Speaker 1: Life Audio.
Speaker 2: In today's episode of Timeless Wisdom, what is.
Speaker 1: The missing tile syndrome? I have a crew in here
Speaker 1: right now videoing me for a documentary on happiness, and
Speaker 1: they asked me, what is your subject? You may know
Speaker 1: crewe I am in for total transparency whatever goes on here.
Speaker 1: I tell my listeners anyway, what's your subject? I said,
Speaker 1: the missing tile syndrome. And because the guy who's directing
Speaker 1: his Canadian, I excuse him for not knowing what that meant.
Speaker 1: All Americans by now should know. But he didn't. So
Speaker 1: I said, look at the ceiling in my studio, which
Speaker 1: happens to be tiles. He said, all right, And I said,
Speaker 1: now I want you to imagine that just one tile
Speaker 1: we're missing, what would you be staring at? And he said,
Speaker 1: the missing tile. The missing tile syndrome is when we
Speaker 1: focus on the one thing we don't have.
Speaker 2: That's coming off on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Welcome
Speaker 2: to Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Here thousands of hours
Speaker 2: of Dennis's lectures courses in classic radio programs. Had to
Speaker 2: purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles. Go to Dennisprager dot com.
Speaker 1: It's the Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy Hour. Nobody expected me
Speaker 1: to do it, then they always expect it on the
Speaker 1: second time around. Hey, everybody, it's the Happiness Hour of
Speaker 1: the Dennis Prager Show. And no matter what is happening
Speaker 1: in America or the world, LIFs vermin spinning of the
Speaker 1: first born blood No, no, little, I meant blood in
Speaker 1: the Nile. Here we go. Come on, everybody America, join me.
Speaker 1: And in fact the German listener group too. It's the
Speaker 1: happy It's the clticleish gluiculish Hour. Yes it is. It's
Speaker 1: the crilticliss blitulishlalt burkish Hour. All right, everybody, why do
Speaker 1: I do an hour every week on happiness? Happy people
Speaker 1: make the world better? As simple as that. Okay, this
Speaker 1: is I am making a war on the miserable. I am,
Speaker 1: and those of you who inflict bad moods on others
Speaker 1: please know that that is identical to inflicting bad breath
Speaker 1: on others or bad body odor. You owe it to
Speaker 1: the world to be in a good mood. You owe
Speaker 1: it to the world to shower. That's the way it works.
Speaker 1: It's a moral obligation to your children, to your parents,
Speaker 1: to your spouse, to your friends, to your co worker,
Speaker 1: to the person sitting next to you in the airplane
Speaker 1: or on the airplane. Is it on the airplane or
Speaker 1: in the airplane. I'm serious, the person sitting next to
Speaker 1: you on the airplane or in the airplane, okay, and
Speaker 1: anybody else in your life. That's the point. It is
Speaker 1: a moral obligation. Hi, everybody, this is Dennis Prager Happiness
Speaker 1: Hour every week at this time, come hella, high water
Speaker 1: and now and now today's subject. Today's subject is one
Speaker 1: that Allan the Alan has been badgering me to talk
Speaker 1: about for so long, and I keep saying, oh, but Alan,
Speaker 1: I've already discussed it is Dennis. That was years ago.
Speaker 1: And he said that years ago, so now it's really
Speaker 1: years ago. Actually, this is a big one. And I'll
Speaker 1: tell you how I know, because the truth is, I
Speaker 1: don't always know. I get feedback from you, folks, And
Speaker 1: here is an example. I would say that along with
Speaker 1: perhaps the chapter in my happiness book, Happiness is the
Speaker 1: serious problem is the name of the book. If you
Speaker 1: got to use copy for a dollar, that's fine with me,
Speaker 1: just please read it. But I get feedback that in
Speaker 1: Happiness is a serious problem the chapter that most touches people,
Speaker 1: and I hope they all do. But if people isolate
Speaker 1: one more than any other, are there I guess two
Speaker 1: were tied. One is to not have expectations and the
Speaker 1: other is the missing tile syndrome. So it is time
Speaker 1: to offer my thoughts on the missing tile syndrome, as
Speaker 1: well as some new thoughts on the subject, since we
Speaker 1: all live longer than we did. If we're still living
Speaker 1: and we get new thoughts or deeper thoughts, what is
Speaker 1: the missing tile syndrome? I have a crew in here
Speaker 1: right now videoing me for a documentary on happiness, and
Speaker 1: they asked me, what is your subject? You may know, crew,
Speaker 1: I am in for total transparency whatever goes on here.
