April 23, 2025 • 29 mins
Can you truly find happiness amidst wars, tragedies, and political discord? We believe it's possible, and we're here to share some thoughtful insights on the topic. Join us!
instagram.com/whatsgoodwithjohn_joyce
facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561504850955
whatsgoodwithjohnandjoyce.com
whatsgoodwithjohnandjoyce.transistor.fm
"Live Abundantly Now" book
"Starving Your Fears" book
linktr.ee/whatsgoodpodcast
johnjoycepodcast@gmail.com
directlinemediaproductions.com/professional-podcast-production
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Joyce.
I'm feeling happy today.
You know, really happy.
You're happy every day. Oh, no.
It is a choice.
It is a choice.
Even when things don't go exactly our way,sometimes you just have to be
intentional about it.
I'm working on that each and every day.
But she's just so fired up.
(00:21):
Hanging out with you today,and just so happy
that more and more people are tuning into what's good, by the way.
Welcome.
So good to have you here today.
We're we're trying to be a reprieve,
kind of like an escapefrom all the craziness out there.
And there's some craziness goingon. Right?
Have you noticed,have you noticed this right now?
Yeah. That's right.
I don't know is I am good. Yeah.
(00:42):
Three four couple months.
Checking in on the weather. Yeah.
You to tell you the.
Yeah.
It's just so great.
And I know that I've done my work.
My work is voting.
My work is prayer.
Yeah. My work is just doing my work right.
(01:03):
And I feel really,really good about my life.
And I when I say a universal prayer, it'sfor the whole world.
I want all leaders to be good.
I want God's grace to touch everyone.
One of them.
I want stars to just twinkle about them
(01:25):
so that everything will be great. And.
And then I want to go. Right.
I just let it gobecause there's only so much you can do.
I mean, you have to pray for those.
It's very, very difficultif you have a certain leaning
wherever it may be,where we're talking about in life.
But like Jesus said,pray for your enemies.
Yeah. Pray for those you disagree with.
(01:45):
And that's really difficultin this climate.
I get it because people havesome such strong opinions either way.
But, you know,my wife and I made a decision.
You know,
no matter who's in the white House,we're going to be happy in our house.
Yes. Be good.
Because we knowthere's a divine government out there.
Yeah.
You know, so I'm going to cheer people onno matter who they are,
(02:06):
because I want us to all win.
Listen, if our happiness,depending on in our particular country.
Who's in the whiteHouse is every four years.
No, I don't want to.
No, no, no.
I want to live like I used to live.
I'm happywith who's ever in the white House
because I believe in a divine government,
and we're just going to go out thereand do what we can each and every day.
(02:29):
We said, we don't.
We're not going to be talkingabout politics and we're not,
but we're just kindof a general statement.
But, you know, just go out thereand because we're talking about happiness
in somebody, so many people are miserableand they base their existence on
external situations. Right.
But we can make that decisioneach and every day that, okay,
whatever happens,I'm going to make that intentional,
designing my lifeto go out there and be happy.
(02:52):
You know, there's
a story that went around for a while and,
it's about a woman who, an elderly woman
that had to move from her hometo a sort of a nursing home
and families and home, and she,
you know, was nearly blind and
(03:14):
so while she's waiting for her room
to be fixed for her,
someone said, doyou want to just come in and take a look?
And she says, no, it's okay.
She said, are you upset because,you know, you're moving someplace?
You know?
She said, because no matter where I am,
I will be at peace.
(03:35):
I'll be happy because I'll make it.
So she made the decision.
I made the decision.
Somebody had asked me at the gymthe other day.
Choice about something.
So, how's your day going so far?
John, I said it's going great.
I made the decision beforeI left the house, and he liked that.
He said, I like thatyou made the decision.
Yeah. So just be proactive.
(03:58):
We really can do thatno matter what is happening.
Again, you know, out in theworld, there's a whole body,
you know,
things happen.
Again, I keep going back to my accident.
But I think of that because I wake up withsometimes different things
and, you know, in my neck and in my back,
(04:21):
and then I switch it to another one.
Yes.
I'm alive.
And how blessed I am.
And that must mean I have a lot more.
Have you? Means you have an assignment.
You're still here. You're still here.
And that's so important.
Just to understand gratitude,we talk about gratitude.
You can never talk about gratitude enough.
(04:42):
But gratitude an attitude of gratitudeis just so, so important.
And again, it's not easy.
We have to be,keep using the word intentionality.
We have to be intentional about it.Be mindful.
Mindful to the same way
that you're going to make a
choice to be grateful for the bad use.
Yeah, people know I was.
(05:02):
I was watching, a show yesterday.
The documentary, people that are
homeless just,you know, whatever you call it.
The one man said, as long as I,
as long as I can get some blankets,you know, I'm good.
And I thought, how many people right nowsitting in the homes think about that.
(05:25):
Yeah.
If you've got a comfortable bedand pillow and a blanket,
a roof over your headand food on the table, you got.
Yeah. You're good.
And you think about some peoplethat complain.
And I read somewhere, Joyce, that,you know,
if a person makes 30 or 40,000 a year,which we don't think a lot here
in this country, you'rericher than 95% of the rest of the world.
(05:49):
You know, I mean, think about that.
Yeah.
I even have a little bit of moneyin a savings.
Right, for $20 a week.
And yeah, you know,and I know things are tough
and high prices and all of that,but I feel like I've lived
long enough that I remember going to doI remember my parents,
I remember them and my grandparentstalking about, you know, the,
(06:15):
what he called the.
Yeah. The depression.
Yeah. 1929. Yeah.
Where the rich guys were throwing themselfoff the building.
Yeah.
Their whole persona was about their money.
Their identity was based on money. Yes.
That's dangerous because should that leaveyou, can you find happiness?
(06:35):
Which is winter, right. Yes.
As long as that isnot your whole identity.
Right.
Right I agree, I mean I have I'm not
I have nothing against peoplebeing wealthy and having money.
A lot of those people create jobsand they do a lot of good things.
And we're fortunate I'mnot I'm not a class warfare type
person, to be honest with you.
That way, I like to see everybody do.
