July 11, 2025 • 7 mins
Welcome to the very 1st episode of The Joyfulicity Podcast. I look forward to sharing thoughts and interviews with you, centering around how to lead a life of joy, even in these trying times that we live in, both individually and collectively. Sometimes life throws us curves and can feel a lot like crashing into a mailbox. But it's worth getting up and trying again, as many times as it takes.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Laura Wakefield (00:07):
Have you ever felt like adulting is an awful
lot like crashing into a mailboxover and over and over again?
Welcome to the Joy fulicityPodcast.
I'm your host, Laura Wakefield,and today I'd like to start by
telling you a little story.
It all started out pretty well.
(00:28):
I was five years old, and thebig day had come to take the
training wheels off of my bike.
My dad held onto the back ofthe big banana bicycle seat, and
my mom and a few neighborsgathered around to cheer me on.
This was back in the days whenneighbors were all outside
participating in each other'slives.
It was a wonderful time to growup.
We went up and down the streeta few times while I gained my
(00:49):
balance and some confidence, andthen all of a sudden, without
warning, my dad let go of thebike.
At first I was a little shaky,but then totally exhilarated
that I was actually riding abicycle all by myself.
I was even more excited when Inegotiated the turn at the end
of the street without messingup.
It was a few laps of pure joybefore I realized that I was
(01:12):
getting a little bit tired and Ihad a huge problem.
You see, we had never talkedabout how to stop.
In hindsight, it would havebeen better to just call out to
my dad to assist me.
I wasn't going very fast.
He easily could have run tocome and help me.
Instead, though, I panicked.
And I'm pretty sure I actuallysped up a little bit as I came
(01:34):
careening toward our house.
Right about the time that myparents realized what was
happening, I was barreling smackinto our mailbox.
I hit it so hard that it camecompletely out of the ground,
landing on top of me.
Of course, this was the 70s, soI wasn't wearing a helmet
either.
So it was a fairly epic crashand had all of the adults
(01:56):
running over to be sure that Iwas okay.
Thankfully, there were noserious injuries, other than to
my pride, but I was banged upand I cried a lot as my dad dug
me out from under the heap,propped me on the curb, and sat
with me while I whimpered, inpart from pain, but mostly from
embarrassment.
Once he was certain that I wastruly okay, though, he suggested
(02:20):
that we try again.
What?
I thought.
No way! In my five-year-oldmind, I was DONE with bike
riding.
It was no fun at all to falldown and get hurt.
Why would I want to do thatagain?
Eventually, though, he coaxedme back onto the bicycle, talked
me through the basics ofbraking and stopping gracefully,
(02:41):
and he sent me off again.
This time, I coasted in for asmooth stop, all smiles.
I spent most of my childhood onthat bike.
It carried me to school andfriends' houses, the pool,
pretty much everywhere.
In those days, kids had a lotof freedom from a young age, so
that bicycle truly expanded myreach and abilities.
(03:03):
Amazingly, given the daredeviltricks we all used to do, I
never wiped out that badlyagain.
What a blessing that I didn'tquit after that first
humiliating crash.
I would have missed out on somany wonderful memories and
experiences if I had.
Thanks, Dad, for encouraging meto try it again.
You know what I've learned,though?
(03:25):
There's a lot of times thatadulting feels an awful lot like
crashing into a mailbox.
Things just don't always go theway we plan.
In fact, I would venture to saythat most of the time things
don't go exactly the way weoriginally think they will.
Life is full of so manyheartbreaks and failures and
(03:46):
disappointments.
The older you get, the biggeryour problems seem to get as
well.
It can be enough some days tomake you just want to stay in
bed with the covers pulled upover your head.
When we get hurt, it is anatural reaction to want to
withdraw.
By quitting, it feels like wecan protect ourselves from
failing again in the future.
And you know what?
(04:07):
In some ways, perhaps we canactually.
But the trouble is we alsodeprive ourselves of the chance
at future success.
If I refuse to ever date againpost-divorce, I definitely might
save myself the heartbreak ofanother failed relationship, but
I also would be keeping myselffrom the possibility of a future
(04:29):
loving relationship, which issomething that I still very much
want.
