this tiny celebration of a benchmark is just an appreciation of progress,
It tells me it’s something other people can relate to, and that’s nice, I’ll admit,
But I’d do them anyway as they help me hone my skills, reflect, and decompress.

Being able to mark time and observe accomplishments, no matter how small, 
Is a good way to boost motivation, encourage growth and enhance well-being,
For myself, I write every day, but the longer projects can feel like hitting a wall,
So, I do smaller ones, like this podcast, proving I can finish things, which is freeing.

So, why not commemorate the things you do, especially if it helps you do more things?
We can all get stuck in a rut, wondering if anything we do changes anything at all,
But something as simple as noticing a checkpoint and the gratification that brings,
Can be just the thing to keep you going till you hit the next stop on the long haul.

Haha
Yowza

Happy Safety - Ep. 452

Happy Safety is that feeling we carry within us that tells us that we’re okay,
Even if other people say otherwise, put us down or try to control how we feel,
They can’t touch that part--it’s not theirs, and they have absolutely no say,
It belongs to us, as theirs belongs to them, being common doesn’t make it less real.

[full text below]

Ep. 452 - Happy Safety

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!

Do you feel safe? Safe in your relationships, your workplace, your home?
Do you feel like you’re allowed to make mistakes, to be imperfect, to fail?
Or are you constantly worried you’re being judged, giving you a syndrome?
Where your most embarrassing moments will be used for emotional blackmail?

When I was seven, I was pretty darn carefree. I was popular and life was good,
But then I had a growth spurt, got bit by a dog, lost my cuteness, and all my friends.
I grew nervous and sickly, becoming more of a target than I ever thought I could,
I tried to turn invisible, go unnoticed, but still became a means to villainous ends.

No place seemed safe after that. I was burned by the sun, and frightened by the dark,
Only when I was chased into the cemetery one night by bullies did I finally calm down,
For they were too scared to pursue me, turning a terror zone into my very own park,
A safe haven from the cruel world around me where I could be mayor of death town.

Granted, that may not be everyone’s idea of a safe place, but it certainly was mine,
It was free from angry people who made me feel small, a place I could just be me,
There I didn’t feel overly sensitive or moody or weird, everything I did was just fine,
I could talk to the trees and the headstones and they’d listen to me very quietly.

I eventually went other places, made friends again, grew up, and got on with it,
But whenever I was yelled at, or made fun of, or told I was too much or not enough,
I thought of my safe space where no one could hurt or exclude me or call me a misfit,
Where I was strong and wise and smart and fair and fun and nice and all that good stuff.

Happy Safety is that feeling we carry within us that tells us that we’re okay,
Even if other people say otherwise, put us down or try to control how we feel,
They can’t touch that part--it’s not theirs, and they have absolutely no say,
It belongs to us, as theirs belongs to them, being common doesn’t make it less real.

So, yes, people can be triggering, situations can be scary,
Our hearts can take a beating, and our fears can become extreme,
But having an inner sense of peace doesn’t mean it’s imaginary,
Just as finding comfort in your thoughts doesn’t mean life is but a dream.

Haha
Yowza

Happy Humanity - Ep. 451

Happy Humanity is that thing we all share, 
That balance and growth that comes from within,
It’s the part of us that feels and allows us to care, 
And shows us the Happy Human we’ve always been.

[full text below]

Ep. 451 - Happy Humanity

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!

Do people puzzle you? Do their motivations seem strange, their actions weird?
Well, they shouldn’t. They’re navigating the same Human Condition as you are.
Eating, sleeping, loving, losing--just like the rest of us, since humanity first appeared.
Their methods may vary, but the goals remain universal and unchanged, near and far.

Once you accept this fact, people start making a lot more sense,
Instead of someone being unrelatable and mysterious, they’re human and all too real,
They’re messy and concerned and cautious and intense,
They’re capable of all the things that all the rest of us are, that’s the deal.