(06:57):
Well, but at the same time,if we're worshiping money,
I think that's the problem.
Money is a means to getwhere you want to be.
You know, that's my $0.02,no pun intended.
I do think that'sone of the number one things people
complainabout even more than their health.
It's, they want more wealth because they,
(07:19):
you know, we feel that it
would make us happy in one sense, yes.
It's like,
it's a cushion. Security blanket.
Sure, sure.
You know that you have that.
But if you never get that amount
that you want or that mansion you want.
Yeah.
If you're watching shows like,
(07:41):
The Real Housewives
Of or whatever,and they all have this immense wealth
because they marry rich husbandsalready and
opportunities to do that,
I see that they still struggle with stuff.
You bet you reality TV,because I like to see
(08:02):
that there'sthis real human side of you too.
Marriages break up their sad money
gets lost, businesses can close down.
And you know, so we learn from that.
Where is our true happiness?
Yeah. And I don't relish seeing that.
I mean, I know
some people will seethese Hollywood couples,
they think they're spoiled thisand that and they
(08:24):
and when they have challenges,some people actually enjoy that.
And I don't I don't want to go downthat route. They're human beings.
The thing is, we can't really relateto them because their level of fame,
everything they dois covered by the press,
so they never have a chance to workanything out themselves like we do.
You know, if we have a situationis privately handled
in many cases, but everything they dois in the court of public opinion.
(08:48):
Right?
So I rather than I want them to succeedwhen I hear about marriages that are happy
and these people are really famous actorsactresses, I'm thrilled about that.
I'm, I'm cheering them on
because I like to see these folkslasting a long time and being happy.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm like, I'm I don't just becausethey're making a ton of money
and they're actors, actresses, singers,I don't know, they're human beings too.
(09:11):
We can't forget that, you know?
And it's it's all relevantspeaking about them,
because I used to work with a lot of very,very wealthy people.
But I also know that especially in
the corporate world of entertainment,
you can make a movie,
you can make $20 million immediately,
(09:32):
and then you're elevated to that lifestyle
because you can't really live
on the same street because people knowthat you're not you're not sure.
So maybe you moved to a nicegated community so your expenses go up.
Well what happenswhen all those expenses are really high.
It suddenlymovie doesn't come around for ten.
(09:52):
That's right.
So yeah
I, I look at everyone asoh we're all the same.
I was you and I were talking before,I think I mentioned this
in a previous episodeabout The Crown, the TV series,
I loved it, but you look, you look at themthis famous,
(10:13):
the famous, you know hierarchy that theythat they are the hierarchy.
And, you know, you think
that they have all this privilege,but they were so dysfunctional,
such a dysfunctional environment,and they felt like they were prisoners.
They had all the money in the world,but they were so unhappy. Yes.
And they have a certain way.
And that's right, that the Queen. Exactly.
(10:33):
The Queen would always talk aboutnot as a family.
It's a system. Yeah.
And it was just the institution.
An institution, but also a systemthat people had to fit into that system.
Right.
It wasn't about them anymore, or they hadto put their desires second to the Queen.
It was all about the Queen.
And I was watching this with my wife.
(10:54):
Patty is thinking, wow, fascinating.
I'd buy it, but I would not want to livethat kind of life.
No, no,
Princess Diana, you know, so
breaks my heart every time I, you know,I would look at her what could have been.
Yeah.
What could have been.
And she was so unhappy in so many ways.
Like she's 73 people in that match.
(11:14):
Right.
So she feels under obligation.
Got to be a virgin at that time.Yeah. Yeah.
I think right after that. Right. Yeah.
So when I think about happiness,
I always think of this little,little man.
Oh yes. Yeah
I knowit's kind of tough to pronounce his name,
(11:35):
but I remember he,
he passed away, I believe, when he was 13.
And he had this, conditionthat he was born with,
and he wrote books about poetry,and he made the news a lot.
So a lot of you out there,you're going to remember him.
But if I'm ever feeling down,I have to sign a book.
(11:58):
I have a plan to set free passagesand everything.
And by the way,I bet you reverse that every now and then
I do, and I find Jesus.
I highly recommendwhether you have a journal
or you don't have to stick things in yourthat make you feel good.
Do you know?
I did not knowthis was in here until recently
(12:19):
because of the stuff laying in the,you know, was from my mom and dad.
Oh, wow.
And it's, it's and it's hardto just go to this
for a secondbecause this really made me happy.
Yeah. To a daughter who's so thankful.
Happy birthday.
And so she broke in there.
(12:39):
You know, because you're right.
So let me tell you about blah, blah,but it's her little sticky note.
Wow. You still have that?
I didn't even wow.
And she said, Joyce,I started to wonder line
and lines that for you to achieve.
And I realized and they all did.
But you know, I just this year.
(13:02):
Right here.
Yeah, I just,
it just meant a lot to me.
So going back to Maddie,
so it says on her second topic
and this dying child said,
what matters to me most
is that you wake up each dayand take a breath.
(13:24):
I appreciate watching the sunrise, sunset,
knowing that there's just not thingsto be messy
and the wisdom of a 13 year old, right?
Yeah.
Because,
you know, he knewhe didn't know how long for this world.
And you see, hekept fishing everything home from him.
(13:49):
I'm sure we appreciate thethe wheelchair museum or the
or the new tombs that they foundthat he could breathe a little bit longer
with Albert at times,like Christopher Reeves. Yes.
You know,and when you think of things like that
and you see what they did,
I mean, this this little book is impactfuljust by writing down some poetry
(14:11):
and getting some attention,national attention for it,
but not because he was making money news,
because he was making copies feel good.
And then other childrenwere writing to them.
He was leaving a legacy.
And I think about that because our
radio station,we do a lot of benefits for Saint Jude.
Right?
And, every child, no matter what,they never have to pay to go there,
(14:34):
no matter what the situation.So can you imagine that you're a parent?
You get that diagnosis,
you go to the doctor,think it's just like an injury.
They fell out in the parking lotor something,
and then you find out it's cancer.
And the first thingwhen you hear that C-word,
and then Saint Jude said,
come down here, we'll take care ofyour lodging, will take care of you.
