Happiness Falls: How Adversity Can Increase Joy with Angie Kim

What if the darkest moments of your life aren't sent to make you miserable, but to show you how to experience more joy in the face of tragedy?

Join Matt O'Neill and New York Times bestselling author Angie Kim as they explore the revolutionary concept that suffering can actually enhance your capacity for happiness. Through her gripping novel "Happiness Falls," Angie reveals how tragedy, uncertainty, and even crisis can become unexpected pathways to deeper joy and meaning.

This isn't your typical happiness advice. This is about understanding the relativity of happiness—why lottery winners and accident victims end up at the same happiness level, and how your baseline expectations shape everything you experience. You'll discover why comfort might be killing your joy, how adversity builds resilience, and the counterintuitive truth that wanting what you already have is the secret to lasting happiness.

Whether you're facing your own crisis or simply wondering why all your comforts haven't made you happier, this conversation will transform how you think about joy, suffering, and what it really means to live a fulfilled life.

0:00 Introduction

1:43 How tragedy inspired a happiness story

5:49 The mystery of always appearing happy

8:04 What people get wrong about happiness

11:21 The backpacking happiness experiment

14:15 The lottery winner vs. paralysis study

17:59 Why tragedy can make you more grateful

20:04 How early adversity builds resilience

21:05 Learning to live with uncertainty

25:07 When characters take on a life of their own

27:46 Protecting vs. building resilience in children

28:39 Finding joy in the midst of despair

30:48 The secret to lasting happiness

Resources Mentioned:

🌐 Angie Kim's website: https://angiekimbooks.com/

🌐 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/angie.kim.va

🌐 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angiekimask/

🌐 X: https://x.com/AngieKimWriter

🌐 Good Reads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40121959-miracle-creek

📚 Angie Kim's book: "Happiness Falls": https://a.co/d/5oWDDPI

📚 "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle: https://a.co/d/daKQjTN

📖 The lottery winner vs. accident victim happiness study: https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-3514.36.8.917

About the Guest:

Angie Kim is a New York Times bestselling author whose novel "Happiness Falls" was named one of the best books of the year by Goodreads and has been featured in Time magazine. A former patent litigator turned novelist, Kim explores complex themes of identity, communication, and happiness through her compelling storytelling. Her work delves into the Korean-American experience and challenges conventional wisdom about what makes us truly happy. She brings both personal experience as a Korean immigrant and deep philosophical insight to her exploration of joy, suffering, and the human condition.