Speaker 1: I tell my listeners anyway, what's your subject? I said,
Speaker 1: the missing tile syndrome. And because the guy's directing his Canadian,
Speaker 1: I excuse him for not knowing what that meant. All
Speaker 1: Americans by now should know. But he didn't. So I said,
Speaker 1: look at the ceiling in my studio, which happens to
Speaker 1: be tiles. He said, all right, And I said, now
Speaker 1: I want you to imagine that just one tile we're missing.
Speaker 1: What would you be staring at and he said, the
Speaker 1: missing tile. The missing tile syndrome is when we focus
Speaker 1: on the one thing we don't have, and that is folks.
Speaker 1: It is so natural. There are so many ways of
Speaker 1: putting this. I am chilled, I really am. I have
Speaker 1: goosebumps at how important this is. It is such. It's
Speaker 1: a truism. No matter how much you have, you focus
Speaker 1: on what is missing. I do too. By the way,
Speaker 1: it's not when I say you, I am a member
Speaker 1: of this group of humanity if folks, if I didn't
Speaker 1: have these issues, I couldn't have written my book. That
Speaker 1: book was as much about me as it is about you.
Speaker 1: The only difference is I've thought it through and I
Speaker 1: have tried to put these principles into practice, and they work.
Speaker 1: I am not a happy dispositioned person because I haven't suffered.
Speaker 1: I am a happy dispositioned person because I have implemented
Speaker 1: the ideas that I give to you every week. By
Speaker 1: the way, parenthetical point, the unhappy think that those walking
Speaker 1: around with a happy disposition have had less pain than
Speaker 1: they do. So I have a very important point to
Speaker 1: make to those of you who are unhappy. The happy
Speaker 1: have not suffered less than the unhappy. They have chosen
Speaker 1: not to allow that pain to make them miserable. There
Speaker 1: are a handful of exceptions. I mean, if you have
Speaker 1: lost your family to a band of rapist murderers, I
Speaker 1: have to stay mum. I cannot There were certain levels
Speaker 1: of suffering to which I cannot address. I will tell
Speaker 1: you though, and then I'm getting back to the missing
Speaker 1: tiles syndrome. I knew a family and this couple lost
Speaker 1: all three of their sons to a same form I
Speaker 1: think of cancer. It was just congenital all in their
Speaker 1: early twenties or late teens. If you met this couple,
Speaker 1: you would never ever know what they have endured, the
Speaker 1: deaths of all of their children in the most terrific way.
Speaker 1: It's not like a car crash that to goal three,
Speaker 1: which is also horrific, obviously, but where they saw it
Speaker 1: coming through. No no bad thing that anybody had done anyway.
Speaker 1: My only point is that if these people could walk
Speaker 1: around with a pleasant and happy disposition, I think the
Speaker 1: rest of us can. Now back to the missing tile
Speaker 1: syndrome the human nature, and I very rarely note this.
Speaker 1: There is a sub There is a what is it?
Speaker 1: Subtitle to the title of my book it's called a
Speaker 1: human nature repair manual because my thesis is that you
Speaker 1: have to fight your nature to be happy. Human nature
Speaker 1: makes you miserable. Everybody is born with human nature. That's
Speaker 1: why it's called human nature, not your nature, and we
Speaker 1: all have to battle it to be happy. Part of
Speaker 1: human nature is to focus on what we are missing. Now,
Speaker 1: how did I learn this? Some of you know the answer,
Speaker 1: but many don't. It was in fact told to me
Speaker 1: by a bald man who told me many many years ago, Dennis,
Speaker 1: I want you to know, when I walk into a room,
Speaker 1: all I see is hair, and that man opened my
Speaker 1: eyes to a phenomenon. I never see hair when I
Speaker 1: walk into a room because I have my hair. I
Speaker 1: therefore never think about it. I am sure if I
Speaker 1: were bald, I would have a very similar view. By
Speaker 1: the way, the brilliance of that comment is that it
Speaker 1: applies to whatever you think is missing. A woman who
Speaker 1: wants children, all she sees are babies. Talk to a
Speaker 1: woman who wants to get pregnant and is having trouble,
Speaker 1: and she will tell you all her friends are pregnant.
Speaker 1: Everywhere she goes, she sees baby carriages and babies. The
Speaker 1: rest of us don't see babies everywhere. People who want
Speaker 1: babies see babies everywhere. Whatever it is. You don't have
Speaker 1: a woman who thinks that her thighs are a little
Speaker 1: too heavy or a lot too heavy. All she sees
Speaker 1: when she sees women, are thin thighs. The world is
Speaker 1: composed of thin thighs. There is no exception to this.
Speaker 1: Whatever it is that people want. People you're having trouble
Speaker 1: with your kid, all you see are well developed, happy
Speaker 1: kids around. Everybody has a fine, happy child except me.