And when you go down to Saint Jude,to it's a happy place.
(14:56):
You walk in is nothing but colors.
All the different colors in the rainbow,this and that.
And when you see the kids,many of them in just dire
condition, they greet you with a smile.
We go in there and we're like, oh!
And they're like saying,I don't, don't be sad.
They're consoling us, Joyceor the Connecticut
Children's, whatever it may be, it's justthese kids are amazing
(15:17):
and you'll learn so much about lifefrom these 12, 13 year olds.
And, you know,many of them may not be around for long
because I've doneso many of these radio towns
where I get attachedto a lot of these kids
and then the next year we'll do it again,and I'll say to somebody from Saint Jude,
so how so? And so I didn't make it.
And I was just throwing the footballwith this kid
(15:38):
in the hallway the year before,and so great that you did.
Yeah, I did, I mean,at least it's becoming less and less now.
The survival rates have gone up, you know.
Thank you. Danny Thomas and Marlo Thomas.
Yeah, yeah.
Don't you think these souls cometo all the times
just to teach us these lessons? Yeah.
You know, again, it's.
(15:58):
I can pay attention.
We talked about that in previous episode.
About what you're looking for.The signs out there, they're everywhere.
They're everywhere.
So when you when you see this, like,if you're watching TV, you see all of us,
you know, you see with the childrenin other countries that are struggling
and we show you, some shelters, dogs
(16:20):
and oh, every time I see this joyous show,
I'm saying to my wife,I want to contribute to everything.
Everything.
I see this, I see,you know, tunnel for towers or the like.
I said, the dogs and cats,and they say, oh,
I said to my wife, can I get another cat?
No, we got to, you know,we got to scratch it up all the furniture,
you know, but but but if I could,I had to I'd adopt them all the time.
(16:43):
All the animals and all kids, you know.
Yeah.
Here's a little funny storyabout that. When?
When I was young.
You're still young, Joyce.
I am, I am ageless, that's what exactly.
You're ageless. We're all. That's right.
You take yourself a certain age,you begin to active.
That's right. I unless my doctor,
(17:05):
my wife calls me a child,and I'm proud of it.
She says you're such a child. You go,thank you.
She goes, that wasn't a compliment,but I'm taking it as one.
We thank you so much.
And I rememberI was on the floor alone, no
coloring, and my mom and dad were there
and I suddenly got enlightenedabout what I want to do in life.
(17:29):
And I blurted out, I said, I know whatI'm going to do when I grow up.
And you're like, what?
And I said, I'm going to have a
it needs to be
your house.
And I didn't knowthat was another term for a house.
Oh, she said, I didn't know thatit was called a cat house.
(17:52):
Really?
What was that?
Yes.
So, so my mother gently.
So it's not really a
Oh well your intentions were good.
Your intentions were good. Yeah, yeah.
So, but anyway,talking about all the stuff like,
you know, the children and,and animals in wars and other,
(18:18):
and then people have said to me,
how in the world can you be happy
when the whole world is forming?
And I just felt like, well,the whole world
has always been in trouble. Yeah.
Except now we have 24, seven news,
which really didn't have you 20 years ago.
(18:40):
No, no.
And and now it's everything'sbreaking news
because we know how that works. Right.
And industry.
Yeah.
The more likeso you have more people tuning in.
They can get more advertisers. Right.
And the more sensationalismaccording to these news networks,
the bigger the ratings.
(19:01):
Yeah.
Many cases that existed during WorldWar two.
Oh yeah.
Constant. Right.
So it's always been happening around us.
There's always been tragediesin our neighbor's house, in our own house.
And I just began to think that, well,
(19:22):
right now you're asking that question
because you feel really down about itand feel like you can't go on.
And how can God let this happen?
And those are all, you know,those are all legit questions.
I think.
I understand they weren't askingthe question when it didn't hit home.
(19:42):
Right.
Because someone is always dying.
Yeah.
When I was a child or at most
every second, every secondsomething happened.
But we're I think
we're built, you know, worldviewsall the time to be inundated with that
because it is a heavy load to carry.
(20:04):
So you truly have to look for thatpeace in them and choice.
You make a good point.
I mean, it's okay to be awareof what's going on in the world.
Again, we don't want to live in a bubble,
but the 20 to 20 minute news cycleyou can watch for 20 minutes
and it's going to be the samethe following 20 minutes.
They just keep running the same storiesover and over again, and then we let
it take seed and root in our minds,and we start thinking
(20:28):
the whole world is falling apart,right? You know,
but we have to kind of like, realizewe're only here for a little while.
So let's go there and enjoy life.
There's so much good in the world.
There's so much,so much good in the world.
It's all way better than what we're.
Yes, yes, for a short time.
Yeah.
I always mention song titles, you know?
(20:49):
But Billy Dean had a song.
He was a country singer back in the 90s.Had a lot of hits.
Only here for a little while.
Go out. Look at that up.
You know, and it's pretty much explainswhat we're talking about right now.
Just find the joy.
Look for the good.You should take a listen to it.
The song.
You're going to have to doa, an episode in at some point.
Yeah.
(21:09):
We talk about that with like,music and movies
and come up with the good onesthat make you feel good, right?
Because music to us shit, right?
Doesn't make a shift. Oh it does.
Music's always going on in our houseeach and every morning.
Once we do our gratitude exercisesand prayers and get up in the morning
and go downthe hallway, music is always playing
and it's usually upbeat, positive musicthat we find to play.
(21:33):
There's so much of it.
Yeah, and you have to be again,like mindful is a great word
because it makes you start to say,wait a minute, I can change this.
I can change the channel. Right?
That's a great point.
That's right. If you don't likewhat you're seeing, change the channel.
If you don't like your thoughtpattern, change the channel.
The moviethat's going around in your head.
(21:54):
You don't like it,change the movie, right?
We we control that.
Yeah.
The way I keep my happinessduring these times, which, like I said,
is every time we weren't aware of itwhen we were children.
But I'm sure our parentswere going through stuff
with politics and warsand things like that, you know?
(22:16):
But I just remind myself that,
I have, the ability
to not only change how I feel inside, but
as well.
