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The Secret to Why You’re Unhappy & The ONE Thing You Can Do About It | The Mel Robbins Podcast

Order your copy of The Let Them Theory 👉 https://melrob.co/let-them-theory 👈 The #1 Best Selling Book of 2025 🔥 Discover how much power you truly have. It all begins with two simple words. Let Them. — I was lying in bed one morning, and all of a sudden it hit me… If I ever want to be truly #happy, I have to stop doing THIS. So do you. What is this thing we need to stop doing? I call it the “Campaign of Misery.” In the background of your mind, there’s a campaign of misery running on a loop. And until you stop it, you will never experience the #happiness, joy and contentment you deserve. I promise you - it is there. In the background - talking to you all the time. This is the missing piece to true happiness. When you remove the campaign of #misery, you create room for joy. I recorded this episode the same morning I had this profound insight. What you're about to hear is a conversation with me and two friends and colleagues, Amy and Jessie. Pull up a seat at the kitchen table; I want you to hear me unpacking this breakthrough about happiness in real time. My two friends saw their “campaign of misery” immediately and started describing in detail the ridiculous ways they torture themselves. You’ll laugh, you’ll nod along, and you might even cry a little. We sure did. Because when you realize how much you rob yourself of the happiness you deserve, it is sad. I always say, this isn’t just a listening podcast, it’s a doing podcast. So by the end, there’s something specific I will be asking you to do with us while you listen. In three simple steps, you will join us as we put down the sword, grab a book of matches, and pick up the pen to write new default programming into our minds. Don’t worry, I’ll explain why you need matches near the end of the episode. And you’ll be so happy that I did. You have the power to change the way you think and the way you talk to yourself. You have the power to stop seeing all the reasons your life is hard and teach yourself to see how this could be easier. Yes, you can be happy. You can be content. But first, you have to stop making yourself miserable. Let’s support one another on this. If we fight this battle for happiness together, side-by-side, I am certain we will win. Xo Mel In this episode, you’ll learn: - What happens when you get caught up in your stories - My profound breakthrough around the importance of mindfulness - How to start celebrating yourself right now, no matter your mindset - The 3 incredibly powerful mindset #hacks I did with my friends and colleagues, Amy & Jessie In this episode: 00:00 Intro 02:20 Complaining is robbing me of happiness, how I had this realization 09:48 I have been putting up my sword, self-sabotaging and speaking the campaign of misery 15:42 We all have 2 languages: the one we speak and the one we feel 17:15 What my campaign of misery is - the campaign of misery looks for what's wrong and argues against happiness 21:05 How am I going to put down the sword… 24:04 How parental figures/upbringing impact how you talk to yourself 27:34 Step #1: Knowing you encourage the campaign of misery is a huge breakthrough 31:32 Step #2: The journal prompt that will change your life 32:40 How we make our life so hard, and how can we make it easy 43:36 What did this journal prompt bring up for Jessie and I 49:02 Stop gripping, just love, feel that happiness again 52:19 Burning our journal entries - watch those negative emotions drift away — Follow Mel: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melrobbins/ TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@melrobbins Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melrobbins LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melrobbins Website: http://melrobbins.com​ — Sign up for Mel’s newsletter: https://melrob.co/sign-up-newsletter A note from Mel to you, twice a week, sharing simple, practical ways to build the life you want. — Subscribe to Mel’s channel here: https://www.youtube.com/melrobbins​?sub_confirmation=1 — Listen to The Mel Robbins Podcast 🎧 New episodes drop every Monday & Thursday! https://melrob.co/spotify https://melrob.co/applepodcasts https://melrob.co/amazonmusic — Looking for Mel’s books on Amazon? Find them here: The Let Them Theory: https://amzn.to/3IQ21Oe The Let Them Theory Audiobook: https://amzn.to/413SObp The High 5 Habit: https://amzn.to/3fMvfPQ The 5 Second Rule: https://amzn.to/4l54fah

Mel RobbinshostGuestguestAmyguest
Dec 5, 202259mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. 0:002:20

    Intro

    1. MR

      (ticking sound) We gotta turn this on because something just happened. I am going to try to explain a breakthrough that I am having, that is unfolding in real time, that, oh my God, I don't even realize how much I'm battling happiness inside myself. It's like this campaign of misery, like I pick up the sword, I start wielding it and I'm, I'm fighting for misery. Can we come up with a prompt?

    2. GU

      I got a great prompt for you.