I read one time that the HarryPotter book series was rejected
12 times by publishers before itwent on to become some of the
highest grossing books andmovies in history.
What if J.K.
Rowling had given up after,say, the tenth rejection?
(04:50):
No one would have blamed her.
I mean, ten rejections wouldhave been extraordinarily
frustrating and painful.
If I was her, I would have beenquestioning whether or not I
was even a very good writer, ormaybe my stories just really
weren't that good if nobodyseemed to want them.
But I'm fairly certain thattoday, she is really glad that
(05:10):
she kept on submitting thosemanuscripts anyway.
I myself, have a few dreams thathave been residing on the back
shelf of my life for quite awhile now.
Do you have any dreams likethat?
One thing or another alwaysjumps in the way every time you
set out to make them realities.
I have quit and given up moretimes than I can recall,
(05:32):
questioning whether or not thesedreams are even worth the price
I'd have to pay to achievethem.
Maybe they're just not meant tobe, right?
I mean, if every time I startmoving forward, I get
sidetracked by life anyway,what's the point, right?
But my dad's voice has been inmy head again recently.
"Laura, it's time to tryagain." Fear comes up in me and
(05:55):
says, "but what if I crashepically?" Hope says, "but then
again, what if I don't?" What ifall of my dreams actually come
true this time?
or somewhere in between. All Iknow is this, that I have to
try, because the day that westop trying is the day we stop
(06:19):
fully living.
So we must always summon thecourage to begin again and again
and again as many times as ittakes.
One of those dreams for me hasbeen this very podcast.
I have been talking about doingthis for two to three years.
A lot of my friends and familymembers have encouraged me, but
(06:40):
it just has felt like betweentechnical difficulties and life
events and just processing someof my own fears inside of
myself, it just hasn't happened.
So to be recording this firstepisode today is a really big
deal for me.
I'm so excited going forward toshare with you so many thoughts
(07:04):
and ideas that I have and to beinterviewing other people with
all of their vast array ofeducation and experience, all
centering around how to live ajoyful and happy life, no matter
what circumstances you may findyourself in.
It's possible, and I feel likethis is a message that the world
(07:27):
very much needs to hear.
If you're tuning in today forthis very first episode of the
Joy fulicity Podcast, thank youfrom the bottom of my heart for
being here and foryour support.
Have you ever felt like adulting is an awful
lot like crashing into a mailboxover and over and over again?
Welcome to the Joy fulicityPodcast.
I'm your host, Laura Wakefield,and today I'd like to start by
telling you a little story.
It all started out pretty well.
(00:28):
I was five years old, and thebig day had come to take the
training wheels off of my bike.
My dad held onto the back ofthe big banana bicycle seat, and
my mom and a few neighborsgathered around to cheer me on.
This was back in the days whenneighbors were all outside
participating in each other'slives.
It was a wonderful time to growup.
We went up and down the streeta few times while I gained my
(00:49):
balance and some confidence, andthen all of a sudden, without
warning, my dad let go of thebike.
At first I was a little shaky,but then totally exhilarated
that I was actually riding abicycle all by myself.
I was even more excited when Inegotiated the turn at the end
of the street without messingup.
It was a few laps of pure joybefore I realized that I was
(01:12):
getting a little bit tired and Ihad a huge problem.
You see, we had never talkedabout how to stop.
In hindsight, it would havebeen better to just call out to
my dad to assist me.
I wasn't going very fast.
He easily could have run tocome and help me.
Instead, though, I panicked.
And I'm pretty sure I actuallysped up a little bit as I came
(01:34):
careening toward our house.
Right about the time that myparents realized what was
happening, I was barreling smackinto our mailbox.
I hit it so hard that it camecompletely out of the ground,
landing on top of me.
Of course, this was the 70s, soI wasn't wearing a helmet
either.
So it was a fairly epic crashand had all of the adults
(01:56):
running over to be sure that Iwas okay.
Thankfully, there were noserious injuries, other than to
my pride, but I was banged upand I cried a lot as my dad dug
me out from under the heap,propped me on the curb, and sat
with me while I whimpered, inpart from pain, but mostly from
embarrassment.
Once he was certain that I wastruly okay, though, he suggested
(02:20):
that we try again.