So I do keep a distance
from people who I knowonly want to talk about. Yes.
(22:36):
Yep. And, and I speak for them
because that's a miserable way.
Yeah, it is, and it is a bita detective, don't you think?
It is thinking and talking and it.
They say they sayspirits are transferable in a lot of ways.
And I think that that talkis to that toxic talk.
(22:58):
I don't want that planting a seedor infiltrating training.
My thought if I find peoplethat are gossiping, saying negative
things,I'll typically politely excuse myself
yes, or try to change the subjectand not be rude.
I'm not going to be rude.
I'll never be rude to anybody, you know.
It's just not my nature.
But but I'm going to.
I'll be respectful,but I'm going to change the subject
or somebody's gossiping about somebody.
(23:20):
I'm going to protect their honor,even if I disagree with it.
The way they're living a life.
I'm not going to hop on the bandwagon.
No no no no.
Okay.
Which the subject is,if someone is helping a topic,
sometimes it's like, hey,where'd you get that shirt?
Right. Exactly.
Just rather, I love that shirt. Exactly.
(23:41):
And I start focusing on that. Sure. Yeah.
Just. Yeah, right.
Shake it up a little bit. Like,where did that come from?
But it works.
Yeah.It's better than taking a by the shirt.
Or are you got no.
Right.
Yeah.
I sometimes
excuse my allergies.
Allergies. Yeah.
It's just so thank goodnessfor having a bottle of water
(24:05):
rightnext to where you are and Kleenex. But,
yeah, but it's good.
But the good thing about allergy season.What do we have it?
We know that the great weather
is coming to us, so we'll put up with itbecause we know what's here.
I like the heat.
Yes, heat is on when fry.
Okay,
so happiness is not about
(24:28):
the worldhas to be perfect for you to be happy.
Good.
It ain't never gonna happen. Ain't comingeither.
It ain't coming.
So we just have to find a way to be happywith where we are.
Right now, right? You know, they it
bloom or you're planted.
When you wake up every morning I wake up,I think.
I mean, I don't live in the samehousehold, but it takes me a while.
(24:52):
It takes you well.
But I have this feelingthat you can just start
your prayerful life here, you know,go play the way.
Yeah, man, I get before
I get up, I, I've already donemy gratitude exercises, my prayers.
I look outside, I do like you do.
I look at the suneven if it's raining outside
and it's an exercise, I just, you know,I thank God for everything.
I'm grateful. Grateful for.
(25:12):
So you begin, I begin.
So I just find something.
I'm just grateful for somethingthat somebody did for me the day before,
you know?
And I'm grateful for this daythat I have here.
And like I was thinking about today,the people I was going to see at the gym,
you and I, we're going to be recordingour podcast today that we get a chance
to work with, with David and Steph hereat our studios in Brantford.
(25:34):
And you know that I got thisamazing wife at home,
and I got these kitty catsthat I'm so blessed by.
I just try to find a little thing.
Sometimes it's harder than other days.
You have to really dig deep becausewe don't always wake up feeling that way.
Sometimes I wake up feeling,I don't want to go out today.
I'm going to stay in bed. Yeah.
So we all go down that rabbit hole.
But then I switch my thoughts around.
(25:56):
I switch my thoughts around saying,
yeah, some days you oh,some days you want to do that.
It's just like we have those daysevery now and then
and I look at the clock,do I really have to get up?
Nah, let me just hang out for an hourlonger.
It feels so good.
But I'm not giving anything without eventhinking about what happened yesterday.
(26:16):
Yeah, just,you know what happened yesterday.
This person that I met,this person said something nice or guy.
It was a great lunchI have with a friend of mine.
Or that coffee that I have was so good.
My wife always says those little things.Really?
You know, really make you happy,don't they?
Yeah.
Great cup of coffee,
a sunrise, a conversationI had with somebody at the gym,
(26:37):
you know, somebody I met at thegrocery store I hadn't seen in a while,
or that cashier was so greatI didn't have my card with me that day.
She said, hey,can I put the store card in for you
so you could savea little bit of extra money
for little things like that make me happy?
Well, That you right?
Yeah. That.
Yeah. It's those little.Do you think that's too little?
(26:58):
No, no no no.
Just itgrows and more good comes. It does.
And as the older I get, the moreI'm looking for that gratitude.
Because I realize it, quite frankly,
we're not going to be herefor, for a lot longer in the natural.
I mean, I mean,I believe that we live forever.
I believe that Paradise is on the way.
But while we're here,
(27:19):
you know, we're basically aliensliving in another world right now.
In a sense, that's the way I look at it.But but make an effort.
Remember, this is
right.
You know, I'm just going to readthis little bit of, oh, I love this.
Yeah. Please read the whole thing.
I think that it can be short on time,but just speaking about happiness,
remember, happinessisn't about ignoring the hard times.
(27:44):
It's about finding the lightin that you stay rooted in your values,
embrace the small joys,and let your heart be your guide.
And that's it.
Challenges will come and go,but you can still keep that peace inside.
And the more you do it so, the larger
(28:04):
it becomesthat it's not going to rock you up.
Yes, you know you're going to be ableto get right back into that and feel good.
And don't you want to feel good?
That's the only reasonwhy people want a lot of our money.
They just want to feel good.
You have the power to do that.
You have more power in you.
And it's interesting.
(28:25):
We all want a lot of thingswhen we're healthy,
but if we're unhealthy,the only thing we want is our health. Yes.
So really kind of inner health first.
Oh my God, so many people I know,so many people that have a lot of money,
but they're miserable.
They're unhappy, you know,and some of them don't have their health.
And one guy said to me at the gymthe other day says, and listen,
(28:45):
I mean, I'm, I'm not feeling too.
I mean, he's got a lot of money,I know that.
But he said I would trade it all into get my health, you know?
So the whole thing is just to enjoy each
and every daybecause there's no guarantees.
There's no we only have today.
We only have today.
So let's make the best of it,make the best of it, and dwell on
what's good in your life.
Yeah.
So we appreciate you watching what's good.
(29:07):
We hope you share thiswith a bunch of your family and friends,
especially if somebody you knowis depressed or having a really tough time
and they need something uplifting.