Speaker 1: That's the way people who have It doesn't matter what
Speaker 1: it is. It does not matter what it is that
Speaker 1: is human nature. Now it's time for you to call
Speaker 1: to verify what I say, to ask about what I say,
Speaker 1: to ask how you combat it, whatever is on your mind.
Speaker 1: How in fact, if you can give me more examples
Speaker 1: of how you experience the missing tile syndrome, I can
Speaker 1: then bring it to others and you will have done
Speaker 1: a service. Maybe you differ, maybe you think that that's
Speaker 1: not true. I can't imagine, though. I think this is
Speaker 1: so universal that it's hard for me. I've I've never
Speaker 1: encountered somebody who said, g I don't know what you're
Speaker 1: talking about. One eight Prager seven seven six is the
Speaker 1: number one eight p R A G E R seven
Speaker 1: seven six, which is eight seven seven two four three
Speaker 1: triple seven six. What is it in your life that
Speaker 1: would constitute that missing tile? It's perfectly wonderful sealing, except
Speaker 1: for the one missing tile. I'm Dennis Prager. This is
Speaker 1: the Happiness Hour.
Speaker 2: This episode of timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.
Speaker 2: Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom.
Speaker 1: Shout al Aluijah, Come on, get happy, get ready for
Speaker 1: the judgment. You're listening to the Happiness Hour on the
Speaker 1: Dennis Prager Show. One eight Prager seven seven six. The
Speaker 1: subject is the missing tile syndrome. And I will tell
Speaker 1: you it's it's interesting. I love when people who have
Speaker 1: not heard me hear me, because then I am revived
Speaker 1: in my understanding of how important the and life changing
Speaker 1: a lot of these ideas are. I told you there's
Speaker 1: a film crew in here right now filming the show
Speaker 1: for a documentary on happiness, and some were saying, you know,
Speaker 1: had not they had not thought about this. People don't
Speaker 1: think about this. Who thinks through happiness systematically? Very few?
Speaker 1: Because people think it's a feeling. My service to you
Speaker 1: is that I, as it were, deacons struct happiness. Here
Speaker 1: are the aspects of it that make you happy or unhappy,
Speaker 1: and so that way you don't rely on feelings alone.
Speaker 1: We all have feelings of happiness. My point is that's
Speaker 1: not enough. That it is the mind that has to
Speaker 1: direct our happiness, not the feelings. All right, So the
Speaker 1: point here is the missing tile. Whatever you don't have,
Speaker 1: or think you don't have. You may even have it,
Speaker 1: but think you don't have is the thing that you
Speaker 1: concentrate on most. We don't concentrate most on what we
Speaker 1: do have. That's as simple as that. And I told
Speaker 1: you how I learned it. A man so many years
Speaker 1: ago said that he was a bald man who told
Speaker 1: me that whenever he walks into a room, all he
Speaker 1: sees his hair, he is missing hair. All he sees
Speaker 1: his hair, you are missing X or Y or Z.
Speaker 1: All you see is Y or Z. By the way,
Speaker 1: you may not even really be missing it. I mean
Speaker 1: the case of bald men. I have all my hair,
Speaker 1: so I have no vested interest here. So you can
Speaker 1: you can certainly believe what I'm about to say. I
Speaker 1: think that a lot of bald men way way way
Speaker 1: exaggerate its significance, including in the eyes of the opposite sex.
Speaker 1: But it doesn't matter. Men want their hair by and large,
Speaker 1: and that's the way they've thought about it. Although today
Speaker 1: bald is in more than I think certainly I ever
Speaker 1: recalled it in the past, after they all used to
Speaker 1: wear wigs. Right, we didn't know who was bald. We
Speaker 1: don't know how many of the founding fathers were bald.
Speaker 1: They all had wigs on. It would be odd, wouldn't
Speaker 1: it a bald I don't know. Thomas Jefferson just who knows.
Speaker 1: Maybe he was, I don't know if he was. All right,
Speaker 1: won aight Prager seven seven six and let's go to
Speaker 1: carry in Minneapolis, Minnesota, carriedn Thanks for calling, hello.
Speaker 3: I just wanted to call and just speak to this notion.
Speaker 3: I do have the book, I just haven't gotten to
Speaker 3: that chapter yet. But this is really new to me.
Speaker 3: And I had the syndrome and am now cured of
Speaker 3: this syndrome. I was a teen mom and a single mom,
Speaker 3: and lived in poverty for many years and really believed
Speaker 3: I was the have not and really focused everything and
Speaker 3: bought into the mentality that I was a victim, and
Speaker 3: I don't have it, and there's behalves.
Speaker 1: And that everybody else does, yes, And.