What?
I thought.
No way! In my five-year-oldmind, I was DONE with bike
riding.
It was no fun at all to falldown and get hurt.
Why would I want to do thatagain?
Eventually, though, he coaxedme back onto the bicycle, talked
me through the basics ofbraking and stopping gracefully,
(02:41):
and he sent me off again.
This time, I coasted in for asmooth stop, all smiles.
I spent most of my childhood onthat bike.
It carried me to school andfriends' houses, the pool,
pretty much everywhere.
In those days, kids had a lotof freedom from a young age, so
that bicycle truly expanded myreach and abilities.
(03:03):
Amazingly, given the daredeviltricks we all used to do, I
never wiped out that badlyagain.
What a blessing that I didn'tquit after that first
humiliating crash.
I would have missed out on somany wonderful memories and
experiences if I had.
Thanks, Dad, for encouraging meto try it again.
You know what I've learned,though?
(03:25):
There's a lot of times thatadulting feels an awful lot like
crashing into a mailbox.
Things just don't always go theway we plan.
In fact, I would venture to saythat most of the time things
don't go exactly the way weoriginally think they will.
Life is full of so manyheartbreaks and failures and
(03:46):
disappointments.
The older you get, the biggeryour problems seem to get as
well.
It can be enough some days tomake you just want to stay in
bed with the covers pulled upover your head.
When we get hurt, it is anatural reaction to want to
withdraw.
By quitting, it feels like wecan protect ourselves from
failing again in the future.
And you know what?
(04:07):
In some ways, perhaps we canactually.
But the trouble is we alsodeprive ourselves of the chance
at future success.
If I refuse to ever date againpost-divorce, I definitely might
save myself the heartbreak ofanother failed relationship, but
I also would be keeping myselffrom the possibility of a future
(04:29):
loving relationship, which issomething that I still very much
want.
I read one time that the HarryPotter book series was rejected
12 times by publishers before itwent on to become some of the
highest grossing books andmovies in history.
What if J.K.
Rowling had given up after,say, the tenth rejection?
(04:50):
No one would have blamed her.
I mean, ten rejections wouldhave been extraordinarily
frustrating and painful.
If I was her, I would have beenquestioning whether or not I
was even a very good writer, ormaybe my stories just really
weren't that good if nobodyseemed to want them.
But I'm fairly certain thattoday, she is really glad that
(05:10):
she kept on submitting thosemanuscripts anyway.
I myself, have a few dreams thathave been residing on the back
shelf of my life for quite awhile now.
Do you have any dreams likethat?
One thing or another alwaysjumps in the way every time you
set out to make them realities.
I have quit and given up moretimes than I can recall,
(05:32):
questioning whether or not thesedreams are even worth the price
I'd have to pay to achievethem.
Maybe they're just not meant tobe, right?
I mean, if every time I startmoving forward, I get
sidetracked by life anyway,what's the point, right?
But my dad's voice has been inmy head again recently.
"Laura, it's time to tryagain." Fear comes up in me and
(05:55):
says, "but what if I crashepically?" Hope says, "but then
again, what if I don't?" What ifall of my dreams actually come
true this time?
or somewhere in between. All Iknow is this, that I have to
try, because the day that westop trying is the day we stop
(06:19):
fully living.
So we must always summon thecourage to begin again and again
and again as many times as ittakes.
One of those dreams for me hasbeen this very podcast.
I have been talking about doingthis for two to three years.
A lot of my friends and familymembers have encouraged me, but
(06:40):
it just has felt like betweentechnical difficulties and life
events and just processing someof my own fears inside of
myself, it just hasn't happened.
So to be recording this firstepisode today is a really big
deal for me.
I'm so excited going forward toshare with you so many thoughts
(07:04):
and ideas that I have and to beinterviewing other people with
all of their vast array ofeducation and experience, all
centering around how to live ajoyful and happy life, no matter
what circumstances you may findyourself in.
It's possible, and I feel likethis is a message that the world
(07:27):
very much needs to hear.
If you're tuning in today forthis very first episode of the
Joy fulicity Podcast, thank youfrom the bottom of my heart for
being here and foryour support.
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