I hope this program will helpand be therapeutic to them as well.
And we pray for you and your family.
And, remember,always look for what's good in your life.
Joyce,always a pleasure hanging out with you.
As a child. I love you, too. I've been.
Joyce.
I'm feeling happy today.
You know, really happy.
You're happy every day. Oh, no.
It is a choice.
It is a choice.
Even when things don't go exactly our way,sometimes you just have to be
intentional about it.
I'm working on that each and every day.
But she's just so fired up.
(00:21):
Hanging out with you today,and just so happy
that more and more people are tuning into what's good, by the way.
Welcome.
So good to have you here today.
We're we're trying to be a reprieve,
kind of like an escapefrom all the craziness out there.
And there's some craziness goingon. Right?
Have you noticed,have you noticed this right now?
Yeah. That's right.
I don't know is I am good. Yeah.
(00:42):
Three four couple months.
Checking in on the weather. Yeah.
You to tell you the.
Yeah.
It's just so great.
And I know that I've done my work.
My work is voting.
My work is prayer.
Yeah. My work is just doing my work right.
(01:03):
And I feel really,really good about my life.
And I when I say a universal prayer, it'sfor the whole world.
I want all leaders to be good.
I want God's grace to touch everyone.
One of them.
I want stars to just twinkle about them
(01:25):
so that everything will be great. And.
And then I want to go. Right.
I just let it gobecause there's only so much you can do.
I mean, you have to pray for those.
It's very, very difficultif you have a certain leaning
wherever it may be,where we're talking about in life.
But like Jesus said,pray for your enemies.
Yeah. Pray for those you disagree with.
(01:45):
And that's really difficultin this climate.
I get it because people havesome such strong opinions either way.
But, you know,my wife and I made a decision.
You know,
no matter who's in the white House,we're going to be happy in our house.
Yes. Be good.
Because we knowthere's a divine government out there.
Yeah.
You know, so I'm going to cheer people onno matter who they are,
(02:06):
because I want us to all win.
Listen, if our happiness,depending on in our particular country.
Who's in the whiteHouse is every four years.
No, I don't want to.
No, no, no.
I want to live like I used to live.
I'm happywith who's ever in the white House
because I believe in a divine government,
and we're just going to go out thereand do what we can each and every day.
(02:29):
We said, we don't.
We're not going to be talkingabout politics and we're not,
but we're just kindof a general statement.
But, you know, just go out thereand because we're talking about happiness
in somebody, so many people are miserableand they base their existence on
external situations. Right.
But we can make that decisioneach and every day that, okay,
whatever happens,I'm going to make that intentional,
designing my lifeto go out there and be happy.
(02:52):
You know, there's
a story that went around for a while and,
it's about a woman who, an elderly woman
that had to move from her hometo a sort of a nursing home
and families and home, and she,
you know, was nearly blind and
(03:14):
so while she's waiting for her room
to be fixed for her,
someone said, doyou want to just come in and take a look?
And she says, no, it's okay.
She said, are you upset because,you know, you're moving someplace?
You know?
She said, because no matter where I am,
I will be at peace.
(03:35):
I'll be happy because I'll make it.
So she made the decision.
I made the decision.
Somebody had asked me at the gymthe other day.
Choice about something.
So, how's your day going so far?
John, I said it's going great.
I made the decision beforeI left the house, and he liked that.
He said, I like thatyou made the decision.
Yeah. So just be proactive.
(03:58):
We really can do thatno matter what is happening.
Again, you know, out in theworld, there's a whole body,
you know,
things happen.
Again, I keep going back to my accident.
But I think of that because I wake up withsometimes different things
and, you know, in my neck and in my back,
(04:21):
and then I switch it to another one.
Yes.
I'm alive.
And how blessed I am.
And that must mean I have a lot more.
Have you? Means you have an assignment.
You're still here. You're still here.
And that's so important.
Just to understand gratitude,we talk about gratitude.
You can never talk about gratitude enough.
(04:42):
But gratitude an attitude of gratitudeis just so, so important.
And again, it's not easy.
We have to be,keep using the word intentionality.
We have to be intentional about it.Be mindful.
Mindful to the same way
that you're going to make a
choice to be grateful for the bad use.
Yeah, people know I was.
(05:02):
I was watching, a show yesterday.
The documentary, people that are
homeless just,you know, whatever you call it.
The one man said, as long as I,
as long as I can get some blankets,you know, I'm good.
And I thought, how many people right nowsitting in the homes think about that.
(05:25):
Yeah.
If you've got a comfortable bedand pillow and a blanket,
a roof over your headand food on the table, you got.
Yeah. You're good.
And you think about some peoplethat complain.
And I read somewhere, Joyce, that,you know,
if a person makes 30 or 40,000 a year,which we don't think a lot here
in this country, you'rericher than 95% of the rest of the world.
(05:49):
You know, I mean, think about that.
Yeah.
I even have a little bit of moneyin a savings.
Right, for $20 a week.
And yeah, you know,and I know things are tough
and high prices and all of that,but I feel like I've lived
long enough that I remember going to doI remember my parents,
I remember them and my grandparentstalking about, you know, the,
(06:15):
what he called the.
Yeah. The depression.
Yeah. 1929. Yeah.
Where the rich guys were throwing themselfoff the building.
Yeah.
Their whole persona was about their money.
Their identity was based on money. Yes.
That's dangerous because should that leaveyou, can you find happiness?
(06:35):
Which is winter, right. Yes.
As long as that isnot your whole identity.
Right.
Right I agree, I mean I have I'm not
I have nothing against peoplebeing wealthy and having money.
A lot of those people create jobsand they do a lot of good things.
And we're fortunate I'mnot I'm not a class warfare type
person, to be honest with you.
That way, I like to see everybody do.
(06:57):
Well, but at the same time,if we're worshiping money,
I think that's the problem.
Money is a means to getwhere you want to be.
You know, that's my $0.02,no pun intended.
I do think that'sone of the number one things people
complainabout even more than their health.
It's, they want more wealth because they,
(07:19):
you know, we feel that it
would make us happy in one sense, yes.
