Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to make your minutes better. Happiness is
Speaker 1: more about what we are experiencing moment by moment than
Speaker 1: any lofty concepts. Get the minutes right and you can
Speaker 1: win big. So. My youngest child learned to walk a
Speaker 1: few months ago, and as anybody who has raised a
Speaker 1: toddler knows, this can be a rough stage. They are
Speaker 1: into everything and they have zero sense. It's hard to
Speaker 1: relax when you're chasing a toddler everywhere and trying to
Speaker 1: keep them from hurting themselves. This can make for some
Speaker 1: really long hours. I have baby proof to some areas
Speaker 1: inside the house, but I recently made the decision to
Speaker 1: babyproof the back porch. I put a gate by the
Speaker 1: opening and cleared up stuff that might be problematic. The
Speaker 1: result I can now sit on the porch sofa and
Speaker 1: chill as my little guy plays with toys on weekend
Speaker 1: late afternoons. Now as the weather gets nicer, sometimes I
Speaker 1: might enjoy a craft beer as I watch him play.
Speaker 1: Instead of popping up every five seconds, I can sit
Speaker 1: for ten minutes before something requires my intervention. Well, my
Speaker 1: listeners without toddlers might not think that sounds relaxing. Trust
Speaker 1: me when I say the difference is night and day.
Speaker 1: Maybe you also have some stretch of time in your
Speaker 1: days that feels tedious or even unpleasant. Sometimes we just
Speaker 1: make do. Not all moments can be blissful, but you
Speaker 1: might consider if you could do anything to make these
Speaker 1: moments better. A good podcast can make a traffic am tolerable,
Speaker 1: or maybe you negotiate to keep working from home even
Speaker 1: after COVID ends and you skip the driving entirely. A
Speaker 1: really fun book can transport a waiting room experience. Great
Speaker 1: music and nice smelling soap make cleaning a kitchen a
Speaker 1: lot better. Even something as simple as a good chair
Speaker 1: can make the sidelines of a kid's game more of
Speaker 1: a relaxing experience than a chore. None of this is automatic.
Speaker 1: If it were, you would already be doing it instead.
Speaker 1: Happiness is at least partially the result of conscious choices.
Speaker 1: You have to think through your days and about how
Speaker 1: you spend your time. You have to recognize when you
Speaker 1: are happy and when you aren't. You have to recognize
Speaker 1: that something isn't as good as it could be, and
Speaker 1: you have to think about why, and then instead of
Speaker 1: feeling sad about it, you have to try something else
Speaker 1: from miner annoyances. This can seem like a lot of effort,
Speaker 1: but I'd argue that moment by moment happiness is actually
Speaker 1: a worthy outcome. We may think that our happiness is
Speaker 1: tied to big things, like a high paying job, a
Speaker 1: nice house, an accomplished family, and indeed all of these
Speaker 1: are wonderful. But a high paying job can still feature
Speaker 1: annoying meetings. A nice house can require housework and maintenance,
Speaker 1: and those things might not be so fun. And as
Speaker 1: for that family, well, the toddler shure is cute, but
Speaker 1: hopping up every five seconds to redirect him is not
Speaker 1: a great way to relax on a Saturday. I am
Speaker 1: not willing to wait to relax on nice spring afternoons
Speaker 1: until he's all grown up. There are always ways to
Speaker 1: make movements better. I believe in doing what we can
Speaker 1: in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here is to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me.
Speaker 1: On Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's
Speaker 1: B the number four, then Breakfast p o D. You
Speaker 1: can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: At i heeart media dot com that before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I
Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. One