My mom used to tell me not to get mad at my bullies for bullying me!
I thought she was cracked! I should pity the poor dears for being so mean?
But she insisted that they were only bullies because people bullied them, probably,
And so they deserved compassion and understanding, which I considered obscene!

But as I grew up, met more people, did a few mean things myself, I understood,
She was right! Meanness comes from meanness, whereas Humanity is our core,
And that’s where Happy lives--within each of us, sometimes hidden, but always good,
We can ignore it if we wish, wallow in our own cruelty, or recall what it was like before.

Before we let the world confuse us, frighten us, and make us think we don’t belong,
But Humanity is all of us--it’s for us, it’s by us and composed of us--we’re the same,
Some big, some small, some old, some young, but all of us Happy and strong,
Just trying to navigate Life moment to moment, which can seem like a shell game.

A scam, a trick, a fool’s gamble where suckers always lose thinking they’re so smart,
But that’s what I’m saying, it’s like that for everyone, for the haves and the have-nots,
We act mean not because we are mean, but because we think we’re playing our part,
Do unto others before they can do unto you, grab the golden apple before it rots!

Happy Humanity is that thing we all share, 
That balance and growth that comes from within,
It’s the part of us that feels and allows us to care, 
And shows us the Happy Human we’ve always been.

Haha 
Yowza

Happy Warning - Ep. 450

Sometimes trying to help by giving a Happy Warning can backfire,
But that doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily the wrong thing to do, 
We can only do our best and learn from each pitfall and quagmire,
And if that can help even one person then that is a thing of great value.

[full text below]

Ep. 450 - Happy Warning

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 like all different kinds of people be they quiet or loud, normal or weird,
I’ve gone to events, scoped out conventions, and attended discussion groups,
I’ve made friends with all sorts, from the well-respected to the deeply feared,
I’m just looking for connection be it with scientists or touring theater troupes.

Because meeting people from all over allows you to learn from their perspectives,
Some are nice, some are mean, some are at times nice, and other times mean,
But I still consider it valuable and enriching to explore various collectives,
You might just find your next best friend in places you never would’ve otherwise seen.

I’ve met people at art and film festivals, writer’s circles and fanclubs of all sorts,
Some were kind and welcoming to everyone, and others were a little less so,
One such bunch had a truly diverse and respectful membership by all reports,
Until I found out that there were a few bad apples, who others wished would just go.

I try not to listen to gossip, of course, because you never know what’s true,
And this crowd seemed to take safety very seriously, there was even a committee,
If you wanted to attend their gatherings you had to prove you shared that view,
And then several newbies, all of them women, asked me to become a trustee.

I declined, not wanting to judge others or become some sort of guard or cop,
But they kept bugging me, it got to the point where I felt like I wanted to scream,
Why was it so important? And so they told me, and their answer made me stop.
Because, they said, we want at least one non-creepy guy on the Safety Team.

One? You mean there’s not even one? But, they all seem so perfectly cool.
Well, you’re not a girl, they said. Which I had to admit was true, since I’m not,
So, then I felt like I had no choice but to join and so I waded into the cesspool,
And almost immediately I was asked to evaluate others--really put me on the spot.

But that’s what I joined for, so I identified the predators as best I could,
Which the women appreciated, but oddly the guys were less keen on that point,
And pretty soon the word was out that I was spreading gossip--and that’s never good,
The guys turned on me and turned others against me too until I had to blow that joint.

But it wasn’t gossip, you see--if anything, I’d been trying to contextualize things,
Maybe the guys were lonely, or they hadn’t learned how to show respect,
But all they heard was that I was talking about them with all the suspicion that brings,
And I started to sour about the whole place, where I’d only ever wanted to connect.

Sometimes trying to help by giving a Happy Warning can backfire,
But that doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily the wrong thing to do, 
We can only do our best and learn from each pitfall and quagmire,
And if that can help even one person then that is a thing of great value.