It's like,
it's a cushion. Security blanket.
Sure, sure.
You know that you have that.
But if you never get that amount
that you want or that mansion you want.
Yeah.
If you're watching shows like,
(07:41):
The Real Housewives
Of or whatever,and they all have this immense wealth
because they marry rich husbandsalready and
opportunities to do that,
I see that they still struggle with stuff.
You bet you reality TV,because I like to see
(08:02):
that there'sthis real human side of you too.
Marriages break up their sad money
gets lost, businesses can close down.
And you know, so we learn from that.
Where is our true happiness?
Yeah. And I don't relish seeing that.
I mean, I know
some people will seethese Hollywood couples,
they think they're spoiled thisand that and they
(08:24):
and when they have challenges,some people actually enjoy that.
And I don't I don't want to go downthat route. They're human beings.
The thing is, we can't really relateto them because their level of fame,
everything they dois covered by the press,
so they never have a chance to workanything out themselves like we do.
You know, if we have a situationis privately handled
in many cases, but everything they dois in the court of public opinion.
(08:48):
Right?
So I rather than I want them to succeedwhen I hear about marriages that are happy
and these people are really famous actorsactresses, I'm thrilled about that.
I'm, I'm cheering them on
because I like to see these folkslasting a long time and being happy.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm like, I'm I don't just becausethey're making a ton of money
and they're actors, actresses, singers,I don't know, they're human beings too.
(09:11):
We can't forget that, you know?
And it's it's all relevantspeaking about them,
because I used to work with a lot of very,very wealthy people.
But I also know that especially in
the corporate world of entertainment,
you can make a movie,
you can make $20 million immediately,
(09:32):
and then you're elevated to that lifestyle
because you can't really live
on the same street because people knowthat you're not you're not sure.
So maybe you moved to a nicegated community so your expenses go up.
Well what happenswhen all those expenses are really high.
It suddenlymovie doesn't come around for ten.
(09:52):
That's right.
So yeah
I, I look at everyone asoh we're all the same.
I was you and I were talking before,I think I mentioned this
in a previous episodeabout The Crown, the TV series,
I loved it, but you look, you look at themthis famous,
(10:13):
the famous, you know hierarchy that theythat they are the hierarchy.
And, you know, you think
that they have all this privilege,but they were so dysfunctional,
such a dysfunctional environment,and they felt like they were prisoners.
They had all the money in the world,but they were so unhappy. Yes.
And they have a certain way.
And that's right, that the Queen. Exactly.
(10:33):
The Queen would always talk aboutnot as a family.
It's a system. Yeah.
And it was just the institution.
An institution, but also a systemthat people had to fit into that system.
Right.
It wasn't about them anymore, or they hadto put their desires second to the Queen.
It was all about the Queen.
And I was watching this with my wife.
(10:54):
Patty is thinking, wow, fascinating.
I'd buy it, but I would not want to livethat kind of life.
No, no,
Princess Diana, you know, so
breaks my heart every time I, you know,I would look at her what could have been.
Yeah.
What could have been.
And she was so unhappy in so many ways.
Like she's 73 people in that match.
(11:14):
Right.
So she feels under obligation.
Got to be a virgin at that time.Yeah. Yeah.
I think right after that. Right. Yeah.
So when I think about happiness,
I always think of this little,little man.
Oh yes. Yeah
I knowit's kind of tough to pronounce his name,
(11:35):
but I remember he,
he passed away, I believe, when he was 13.
And he had this, conditionthat he was born with,
and he wrote books about poetry,and he made the news a lot.
So a lot of you out there,you're going to remember him.
But if I'm ever feeling down,I have to sign a book.
(11:58):
I have a plan to set free passagesand everything.
And by the way,I bet you reverse that every now and then
I do, and I find Jesus.
I highly recommendwhether you have a journal
or you don't have to stick things in yourthat make you feel good.
Do you know?
I did not knowthis was in here until recently
(12:19):
because of the stuff laying in the,you know, was from my mom and dad.
Oh, wow.
And it's, it's and it's hardto just go to this
for a secondbecause this really made me happy.
Yeah. To a daughter who's so thankful.
Happy birthday.
And so she broke in there.
(12:39):
You know, because you're right.
So let me tell you about blah, blah,but it's her little sticky note.
Wow. You still have that?
I didn't even wow.
And she said, Joyce,I started to wonder line
and lines that for you to achieve.
And I realized and they all did.
But you know, I just this year.
(13:02):
Right here.
Yeah, I just,
it just meant a lot to me.
So going back to Maddie,
so it says on her second topic
and this dying child said,
what matters to me most
is that you wake up each dayand take a breath.
(13:24):
I appreciate watching the sunrise, sunset,
knowing that there's just not thingsto be messy
and the wisdom of a 13 year old, right?
Yeah.
Because,
you know, he knewhe didn't know how long for this world.
And you see, hekept fishing everything home from him.
(13:49):
I'm sure we appreciate thethe wheelchair museum or the
or the new tombs that they foundthat he could breathe a little bit longer
with Albert at times,like Christopher Reeves. Yes.
You know,and when you think of things like that
and you see what they did,
I mean, this this little book is impactfuljust by writing down some poetry
(14:11):
and getting some attention,national attention for it,
but not because he was making money news,
because he was making copies feel good.
And then other childrenwere writing to them.
He was leaving a legacy.
And I think about that because our
radio station,we do a lot of benefits for Saint Jude.
Right?
And, every child, no matter what,they never have to pay to go there,
(14:34):
no matter what the situation.So can you imagine that you're a parent?
You get that diagnosis,
you go to the doctor,think it's just like an injury.
They fell out in the parking lotor something,
and then you find out it's cancer.
And the first thingwhen you hear that C-word,
and then Saint Jude said,
come down here, we'll take care ofyour lodging, will take care of you.
And when you go down to Saint Jude,to it's a happy place.
(14:56):
You walk in is nothing but colors.
All the different colors in the rainbow,this and that.
And when you see the kids,many of them in just dire
condition, they greet you with a smile.
We go in there and we're like, oh!
And they're like saying,I don't, don't be sad.