Speaker 3: I actually it actually a symptom of that too, was
Speaker 3: I started to have the symptom of entitlement, like I
Speaker 3: was entitled to have these things, and became very active
Speaker 3: in pursuing why didn't I get my twenty three dollars
Speaker 3: of food stamps? Why did they short me ten dollars
Speaker 3: of my AFDC check that I'm supposed to get on
Speaker 3: the first of the month. And instead of focusing on
Speaker 3: the other four hundred and twenty two dollars I did get,
Speaker 3: I was focused on the money that I was shorted.
Speaker 3: And really, you know, every every day and every every
Speaker 3: day with survival, every day with focus.
Speaker 1: How did you get out of it?
Speaker 3: While I went to school and no.
Speaker 1: No, no, not out of poverty. How did you get
Speaker 1: out of the missing tile syndrome?
Speaker 3: I guess I just had a new phone appreciation for
Speaker 3: what you had, faith and family and just you know,
Speaker 3: all the blessing and blessings that God has given me.
Speaker 3: My little girl. I'm a mother of five children. I'm
Speaker 3: thirty four years old. I was raising five children before
Speaker 3: I was twenty six years ago.
Speaker 1: Are you married now by any chance?
Speaker 3: I'm married now for seven years.
Speaker 1: Well, that's beautiful. That is beautiful, all right. By the way,
Speaker 1: you know, there's no politics on the Happiness Hour, but
Speaker 1: I would just raise this issue, and there really isn't.
Speaker 1: I'm quite adamant about that. This is a politics free zone,
Speaker 1: the Happiness Hour. But it is worth asking if, in fact,
Speaker 1: the missing tile syndrome creates unhappiness, and of course it does.
Speaker 1: Is there any political philosophy that is more or less
Speaker 1: likely to create a missing tile syndrome in people? I'll
Speaker 1: just leave it at that, and it's just something to
Speaker 1: think about. One A. Praeger seven seven six, And let's
Speaker 1: go to uh. Let's see here line four, which doesn't
Speaker 1: help anybody always whenever people do that talk show host
Speaker 1: that gets me annoyed, Who cares what line number? It is? Right,
Speaker 1: all right? Line four in the world famous Wasilla, Alaska,
Speaker 1: the most famous little city in America. Hello, Jake, hi,
Speaker 1: ja hi.
Speaker 4: Hey, You're talking about this problem, this syndrome as though
Speaker 4: it only has a cure. I have a vaccine for you.
Speaker 1: Oh good man.
Speaker 4: I see this all the time. I see it with
Speaker 4: my friends you know, I don't know how many other
Speaker 4: men out there have wives that every time you get
Speaker 4: in a fight or or even an argument. Every one
Speaker 4: of our friends has idyllic marriages. And our marriage is
Speaker 4: falling apart because we have a little fight. Obviously, it's
Speaker 4: a transient thing. But the way that we got out
Speaker 4: of that pattern, and it's been years now, the way
Speaker 4: that we got out of that pattern is by making
Speaker 4: a point to give, almost in a list form, to
Speaker 4: give thanks for the things that we have. And it's
Speaker 4: like counting the tiles that are there on the phone.
Speaker 1: That's correct. The vaccine is gratitude correct. Yeah, absolutely, good man.
Speaker 1: By the way, he is absolutely right on the couple's issue.
Speaker 1: And I have a chapter on that very subject, but
Speaker 1: it's it's not in the chapter on missing tile syndrome.
Speaker 1: It's in the chapter on comparing ourselves to others. You
Speaker 1: are listening to the Happiness Hour on the Dennis Prager Show.
Speaker 2: This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.
Speaker 2: Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom.
Speaker 5: It's so important to make someone happy, Make just one
Speaker 5: someone happy, make just one had the heart you you sing.
Speaker 1: To one smile that cheers you.
Speaker 5: One facetown lights when it needs one, your your everything.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Jimmy Dennis Trager here f the bailout was
Speaker 1: just passed by the US House of Representatives. But we
Speaker 1: continue with the Happiness Hour, just letting you know the news,
Speaker 1: so that shall increase your happiness. I just see you
Speaker 1: all jumping up and down talking about that's what the
Speaker 1: market is doing, is jumping up and down, in other words,
Speaker 1: the prices. The market is up and the market is down.
Speaker 1: My friends, I'll tell you this, if we do go
Speaker 1: through a difficult time economically. I mean this just with sincerity,
Speaker 1: the Happiness Hour will take on even greater importance. If
Speaker 1: it was important during the good times, it will be
Speaker 1: certainly important during the bad times. And so that is
Speaker 1: just a thought tying the two together, the Happiness Hour
Speaker 1: and the news. We'll talk about, of course that we'll
Speaker 1: talk about that in the last night's debate when we
Speaker 1: come back next hour and re enter the prosaic problems
Speaker 1: of life. But this is the real reality of the happiness.