    3. MR

      Give me the prompt. What is the prompt?

    4. GU

      This is what I write on the top-

    5. MR

      Okay, all right.

    6. GU

      ... of every page, every morning.

    7. MR

      Okay.

    8. GU

      This will change your life.

    9. MR

      (upbeat music) Hey, it's your friend Mel, and welcome to a life-changing episode of the Mel Robbins Podcast. I am so happy that you're here, because this morning, I had a profound breakthrough in happiness. I guess more importantly, I had a breakthrough in the thing that I am doing that is robbing me of happiness, and you're doing this exact same thing too. We all are, and it's in the background, you probably don't even realize it. Today's conversation is going to be an eye-opener, a game-changer. I cannot wait for you to hear it. It is also unfolding live. I was so excited about this breakthrough that I literally barreled into work this morning and Amy and Jesse, my colleagues and friends, were sitting here ready to go, and I could not contain myself. I had to share this breakthrough with them, and what you're gonna hear is me coming up the stairs and you're gonna listen to that conversation unfold live, and this is more than a conversation. We are bringing breakthroughs and matches. We burn things. So let's go. Okay, so I was just about to have a conversation with my friends Jesse and Amy. You wanna say hi to everybody?

    10. GU

      Hi.

    11. AM

      Hi there.

    12. MR

      And I thought, "Ding, ding, ding, this is something that I think everybody should hear," because I am going to try to explain a breakthrough that I am having, that is unfolding in real time-

    13. GU

      Mm-hmm.

    14. MR

      ... about my relationship to complaining and my relationship

  2. 2:209:48

    Complaining is robbing me of happiness, how I had this realization

    1. MR

      to suffering, and how that robs me of happiness.

    2. GU

      Hmm.

    3. AM

      Hmm.

    4. MR

      And here's what happened this morning. I woke up and I felt this incredible flood of happiness and joy and gratitude because all three of our kids are home, and nothing makes me happier than when Chris and I are here at home and all three kids are here and we, as a family, are together, and so I feel this wave of joy. And almost immediately, a second wave came and washed over the joy and just washed it right out, and the wave that came over me was sadness and grief that they were gonna be leaving-

    5. GU

      Hmm.

    6. AM

      Oh.

    7. MR

      ... in three or four days.

    8. AM

      Mm-hmm.

    9. MR

      I just felt this, like heartbreak hit.

    10. AM

      Mm-hmm. That wasn't even happening in the moment.

    11. MR

      No.

    12. GU

      Right. Anticipatory heartbreak.

    13. MR

      Yes.

    14. AM

      And they just got here. Yeah. Right.

    15. MR

      And they just got here.

    16. AM

      Right.

    17. MR

      And it was so acute, and so I laid there for a minute and I thought, "Holy ca- why am I sad? I mean, they're here." And then, of course, I rolled over to kind of explain this to Chris and he had been up-

    18. AM

      (laughs)

    19. MR

      ... for two hours, so there (laughs) the bed-

    20. AM

      Ah.

    21. MR

      ... was empty.

    22. AM

      (laughs) .

    23. MR

      Um, and I get up, I brush my teeth, I'm kinda thinking about this, and then I get a text from you, Amy.

    24. AM

      Mm-hmm.

    25. MR

      And every morning, Amy pulls a card for me, and if you don't know what pulling a card is, you will-

    26. AM

      (laughs) .

    27. MR

      ... because we are going to lean into this at the Mel Robbins Podcast. She pulls a card and it's a mindfulness practice, it's a way to get guidance from the universe, from universal truth. It's a way to tap into faith and magic in your life, and so I've become basically addicted to-

    28. AM

      (laughs) .

    29. MR

      ... checking my phone after my morning routine-

    30. AM

      (laughs) .

  3. 9:4815:42

    I have been putting up my sword, self-sabotaging and speaking the campaign of misery

    1. MR

      "You're miserable. And the harder you work and the busier you get, the more unhappy you are. And you've gotta start to take your unhap- your happiness seriously, Mel."

    2. GU

      Mm.

    3. Mm-hmm.

    4. MR

      "You've got to figure out how to be happy." And that might come as a surprise, you know, for you to hear as you're listening to Amy and Jesse and I talk to you, that I, at a baseline, was not a content or happy person. And Chris would always say to me, "God, you're always, like, focused on what's wrong. It's never enough, it's never this." And I would reject that, full stop. I'd be like, "No I don't."