They're consoling us, Joyceor the Connecticut
Children's, whatever it may be, it's justthese kids are amazing
(15:17):
and you'll learn so much about lifefrom these 12, 13 year olds.
And, you know,many of them may not be around for long
because I've doneso many of these radio towns
where I get attachedto a lot of these kids
and then the next year we'll do it again,and I'll say to somebody from Saint Jude,
so how so? And so I didn't make it.
And I was just throwing the footballwith this kid
(15:38):
in the hallway the year before,and so great that you did.
Yeah, I did, I mean,at least it's becoming less and less now.
The survival rates have gone up, you know.
Thank you. Danny Thomas and Marlo Thomas.
Yeah, yeah.
Don't you think these souls cometo all the times
just to teach us these lessons? Yeah.
You know, again, it's.
(15:58):
I can pay attention.
We talked about that in previous episode.
About what you're looking for.The signs out there, they're everywhere.
They're everywhere.
So when you when you see this, like,if you're watching TV, you see all of us,
you know, you see with the childrenin other countries that are struggling
and we show you, some shelters, dogs
(16:20):
and oh, every time I see this joyous show,
I'm saying to my wife,I want to contribute to everything.
Everything.
I see this, I see,you know, tunnel for towers or the like.
I said, the dogs and cats,and they say, oh,
I said to my wife, can I get another cat?
No, we got to, you know,we got to scratch it up all the furniture,
you know, but but but if I could,I had to I'd adopt them all the time.
(16:43):
All the animals and all kids, you know.
Yeah.
Here's a little funny storyabout that. When?
When I was young.
You're still young, Joyce.
I am, I am ageless, that's what exactly.
You're ageless. We're all. That's right.
You take yourself a certain age,you begin to active.
That's right. I unless my doctor,
(17:05):
my wife calls me a child,and I'm proud of it.
She says you're such a child. You go,thank you.
She goes, that wasn't a compliment,but I'm taking it as one.
We thank you so much.
And I rememberI was on the floor alone, no
coloring, and my mom and dad were there
and I suddenly got enlightenedabout what I want to do in life.
(17:29):
And I blurted out, I said, I know whatI'm going to do when I grow up.
And you're like, what?
And I said, I'm going to have a
it needs to be
your house.
And I didn't knowthat was another term for a house.
Oh, she said, I didn't know thatit was called a cat house.
(17:52):
Really?
What was that?
Yes.
So, so my mother gently.
So it's not really a
Oh well your intentions were good.
Your intentions were good. Yeah, yeah.
So, but anyway,talking about all the stuff like,
you know, the children and,and animals in wars and other,
(18:18):
and then people have said to me,
how in the world can you be happy
when the whole world is forming?
And I just felt like, well,the whole world
has always been in trouble. Yeah.
Except now we have 24, seven news,
which really didn't have you 20 years ago.
(18:40):
No, no.
And and now it's everything'sbreaking news
because we know how that works. Right.
And industry.
Yeah.
The more likeso you have more people tuning in.
They can get more advertisers. Right.
And the more sensationalismaccording to these news networks,
the bigger the ratings.
(19:01):
Yeah.
Many cases that existed during WorldWar two.
Oh yeah.
Constant. Right.
So it's always been happening around us.
There's always been tragediesin our neighbor's house, in our own house.
And I just began to think that, well,
(19:22):
right now you're asking that question
because you feel really down about itand feel like you can't go on.
And how can God let this happen?
And those are all, you know,those are all legit questions.
I think.
I understand they weren't askingthe question when it didn't hit home.
(19:42):
Right.
Because someone is always dying.
Yeah.
When I was a child or at most
every second, every secondsomething happened.
But we're I think
we're built, you know, worldviewsall the time to be inundated with that
because it is a heavy load to carry.
(20:04):
So you truly have to look for thatpeace in them and choice.
You make a good point.
I mean, it's okay to be awareof what's going on in the world.
Again, we don't want to live in a bubble,
but the 20 to 20 minute news cycleyou can watch for 20 minutes
and it's going to be the samethe following 20 minutes.
They just keep running the same storiesover and over again, and then we let
it take seed and root in our minds,and we start thinking
(20:28):
the whole world is falling apart,right? You know,
but we have to kind of like, realizewe're only here for a little while.
So let's go there and enjoy life.
There's so much good in the world.
There's so much,so much good in the world.
It's all way better than what we're.
Yes, yes, for a short time.
Yeah.
I always mention song titles, you know?
(20:49):
But Billy Dean had a song.
He was a country singer back in the 90s.Had a lot of hits.
Only here for a little while.
Go out. Look at that up.
You know, and it's pretty much explainswhat we're talking about right now.
Just find the joy.
Look for the good.You should take a listen to it.
The song.
You're going to have to doa, an episode in at some point.
Yeah.
(21:09):
We talk about that with like,music and movies
and come up with the good onesthat make you feel good, right?
Because music to us shit, right?
Doesn't make a shift. Oh it does.
Music's always going on in our houseeach and every morning.
Once we do our gratitude exercisesand prayers and get up in the morning
and go downthe hallway, music is always playing
and it's usually upbeat, positive musicthat we find to play.
(21:33):
There's so much of it.
Yeah, and you have to be again,like mindful is a great word
because it makes you start to say,wait a minute, I can change this.
I can change the channel. Right?
That's a great point.
That's right. If you don't likewhat you're seeing, change the channel.
If you don't like your thoughtpattern, change the channel.
The moviethat's going around in your head.
(21:54):
You don't like it,change the movie, right?
We we control that.
Yeah.
The way I keep my happinessduring these times, which, like I said,
is every time we weren't aware of itwhen we were children.
But I'm sure our parentswere going through stuff
with politics and warsand things like that, you know?
(22:16):
But I just remind myself that,
I have, the ability
to not only change how I feel inside, but
as well.
So I do keep a distance
from people who I knowonly want to talk about. Yes.
(22:36):
Yep. And, and I speak for them
because that's a miserable way.
Yeah, it is, and it is a bita detective, don't you think?
It is thinking and talking and it.
They say they sayspirits are transferable in a lot of ways.
And I think that that talkis to that toxic talk.