Speaker 1: We're talking about, the happiness issue of the missing tile syndrome.
Speaker 1: We focus on what we don't have. Here comes a
Speaker 1: perfect example. I believe Susan in Englewood, Colorado. Hi, this
Speaker 1: is Dennis Prager.
Speaker 6: Hi, Dennis, this is Susan.
Speaker 1: Hi.
Speaker 3: Nice to talk to you.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 6: I have to tell you. I was thirty six years
Speaker 6: old and the clock was ticking, and I wanted to
Speaker 6: be married more than anything. And I was working. I
Speaker 6: was a teacher, and in the summer I took a
Speaker 6: little job as a checkout girl at a grocery store.
Speaker 6: And you see people in their purses in their hands,
Speaker 6: and I would notice everyone's wedding ring m and I thought,
Speaker 6: how that is a mary you.
Speaker 1: Have I'm not you have given me as powerful an
Speaker 1: example as the bald man.
Speaker 6: Thank you.
Speaker 3: All.
Speaker 1: She saw wedding.
Speaker 6: Bands, yep, And I thought, and I would see women
Speaker 6: that I thought, I'm competitive with her. I'm I'm not
Speaker 6: terrible looking, and she's just okay looking. How come of
Speaker 6: course married?
Speaker 7: And I'm not.
Speaker 6: What's what's looking here? What's wrong? And everyone was married?
Speaker 1: And what did you do?
Speaker 6: Well, I'll tell you. I remember. It's been a while now,
Speaker 6: but I remember the day that I was sitting on
Speaker 6: my couch and I had a big cozy blanket around me,
Speaker 6: the television on, and I was eating dinner, sitting on
Speaker 6: the couch in my pajamas with that blanket, with the
Speaker 6: remote in my hand, and I thought, you know, I
Speaker 6: need to really enjoy this. This is cozy and it's
Speaker 6: and it's nice, and you don't get this when you're married.
Speaker 6: I'll tell you. Within four months I was engaged with it,
Speaker 6: six months I was married, and within the year I
Speaker 6: had a baby. And now eight years.
Speaker 1: Later, and now you look at all these women without
Speaker 1: wedding bands and think, oh wow, sit.
Speaker 3: On the couch.
Speaker 6: Now I sit on a hard table, eating dinner and
Speaker 6: my husband has the remote in hiss hands.
Speaker 1: That's that's a great story.
Speaker 6: But I think I was just you know, great.
Speaker 1: By the way, here's the point. Though you were able,
Speaker 1: your story is even more powerful for this reason you
Speaker 1: with the day you decided to be happy in your situation,
Speaker 1: you attracted a man.
Speaker 6: That's right.
Speaker 3: That's right.
Speaker 1: I tell singles who want to get married that the
Speaker 1: happier you can be in your single state, the more
Speaker 1: likely you are to get married. The iron irony of ironies.
Speaker 1: And I want people to get married, but I also
Speaker 1: want people to be happy whether they're married or not.
Speaker 1: That's right. Got a great story. God bless you. That's
Speaker 1: that's just terrific. You're welcome. That's that's a treasure one.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, folks, this is not rocket science. Happy
Speaker 1: people attract people. I'm tempted to say the following hello,
Speaker 1: but I won't. I don't. I don't like that, so
Speaker 1: I won't go hello. You know, the film crew is
Speaker 1: probably thinking that I'm doing this because they're here. They
Speaker 1: don't know that this is how I am normally. Oh,
Speaker 1: is that the truth? You want? You want to bring
Speaker 1: people into your life? Act happy? Somebody? What was it?
Speaker 1: What was it? Somebody either wrote some essay or somebody
Speaker 1: sent me a letter. Oh my god. You could tell
Speaker 1: they were a bunch of intellectuals. They wanted to know. Well, Dennis,
Speaker 1: it's we We agree, but it's not really authentic to
Speaker 1: walk around in the an elated state. So what do
Speaker 1: you mean by act happy? You need to go to
Speaker 1: graduate school to ask those questions. I'm serious. We We
Speaker 1: shall return momentarily on the Happiness Hour on the Dennis
Speaker 1: Prager Show.
Speaker 3: Dennis, I just wanted to call and say I'm trying
Speaker 3: to have to get too emotional because you have changed
Speaker 3: my life. I have read your books. I listened to
Speaker 3: your Timeless Wisdom.
Speaker 1: Show every day, and I want to be like you
Speaker 1: when I grow up. Thank you for your wisdom.