    5. GU

      Mm-hmm.

    6. MR

      "I'm a really grateful person," which I am.

    7. GU

      Mm-hmm.

    8. MR

      "I'm a really positive person," which I am. "I'm, I'm a really, like, you know, I'm, I, you know, like, I, I have happy times. I, I am, like, I'm not, I'm not always f-" Uh, I couldn't even see it.

    9. GU

      Yeah.

    10. MR

      And so here's the major breakthrough I had this morning, around waking up and having a wave of joy, because all three kids are home and our family's together, then it immediately being wiped away by grief and loss and fear and upset that, "Oh no, no, no, no, no, they're gonna leave."

    11. GU

      Mm-hmm.

    12. MR

      The mirror, and my true nature, is the love and the joy. And the second that the gripping and the fear and the but they're leaving and the this and the that, that's me picking up the sword. And I had this realization that, oh my God, I don't even realize how much I'm battling happiness inside myself. It's like this campaign, and this campaign of misery. Like, I pick up the sword, I start wielding it, and I'm, I'm fighting for misery.

    13. GU

      Yeah. And there's always, when you have a sword in your hand, there's always something to fight.

    14. MR

      Yes. And here's the thing. When I'm thinking about the kids leaving in four days, I'm not actually experiencing them being here.

    15. GU

      No.

    16. Right, right.

    17. Right, right.

    18. MR

      And then they're gonna leave, and then I'm gonna be thinking about when they come back.

    19. GU

      You're not present to the joy.

    20. MR

      And I'm not present to the joy.

    21. GU

      Yeah.

    22. MR

      So I'm experiencing it on the surface. We laugh, we dance, we do this.

    23. GU

      Yeah.

    24. MR

      But deep down...I am engaged in a campaign of misery.

    25. AM

      Mm-hmm.

    26. MR

      And I think it's because I was, my mom is always focused on, like, what's not working.

    27. AM

      Mm-hmm.

    28. MR

      And she has bursts of happiness, and I so, like, want her to be happy, and there's always something wrong.

    29. AM

      (laughs) .

    30. MR

      And it's as if I learned to speak both English, and I also learned to pick up the sword and look for what's wrong.

  4. 15:4217:15

    We all have 2 languages: the one we speak and the one we feel

    1. MR

      and not be searching for what's wrong, and not be engaged in my own private campaign of-

    2. AM

      Mm-hmm.

    3. MR

      ... you know, "This isn't happening this way, and that isn't," and like, even right now, like, we're recording this profound conversation, and, um, Eric and Brian are banging nails-

    4. AM

      Yeah.

    5. MR

      ... on the shed outside-

    6. GU

      We're banging it out up here.

    7. MR

      Yeah.

    8. AM

      (laughs) .

    9. MR

      We're banging it out up here.

    10. GU

      (laughs) .

    11. MR

      You know, like, there's my mind, searching for, "Oh, well, this, uh-"

    12. GU

      Yeah.

    13. MR

      Stop it, Mel.

    14. AM

      Right.

    15. MR

      Stop it, because you may not have realized that it was a second language that you're constantly speaking. Just like if your primary language that was spoken in your house was Spanish or it was Russian, you speak that fluently.

    16. AM

      Mm-hmm.

    17. MR

      And then, if you- like, I feel like all of us have a verbal language, and we have a subconscious emotional language. And I was sharing this breakthrough with Chris this morning, so, he c- and he kinda- he said this to me, he said, "You know, so are you saying that in public you're a very happy, positive person, but in private you're sad and miserable?" I'm like, "No, it's way deeper than that." On the surface, I speak English, and I am a happy, positive, optimistic person, I- because I am.

    18. AM

      Mm-hmm.

    19. GU

      Yeah.

    20. MR

      But deep down in the depths of my subconscious, there is another language-

    21. AM

      Mm-hmm.

    22. MR

      ... that I am speaking, and I've labeled it a campaign of misery.

  5. 17:1521:05

    What my campaign of misery is - the campaign of misery looks for what's wrong and argues against happiness

    1. MR

    2. AM

      Mm-hmm.

    3. GU

      Mm-hmm.

    4. MR

      And even if you don't identify with this notion of looking for what's wrong, or arguing against your own happiness, everybody can relate to this idea that, you know, as you're ready to go on vacation and you're at work, you're thinking about vacation. As you're on vacation, what are you thinking about? Getting back to work.

    5. AM

      Back to work. Mm-hmm.