(22:58):
I don't want that planting a seedor infiltrating training.
My thought if I find peoplethat are gossiping, saying negative
things,I'll typically politely excuse myself
yes, or try to change the subjectand not be rude.
I'm not going to be rude.
I'll never be rude to anybody, you know.
It's just not my nature.
But but I'm going to.
I'll be respectful,but I'm going to change the subject
or somebody's gossiping about somebody.
(23:20):
I'm going to protect their honor,even if I disagree with it.
The way they're living a life.
I'm not going to hop on the bandwagon.
No no no no.
Okay.
Which the subject is,if someone is helping a topic,
sometimes it's like, hey,where'd you get that shirt?
Right. Exactly.
Just rather, I love that shirt. Exactly.
(23:41):
And I start focusing on that. Sure. Yeah.
Just. Yeah, right.
Shake it up a little bit. Like,where did that come from?
But it works.
Yeah.It's better than taking a by the shirt.
Or are you got no.
Right.
Yeah.
I sometimes
excuse my allergies.
Allergies. Yeah.
It's just so thank goodnessfor having a bottle of water
(24:05):
rightnext to where you are and Kleenex. But,
yeah, but it's good.
But the good thing about allergy season.What do we have it?
We know that the great weather
is coming to us, so we'll put up with itbecause we know what's here.
I like the heat.
Yes, heat is on when fry.
Okay,
so happiness is not about
(24:28):
the worldhas to be perfect for you to be happy.
Good.
It ain't never gonna happen. Ain't comingeither.
It ain't coming.
So we just have to find a way to be happywith where we are.
Right now, right? You know, they it
bloom or you're planted.
When you wake up every morning I wake up,I think.
I mean, I don't live in the samehousehold, but it takes me a while.
(24:52):
It takes you well.
But I have this feelingthat you can just start
your prayerful life here, you know,go play the way.
Yeah, man, I get before
I get up, I, I've already donemy gratitude exercises, my prayers.
I look outside, I do like you do.
I look at the suneven if it's raining outside
and it's an exercise, I just, you know,I thank God for everything.
I'm grateful. Grateful for.
(25:12):
So you begin, I begin.
So I just find something.
I'm just grateful for somethingthat somebody did for me the day before,
you know?
And I'm grateful for this daythat I have here.
And like I was thinking about today,the people I was going to see at the gym,
you and I, we're going to be recordingour podcast today that we get a chance
to work with, with David and Steph hereat our studios in Brantford.
(25:34):
And you know that I got thisamazing wife at home,
and I got these kitty catsthat I'm so blessed by.
I just try to find a little thing.
Sometimes it's harder than other days.
You have to really dig deep becausewe don't always wake up feeling that way.
Sometimes I wake up feeling,I don't want to go out today.
I'm going to stay in bed. Yeah.
So we all go down that rabbit hole.
But then I switch my thoughts around.
(25:56):
I switch my thoughts around saying,
yeah, some days you oh,some days you want to do that.
It's just like we have those daysevery now and then
and I look at the clock,do I really have to get up?
Nah, let me just hang out for an hourlonger.
It feels so good.
But I'm not giving anything without eventhinking about what happened yesterday.
(26:16):
Yeah, just,you know what happened yesterday.
This person that I met,this person said something nice or guy.
It was a great lunchI have with a friend of mine.
Or that coffee that I have was so good.
My wife always says those little things.Really?
You know, really make you happy,don't they?
Yeah.
Great cup of coffee,
a sunrise, a conversationI had with somebody at the gym,
(26:37):
you know, somebody I met at thegrocery store I hadn't seen in a while,
or that cashier was so greatI didn't have my card with me that day.
She said, hey,can I put the store card in for you
so you could savea little bit of extra money
for little things like that make me happy?
Well, That you right?
Yeah. That.
Yeah. It's those little.Do you think that's too little?
(26:58):
No, no no no.
Just itgrows and more good comes. It does.
And as the older I get, the moreI'm looking for that gratitude.
Because I realize it, quite frankly,
we're not going to be herefor, for a lot longer in the natural.
I mean, I mean,I believe that we live forever.
I believe that Paradise is on the way.
But while we're here,
(27:19):
you know, we're basically aliensliving in another world right now.
In a sense, that's the way I look at it.But but make an effort.
Remember, this is
right.
You know, I'm just going to readthis little bit of, oh, I love this.
Yeah. Please read the whole thing.
I think that it can be short on time,but just speaking about happiness,
remember, happinessisn't about ignoring the hard times.
(27:44):
It's about finding the lightin that you stay rooted in your values,
embrace the small joys,and let your heart be your guide.
And that's it.
Challenges will come and go,but you can still keep that peace inside.
And the more you do it so, the larger
(28:04):
it becomesthat it's not going to rock you up.
Yes, you know you're going to be ableto get right back into that and feel good.
And don't you want to feel good?
That's the only reasonwhy people want a lot of our money.
They just want to feel good.
You have the power to do that.
You have more power in you.
And it's interesting.
(28:25):
We all want a lot of thingswhen we're healthy,
but if we're unhealthy,the only thing we want is our health. Yes.
So really kind of inner health first.
Oh my God, so many people I know,so many people that have a lot of money,
but they're miserable.
They're unhappy, you know,and some of them don't have their health.
And one guy said to me at the gymthe other day says, and listen,
(28:45):
I mean, I'm, I'm not feeling too.
I mean, he's got a lot of money,I know that.
But he said I would trade it all into get my health, you know?
So the whole thing is just to enjoy each
and every daybecause there's no guarantees.
There's no we only have today.
We only have today.
So let's make the best of it,make the best of it, and dwell on
what's good in your life.
Yeah.
So we appreciate you watching what's good.
(29:07):
We hope you share thiswith a bunch of your family and friends,
especially if somebody you knowis depressed or having a really tough time
and they need something uplifting.
I hope this program will helpand be therapeutic to them as well.
And we pray for you and your family.
And, remember,always look for what's good in your life.
Joyce,always a pleasure hanging out with you.
As a child. I love you, too. I've been.
Popular Podcasts
Are You A Charlotte?
In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com