Speaker 8: Thank you for being true person for God and showing the.
Speaker 6: Light in God in you in this world.
Speaker 1: Because this world needs it. I can't say thank you
Speaker 1: so much enough.
Speaker 5: My name is Tina.
Speaker 6: I live in Grand Rapids.
Speaker 8: Michigan, and I am praying for a full recovery.
Speaker 1: Continue to fight it. You're doing awesome. Thank you again. Goodbye.
Speaker 2: Are you enjoying Timeless Wisdom? We'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 2: Call eight seven seven seventy seven seventy six and leave
Speaker 2: a review, share your thoughts, or just even an encouraging
Speaker 2: word for Dennis. Your voicemail might just make it on
Speaker 2: the show. That's eight seven seven two four three seventy
Speaker 2: seven seventy six. That's eight seven seven two four three
Speaker 2: triple seven six. Thanks for listening and for your support.
Speaker 1: I'm just listening happy music. I'm talking to you today
Speaker 1: on the happiness are but the missing tile syndrome that
Speaker 1: the human nature is such that we focus on the
Speaker 1: tile that is missing. You can see it could be
Speaker 1: in a gorgeous room, some public place, a chapel, any anything,
Speaker 1: an auditorium, and you look up and one tile is missing,
Speaker 1: and that's what you stare at. That's what we do
Speaker 1: with our lives. We can have everything and one tile
Speaker 1: is missing. The woman who wanted to get married, all
Speaker 1: she saw were wedding bands, the bold man who only
Speaker 1: saw hair, the overweight women who only saw thin women.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's endless what we do. The people who
Speaker 1: want children to only see children, the people who are
Speaker 1: economically challenged only see rich people or people who were comfortable.
Speaker 1: You know, my theory on happiness, incidentally will be is
Speaker 1: so deep on the importance of it. I have a
Speaker 1: theory on who wins elections, the happier candidate, and that
Speaker 1: is why it's a major reason why Ronald Reagan had
Speaker 1: a landslide victory over Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter did not
Speaker 1: exude happiness, and Ronald Reagan did. And I have not
Speaker 1: seen an exception. The happier candidate wins. The happier person
Speaker 1: generally wins the marriage, The happier person wins the job interview.
Speaker 1: Happy people make the world better, and happy people get
Speaker 1: more for them, So you would think it's self recommending
Speaker 1: to act happy, wouldn't you. It's so it's so obvious
Speaker 1: and yet and yet it's it's so not universal. Alrighty
Speaker 1: one eighth Prager seven seven six, And we go to
Speaker 1: Pearl excuse me, Palm Harbor, Florida. Patti, Hi, Patty, Dennis Prager.
Speaker 8: Oh, Dennis, this is the best birthday present I could
Speaker 8: have gotten there.
Speaker 1: Today is your birthday?
Speaker 8: Well not today, but it's coming very quickly, and I'm
Speaker 8: happy about it.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 8: Well, I don't ever understand that either of it.
Speaker 1: That's funny, that's true.
Speaker 8: We will almost got in was I think last year
Speaker 8: right before my birthday?
Speaker 5: So much?
Speaker 1: Really you did? That's very sweet, Okay, pre happy birthday. Hi.
Speaker 8: There's so many things I love this hour because it's
Speaker 8: so for some reason you think like I do. And
Speaker 8: I've always been this way. So I've always had this
Speaker 8: question about you know, because I had a brother sister
Speaker 8: who didn't and it's like, with the same circumstances. Was
Speaker 8: there something in me from the beginning that tended to
Speaker 8: you know, you talk about it probably missing tile yeah,
Speaker 8: but then something inside of me, some instinct, always, even
Speaker 8: from when I was very young, always then instantly refocused
Speaker 8: on the rest on something that.
Speaker 3: Was going to make me well.
Speaker 1: Look, here is the sad truth of life. We are
Speaker 1: born with a lot of traits. Some people are born
Speaker 1: happier than others, but some people are born more musical
Speaker 1: than others. But still everybody can play piano. See even that,
Speaker 1: if you take lessons in happiness like lessons on the piano,
Speaker 1: you can then play happiness. But some people have a
Speaker 1: more natural affinity. You are one of them. Your brother
Speaker 1: and sister are not well.
Speaker 8: This led me to a career the last sixteen years
Speaker 8: of working with people with pain and with unhappiness and
Speaker 8: different things.
Speaker 1: What is the career? What do you do?
Speaker 8: Happened recent I'm a hypnotherapist, and it's all about shifting
Speaker 8: focus to something that's going to make you feel better,
Speaker 8: whether it's better, whether it's pain, or you know, the
Speaker 8: lack of being married or a relationship, those kinds of things.