    6. MR

      Right. And for me, that sort of internal always-on subconscious emotional dialogue is to search for something that is wrong right now or is about to go wrong.

    7. AM

      Mm-hmm.

    8. MR

      And in this moment, there is nothing wrong. In fact, I am living my greatest day ever.

    9. GU

      Mm-hmm.

    10. MR

      Because I'm here with you two, who I love. We are doing work that makes an impact that we've pl-... love.

    11. GU

      Yeah.

    12. MR

      Downstairs, I hear the voices of the people I love the most, and we're all together for three or four delicious days. And happiness and contentment requires you to look in the mirror and be where your feet are, and let that joy and happiness flood in, and not pick up the sword and s- gut the happiness by going, "Bu- bu- bu- bu- bu- bu- but this, but the res- but the reservation, but they're running late, but the traffic-"

    13. GU

      Mm-hmm.

    14. MR

      "... but this, but they're leaving, but oh, someone's-" like...

    15. GU

      Yeah. If you're always looking for something wrong, you'll find it.

    16. MR

      Yeah.

    17. GU

      Right?

    18. MR

      And I don't think... I never realized the extent to which that was my default.

    19. GU

      Mm-hmm. Well, and also, I wanna say, it is your default because it was what you needed to do, but it is not who you are, like, at a soul level, right? It is not, like, truly who you are. It is just, like, that, that language, right?

    20. MR

      Yeah.

    21. GU

      Like, when you say subconsciously, yes, that's true. You, subconsciously, you do that, but on a soul level, it, none of us are, are like that. Like we're all, you know, uh, this Garden of Venus state-

    22. MR

      Yeah.

    23. GU

      ... which is like joy, peace-

    24. MR

      Well, that's how we were born.

    25. GU

      Yeah, exactly.

    26. MR

      And that's who you are.

    27. GU

      Yeah.

    28. MR

      You're wired for joy.

    29. GU

      You're wired.

    30. MR

      That's why you miss it.

  6. 21:0524:04

    How am I going to put down the sword…

    1. MR

      campaign of misery.

    2. GU

      Mm-hmm.

    3. MR

      Secondly, I said to Chris this morning, "I'm 54. It is as fluent inside of me as English, and I can learn a new language." But just like learning a new language requires you to practice it every day-

    4. GU

      Mm-hmm.

    5. MR

      ... and you'll slip into English if that's your default, or you'll slip into Russian or Spanish if that's your default, I gotta make a commitment to myself to practice speaking, and encoding, and learning a different subconscious emotional language.

    6. GU

      Yeah.

    7. MR

      And that when I slip into the one that I learned and have practiced forever, it's an emotional subconscious default that you have had since before you could put words together.

    8. GU

      Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

    9. MR

      You know, we learned this from Dr. Becky.

    10. GU

      Mm-hmm.

    11. MR

      Uh, that from zero to five, before you've got your own words, and sentence structure, and ability to truly describe the world around you, you are absorbing while your brain is in a theta state, which is a state of hyperlearning like a giant sponge, which is why little kids can learn a second language like that, you're always learning two languages when you're born. You're learning the one that's spoken out loud, and you're learning the emotional language-

    12. GU

      Mm.

    13. MR

      ... that is deeper underneath it.

    14. GU

      Right. Yeah.

    15. MR

      And so, you know, your question, Jessie, how am I... I have no fucking idea. I guess I'm gonna write about it in my journal every day. I'm gonna keep talking about it. I'm gonna catch those moments where the wave that is positive, that I feel myself picking up the sword and gutting it.

    16. GU

      Mm-hmm.

    17. MR

      You know?

    18. GU

      Mm-hmm.

    19. MR

      And I, I see it everywhere.

    20. GU

      Mm-hmm.

    21. MR

      I see it in work. I see it in... Even with the podcast, you know, we came out of the gates, and this has been so wildly successful, and the downloads grow every day, and it's just been extraordinary. And there's, like, I, I, instead of basking in, wow, like, we're, we're, we're making a difference, this is resonating with people, I feel that, and then I see myself pick up the sword, and I'm like, wroth.

    22. GU

      Right. Yeah.

    23. MR

      It's temporary. It's luck. You're gonna plummet off those dr- And then I'm like, "Ah."

    24. GU

      Right.

    25. MR

      And then I come from fear instead of coming from-

    26. GU

      Right. Mm-hmm.

    27. MR

      ... my natural state-

    28. GU

      Yes.