Haha
Yowza

 

Woefully Happy - Ep. 449

Letting yourself bend helps keep you from breaking, keeps you feeling scrappy,
Sometimes the taste of something bitter can make other things seem sweet,
So, rather than fighting every downturn, you could embrace being Woefully Happy,
And prove to yourself that feeling all your feelings needn't hurt, but makes you complete.

[full text below]

Ep. 449 - Woefully 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!

While I don’t claim to have diagnosable sorrow, I still, from time to time, get sad,
I get tired, overwhelmed, I feel defeated, and wonder when glad times will return,
It’s usually short-lived because I aim for balance and growth even when things get bad,
But sometimes I just want to take a nap and let sleep relieve me of any and all concern.

I treat it like catching a cold because while it may not seem like it at the time,
I know that it will eventually pass and I’ll be okay again, even if I do feel like crap,
Life has a way of keeping things moving, each day there’s a new hill to climb,
Or a new waterslide to race down, a new adventure, challenge, joy, hardship or mishap.

I’ve also had my fair share of deep grief, where I was inconsolable and weepy,
Where everything set me off and I started to develop a phobia against woe,
At those times I didn’t think that anything would fix it, I was beyond sleepy,
I was exhausted and it felt like the world wanted me to give in to the undertow.

But I stuck it out because I always wanted to see what would happen next,
Was it the point just before the big windfall, or was it the end of the road?
Was I about to have all my wishes fulfilled, or was I about to get hexed?
Also I never wanted to give my haters the satisfaction of watching me implode.

So, letting myself bend helped keep me from breaking, kept me feeling scrappy,
Sometimes the taste of something bitter can make other things seem sweet,
So, rather than fighting every downturn, I could embrace being Woefully Happy,
And prove to myself that feeling all my feelings didn’t hurt, but made me complete.

Haha
Yowza

Furiously Happy - Ep. 448

Being a weapon of mood destruction, isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,
For it obliterates friends, allies, bystanders and idle passersby,
Eating away at your sense of self, turning setbacks into insanity,
Making the world hate you as you're stuck wondering why.

[full text below]

Ep. 448 - Furiously 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!

I am the son of a mad man, I don’t know if he was insane, but he certainly was mad,
He let every discouragement, frustration and setback drive him to maximum fury,
And while I never appreciated that tactic, there was one advantage that it had,
He could change his mood, to say nothing of other people’s, in a right quick hurry.

He’d be full of fire one moment, and then, once he unleashed it, perfectly calm,
Everyone else was still reeling, but he just went back to what he was doing before,
It’s like his explosive temper was some kind of restorative tonic or curative balm,
And he saw no downside, even as we feared him he thought he was winning the war.

It made me think that there must be something to it, I mean, it seemed to work for him,
So, while I didn’t decide one day to be angry, neither did I avoid it as it grew within me,
If someone picked a fight, I would go berserk and turn it into something rather grim,
And I didn’t care if I got hurt, just so long as when I went nuclear I made them see.

But turning yourself into a weapon of mood destruction, isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,
Because it can obliterate friends, allies, supporters, innocent bystanders and passersby,
It can eat away at your sense of self, where every disappointment becomes insanity,
And you can no longer make sense of a world that hates you as you wonder why.

I used to be frequently furious--I thought it was my superpower, but it was an addiction,
So what if people thought I was harsh or caustic, able to burn away their peace of mind,
At least they wouldn’t walk all over me, and they didn’t, they’d avoid me and my affliction,
And then I had no one to blame for my isolation but me, for I had chosen to be unkind.

But it’s not easy to do an about-face and go against what you’ve been doing for so long,
I had to lose more friends, make more enemies, and crash more cars before it sunk in,
And I had to find creative outlets, ways to channel it, make right what I had made wrong,
So, instead of just furious, I became Furiously Happy, redirecting my grimace into a grin.

Haha
Yowza