Speaker 8: But recently I had a lady who I gave her
Speaker 8: an article that i'd written about pain, because even research
Speaker 8: shows the more you focus on it, the more it
Speaker 8: hurts you, know literally, So I gave her an article
Speaker 8: that I'd written, and she came back and she still
Speaker 8: wanted to work with me, but she was actually a
Speaker 8: little angry, and she says, you are obviously someone who
Speaker 8: has never experienced pain in your life. And that was
Speaker 8: such a perfect example of how people that's it happy
Speaker 8: they think you've never well did.
Speaker 1: You hear me say that at the beginning of the show.
Speaker 8: Exactly?
Speaker 1: This is every time I give a speech on this subject, Patty,
Speaker 1: and thank you and happy birthday again, I always say
Speaker 1: I am now making and I did it this hour.
Speaker 1: I hereby wish to inform the unhappy that we who
Speaker 1: act happy have suffered just as much as you. And
Speaker 1: this is a revelation to those who walk around in
Speaker 1: bad moods. It's a revelation. Time to go to Texas
Speaker 1: and Irving, Texas. Danny, Hi, Danny, Dennis Prager, thank you
Speaker 1: for calling.
Speaker 9: Hi, Thank you for taking a call. Uh yeah, I
Speaker 9: guess I've suffered from the missing cal syndrome for quite
Speaker 9: a while. I've never been in a serious relationship. Uh uh,
Speaker 9: I've I've always uh uh that's all I've ever noticed.
Speaker 1: Is all you've ever noticed is what you're missing? Yes, yeah,
Speaker 1: well you h I'm gonna make a leap here, uh
Speaker 1: based on both your content and your tone. Have you
Speaker 1: actually sought therapy?
Speaker 9: I've tried. Uh, it's I'm not sure if have you ever?
Speaker 1: Have you ever tried one of the pharmaceutical drugs to
Speaker 1: help elevate a mood somewhat?
Speaker 9: I don't know what those would be.
Speaker 1: Well, you might want to give that a thought. You
Speaker 1: might be battling something that is not just psychological. And
Speaker 1: I grant that there is a physiological component to some
Speaker 1: people's being constantly down, and you should look at that
Speaker 1: no differently than if you had a congenitally bad leg.
Speaker 1: You get it operated on. We'll be back in a moment.
Speaker 2: This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.
Speaker 2: Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom.
Speaker 1: I don't care what the weather man says. I'm not
Speaker 1: interrupting him. You never have me complaining. I'm say the
Speaker 1: sun shine. I don't generally read it biographies of entertainers.
Speaker 1: If there's a good one of Louis or Lewis, as
Speaker 1: some of you tell me to say, I want to
Speaker 1: read it, is there. I'm sure there are a few
Speaker 1: of them, but if you tell me a good one,
Speaker 1: you're listening to the Dennis Prager Show, and this is
Speaker 1: the Happiness Hour. I'm going to summarize the calls up there,
Speaker 1: don't hang up. Bonnie and fort Worth says she works
Speaker 1: for the county hospital and works in O B and
Speaker 1: observing the physical defects. It's obstetrics for those who don't know.
Speaker 1: I'm observing the physical defects and problems in the hospital
Speaker 1: makes it impossible for her or anyone to feel the
Speaker 1: missing tile. And today's your birthday, Bonnie, Happy birthday. That's right,
Speaker 1: that's exactly right. Maybe when you see how many others
Speaker 1: have it, you can't have a missing tile syndrome as much.
Speaker 1: That's right for those just tuning in the missing tile syndrome.
Speaker 1: A major chapter in my book on happiness. Happiness is
Speaker 1: a serious problem, as the name of the book is
Speaker 1: about our focusing on the missing things in our life.
Speaker 1: And again, the same thing Carrie in Minnesota. Her tile
Speaker 1: has been lack of acceptance and acknowledgment from others until
Speaker 1: she got sick, and her illness helped highlight what really
Speaker 1: matters and changed whole perspective. That's exactly right. Ah, I
Speaker 1: have so much to say about that, but I don't
Speaker 1: have the time Saint Petersburg, Florida. Doug says wife has
Speaker 1: bipolar syndrome, and reassessing what we have and enhance our
Speaker 1: love has helped us with the missing tile syndrome. Yep.
Speaker 1: My favorite in some ways is Marilyn and aurora Us.
Speaker 1: Dennis comments about happiness as a state of mind rather
Speaker 1: than emotion, as means of overcoming missing tiles syndrome. I
Speaker 1: probably say this too often. This is the most important
Speaker 1: point I can make, But it probably is the most
Speaker 1: important point I can make, and that is, if your
Speaker 1: mind is in control and not your brain. The brain
Speaker 1: is the seat of feelings, the mind is the seed
Speaker 1: of thought and values, then you will have a better life.