    29. MR

      ... which is, I just wanna have these conversations that allow us to share our lives with people and connect more deeply, and that make a difference for all of us.

    30. GU

      Yeah.

  7. 24:0427:34

    How parental figures/upbringing impact how you talk to yourself

    1. GU

      I call it, like, my tribe language of how my parents talk about y- uh, you know, the big things, like money, and relationships, and, uh, big life events, like how they view them.

    2. MR

      Mm-hmm.

    3. GU

      Uh, I noticed years ago that...... if I'm gonna live the life that I want, I need to leave this tribe, not speak this language anymore.

    4. Ooh.

    5. And I did a lot of research around that and like, "How do I do this?" Because it's painful to extract yourself from this-

    6. Family.

    7. ... family. From your family, basically.

    8. MR

      Do you think that's what- th- that's what you experience that is that sort of crunchy-

    9. GU

      Mm-hmm.

    10. MR

      ... kind of thing that everybody has, even though you may love your family deeply, that there is still this sort of mismatch-

    11. GU

      Yeah.

    12. Yeah.

    13. MR

      ... when you all get together because you're at different states of-

    14. GU

      Yes. (laughs)

    15. MR

      ... evolving-

    16. GU

      Right.

    17. MR

      ... and different states of, we all speak this language with words, but we are all-

    18. GU

      Yes.

    19. MR

      ... engaged in learning a new language at a subconscious emotional level.

    20. GU

      Yes.

    21. Mm-hmm.

    22. We've all moved on in some way and- but we have our family roles. We have our common language.

    23. Mm-hmm.

    24. We have our tribal, you know, and I say tribal in the sense that like, any group of three people that get together create a culture in, in and of itself.

    25. MR

      Oh yeah, that's the Seth Godin research, right?

    26. GU

      Yeah. Right, exactly. So, um, so yeah, I decided I don't wanna do this anymore. I am grateful for it. You know, like, uh, like KonMari, like thank you for the lessons I've learned.

    27. Yeah.

    28. And I'm moving on here. I'm making a conscious decision to move on.

    29. MR

      Well, you know what's also interesting is I think when you're present to it, Jessie and Amy, that, oh, okay, there's this thing I speak, and then there's this thing I wanna feel deeply.

    30. GU

      Yeah.

  8. 27:3431:32

    Step #1: Knowing you encourage the campaign of misery is a huge breakthrough

    1. GU

      three years, at lea- you know, this knowing, uh, is, is the start of something really awesome in your life.

    2. Mm-hmm.

    3. So number one. Uh-

    4. MR

      D- have you named yours? 'Cause I've named mine The Campaign of Misery.

    5. GU

      Oh, I- I love that.

    6. Mm-hmm.

    7. I might, I might adopt that. No, I- I- I didn't name that, but I might... The Campaign of Misery sums it up pretty nicely, you know. It, it totally is. Um, the one thing I started doing, journaling was a very big part of my practice. I would journal every day about this then I would for, for a very long time, then I would burn it.

    8. MR

      Wow.

    9. GU

      I would literally put it outside in a, in a Pyrex bowl and burn it, and then I would watch it burn. It didn't take that long.

    10. MR

      Every day?

    11. GU

      Every day. I had pictures on my phone.

    12. MR

      So you would wake up.

    13. GU

      I would take a picture of the burning flame every day.

    14. MR

      We have to put-

    15. GU

      Wow.

    16. ... every day.

    17. MR

      We have to put... Well, first of all, we're gonna put this card in the description in the show notes.

    18. GU

      Yeah. So- so I-

    19. MR

      W- will you walk us through this?

    20. GU

      (laughs)

    21. ... I would burn it. So I would, I would do my morning pages, three pages of, you know... Morning page is just supposed to be three pages of your stream of consciousness, but I would purposely think about this tribal thinking and just write everything that I hated about it, everything I loved about it, like everything, everything that was, was happening in my life. For three pages, I would write about it. I would crumple it up or rip it or whatever. I would put it in this, in this, you know, Pyrex bowl so it- I didn't like explode it, and I would put it outside no matter the weather.

    22. MR

      So would you like walk out-

    23. GU

      Yep.

    24. MR

      ... to your front porch or were you on the back deck?

    25. GU

      Yep. Back deck, yeah.

    26. MR

      Okay.

    27. GU

      And just put it out there and I would-

    28. Why am I getting emotional at this? Keep going.

    29. ... I would burn it. And I would close the sliding glass door and I would watch it burn.

    30. MR

      From the inside safety.

  9. 31:3232:40

    Step #2: The journal prompt that will change your life

    1. MR

      prompt? Because I do think-

    2. GU

      Mm-hmm.

    3. MR

      ... having everybody that wants to try this, call this the Campaign of Misery.

    4. GU

      Yeah.

    5. MR

      So, I liked that you said what you love about it, what you don't like about it.

    6. GU

      Mm-hmm.

    7. MR

      So, can we just kinda think up a prompt? So, as I go to do this tomorrow morning-

    8. GU

      I got a great prompt for you.

    9. MR

      Give me the prompt. What is the prompt?

    10. GU

      This is what I write on the top-

    11. MR

      Okay.

    12. GU

      ... of every page-

    13. I'm gonna write.

    14. ... every morning.

    15. MR

      Okay.

    16. GU

      This will change your life. "How can this be easy?"

    17. MR

      "How can this be easy?"

    18. GU

      I write that on the top.

    19. Jesus, I don't e- well, I go-

    20. Question mark, question mark.

    21. I don't even know like, what is this?

    22. MR

      Like, I'm like, "What is this?"

    23. GU

      Yes.

    24. What questions you have? I'm like-

    25. MR

      This?

    26. GU

      What is, what is this? Is that-

    27. Everything-

    28. ... my day?

    29. ... you guys.

    30. Is that-

  10. 32:4043:36

    How we make our life so hard, and how can we make it easy

    1. GU

    2. Everything is so hard.

    3. It has to be.

    4. MR

      How do you m- how do you make your... Te- give us an example of how you made your life hard already today? What, where were the disgusting thoughts, the Campaign of Misery? How did you pick up the sword against yourself or Jim or-

    5. GU

      Oh, as soon as I get in the mirror, like-

    6. MR

      What do you do?

    7. GU

      ... days... That's-

    8. Yeah.

    9. ... "You look like shit. Good luck today." Like, (laughs) not even good luck. Just-

    10. MR

      Yeah, right. Really?

    11. GU

      Oh, yeah.

    12. MR

      What else did you say-

    13. GU

      That-

    14. MR

      ... to yourself?

    15. GU

      ... um, I get s- obviously super stressed and emotional with holidays.

    16. MR

      Mm.

    17. GU

      Um... Because-

    18. MR

      Because?

    19. GU

      ... of my family's never really cared about them.

    20. MR

      Mm.

    21. GU

      And I'm trying to change that, so that's also like, how can I create my own language for my holiday-

    22. MR

      Hmm. Yeah.

    23. GU

      ... in my new house with my new husband. Like-

    24. MR

      Yeah.

    25. GU

      ... all these things that I can start fresh, how do I do that with nothing? Like, from scratch?

    26. MR

      Yeah.

    27. GU

      What does that even mean? What does it look like? Jim asked me that too. Like, "What does it look like to have a tradition? What tradition? We can do it. Name it." And I'm like-

    28. Uh...

    29. ... "I don't know. I don't have-"

    30. I know. (laughs) I've been there too.

  11. 43:3649:02

    What did this journal prompt bring up for Jessie and I

    1. GU

      do them as often a- I don't wanna say as I should, so I need to stop saying I should.

    2. Yeah, there's that.

    3. But just being still and being present.

    4. MR

      You know, i- it's so profound, isn't it?

    5. GU

      Yeah, and that was-

    6. MR

      Like it's just the little things that we're not even present to-

    7. GU

      Mm-mm.

    8. MR

      ... because we're busy, shoulda done this, shoulda done that, that we're not hugging the people we love. We're not greeting the cat. We're not-

    9. GU

      Yeah.

    10. MR

      That's-

    11. GU

      We're running out the door. We're, you know, onto the next. You know, I feel that too, like just even as you said that. Like I didn't really hug my husband as I left this morning. Right.

    12. Yeah. I didn't either. Yeah.

    13. MR

      Shit. I didn't either.

    14. GU

      (laughs) Yeah.

    15. And that's an easy change.

    16. Yeah.

    17. But it was, you know, I started with that, with like literal hand shaking, just 'cause I, I didn't know how to start this, where to start. What is easy? It's easy to breathe. It's easy to be still, and right now to be present with this pen and paper.

    18. MR

      How did you end it?