Speaker 1: You will lead a more ethical, a more moral, and
Speaker 1: a more happy life. If your mind is in control,
Speaker 1: that's where it starts, and it starts by understanding that
Speaker 1: there are a lot of tiles that you do have,
Speaker 1: and not to focus, as naturally you would, of those
Speaker 1: that are missing. This has been the happiness hour.
Speaker 2: On Tomorrow of Dennis teaches the Tora.
Speaker 10: If the God that Judaism introduced to the world exists,
Speaker 10: not Aristotle's unmoved mover, but the God the personal God
Speaker 10: of Judaism, the judging God of Judaism, the merciful God
Speaker 10: of God of Judaism.
Speaker 1: Then there is an afterlife.
Speaker 10: To me, it is it is impossible for a good God,
Speaker 10: a just God, to have created a world with so
Speaker 10: much intrinsic injustice and cruelty and not had a working
Speaker 10: of it out in some afterlife. It is impossible for
Speaker 10: me to believe that this world was created and the
Speaker 10: only reality is physical, that the human being possesses, no
Speaker 10: soul that outlives our decrepit skin. It's just it's inconceivable
Speaker 10: to me on logical grounds. I can entertain atheism intellectually,
Speaker 10: I cannot entertain belief in God, but no afterlife. It's
Speaker 10: a God that I that is alien to Judaism. But again,
Speaker 10: it's tape you'll have to get, or an article of
Speaker 10: mine you'll have to read. I'm about to be gathered
Speaker 10: to my kin to bury me with my father's in
Speaker 10: the cave which is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
Speaker 10: the cave which is in the field of Mothpela. Remember
Speaker 10: where Abraham and Isaac and their wives are buried facing
Speaker 10: Mamray in the land of Canan. To feel that Abraham
Speaker 10: bought from Ephron the Hittite for a burial site. How
Speaker 10: many of you have been with me since chapter one? Oh,
Speaker 10: there actually are a twenty or so. That's twenty, maybe
Speaker 10: a dozen six, No, no, about fifteen of you.
Speaker 1: I'm very touched by that.
Speaker 10: Do you recall how the Torah went out of its way,
Speaker 10: almost hilariously, to say we bought the land the Jews
Speaker 10: bought the lad Here again it comes back at the
Speaker 10: very end of Genesis.
Speaker 7: Let nobody say the Jews got that land in any
Speaker 7: illegal way.
Speaker 1: So here it is again, like it needs to be mentioned.
Speaker 7: The guy is, you know, and even now he revit
Speaker 7: the one we bought and from whom we bought it
Speaker 7: is mentioned.
Speaker 10: It is so fascinating. The Torah is so sensitive to
Speaker 10: the possibility that anyone would accuse the Jews of having
Speaker 10: that area not totally fairly legally bought.
Speaker 1: So here it is again. It got a kick out
Speaker 1: of it seeing it.
Speaker 10: You know, boys, the one that Abraham bought from Efron
Speaker 10: the Hittite for a burial site.
Speaker 1: There.
Speaker 10: Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried there. Isaac and
Speaker 10: his wife Rebecca were buried and their eye buried Leah,
Speaker 10: the field and the cave in it.
Speaker 1: Bought from the Hittites.
Speaker 10: In case you missed, boys, when one of you was
Speaker 10: talking while I spoke, is that funny?
Speaker 1: I mean, you know when you're when you become aware
Speaker 1: of it. It truly, it's comical.
Speaker 10: When Jacob finished his instructions to his sons, he drew
Speaker 10: his feet into the bed and breathing his last he
Speaker 10: was gathered to his people.
Speaker 1: It's very touching.
Speaker 10: The last chapter of Genesis is not about Jacob. I mean,
Speaker 10: you know, he could have died in the last chapter,
Speaker 10: but it's a way of saying, nolpe. The continuum is
Speaker 10: what happens with Joseph and the brothers. The children of
Speaker 10: Israel takeover now, not Israel himself. He dies in chapter
Speaker 10: forty nine. It's very touching that it works that way.
Speaker 10: And so we go to the final chapter in the
Speaker 10: Book of Genesis, chapter fifty.
Speaker 2: Join us tomorrow to hear more on timeless Wisdom with
Speaker 2: Dennis Prigger. Visit Denisprigger dot com for thousands of hours
Speaker 2: of Dennis's lectures, courses in classic radio programs, and to
Speaker 2: purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles. We want to take just
Speaker 2: a second to thank the team at Life Audio for
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