    19. GU

      Um, I ended it very confident. Um-

    20. Hm. Wow. I wanna hear this.

    21. Yeah.

    22. For sure.

    23. If I can read just like-

    24. Yeah.

    25. MR

      Yeah.

    26. GU

      ... the last journey.

    27. Whatever you're comfortable with, I wanna hear it.

    28. You know, we're around the holidays. Um, even though I know you said don't read your papers.

    29. MR

      Yeah. I don't, but that's another-

    30. GU

      Before you burn 'em.

  12. 49:0252:19

    Stop gripping, just love, feel that happiness again

    1. GU

      yes.

    2. MR

      That's incredible.

    3. GU

      That's beautiful.

    4. MR

      Same thing was true about the cat, 'cause I realize I'm so pissed off at him and, and I need to come from love 'cause he's clearly in distress. Something's up. Like, he can't fix this himself.

    5. GU

      Mm-hmm.

    6. MR

      So, I gotta, like, rise above all of this resentment and anger that I feel-

    7. GU

      Yeah.

    8. MR

      ... and just shower him with love, and help him figure it out.

    9. GU

      Wow.

    10. MR

      'Cause otherwise Chris is gonna kill him, I mean-

    11. GU

      (laughs)

    12. MR

      ... if he keeps peeing in the house. It's beautiful, three-

    13. GU

      I mean, that was, that was really cool. And again, I didn't think I could fill up three pages, but it just-

    14. MR

      Oh, God.

    15. GU

      ... kept going. Once, once you really get into it, whoosh-

    16. MR

      Flush the toilet.

    17. GU

      Yeah.

    18. Flush the toilet. Well, I'll tell you what I know from doing this, and this is just my experiences. A lot of times you don't wanna do it, there's resistance.

    19. MR

      Mm-hmm.

    20. GU

      You don't think you can do it, you can't fill a page, you don't wanna talk about it, you know, whatever it is.

    21. MR

      Mm-hmm.

    22. GU

      And then once you get going, it's like-

    23. MR

      Yeah.

    24. GU

      ... just the floodgates open.

    25. MR

      Yeah, I think this is an act of reprogram ... Think about this, like, I think about this like, reprogram your mind. I think one of the reasons why so many of us love prayer or meditation or oracle cards or, you know, like, reading a book, like, um, The Book of Awakening, that gives you, like-

    26. GU

      Mm-hmm.

    27. MR

      ... a daily devotional-

    28. GU

      Mm-hmm.

    29. MR

      ... is that it gives you a new thought-

    30. GU

      Yeah.

  13. 52:1959:04

    Burning our journal entries - watch those negative emotions drift away

    1. GU

    2. Yeah.

    3. ... sometimes you really get, like, a message even in that. So then, I just, um-

    4. Light it?

    5. ... take a match-

    6. Okay.

    7. ... I'll light Jessie's for her. And sometimes it's more difficult than ...

    8. Do you need me to hold yours?

    9. And somehow this matches. There we go.

    10. Oh, thanks. Wow.

    11. And then, uh, I just have a habit of standing back from it and watching it burn, and just saying to myself, "Let it all go. Just let all that complaining, shit you don't need, and the stuff you don't want, let it be gone."

    12. Wow. What do you do when it stops burning? Like, I'm now worried about yours.

    13. (laughs) Mine? Yeah, I know. Sometimes that happens. Uh, 'cause mine's not lighting.

    14. MR

      You know, it's funny. That kind of crumpled, ashy remain is what that black tar-

    15. GU

      Ooh.

    16. MR

      ... wave of misery actually felt like-

    17. GU

      You're right.

    18. MR

      ... that I felt this morning.

    19. GU

      Wow.

    20. MR

      Like, that physical burnt paper that's left in that Pyrex dish looks like misery.

    21. GU

      Yes.

    22. MR

      That's what I feel when I think, for example, about the kids all leaving, instead of being present in the moment.

    23. GU

      It's sad.

    24. MR

      Yeah. Oh, yours is smoking.

    25. GU

      I know. I'm having some difficulty with mine.

    26. MR

      Not really. It's just taking some-

    27. GU

      And I think that's okay.

    28. MR

      It's taking a little time. Amy's burning hers. What are you feeling, Jessie?

    29. GU

      Very satisfied. I don't know why that happened so fast, and there's so much hesitation to write it, and how do I start it, how do I do this, this, this, this? And, it was easy.

    30. MR

      (laughs) Isn't that incredible?

Episode duration: 59:05

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