A Therapist, A Buddhist, and You
A Therapist, A Buddhist, and You
Embracing Impermanence: The Path to Cultivating Lasting Joy According to Buddhism
What if the happiness we've been chasing differs from the lasting joy Buddhism suggests? Join us as we journey from fleeting happiness to enduring joy, guided by the teachings of Buddhism. We'll debunk societal norms that favor temporary fixes and dig deeper into impermanence, exploring how understanding this concept can be the key to finding lasting happiness. We also appreciate the power of human connections in fostering true joy, as exemplified by Moe Gaba, a young boy whose zest for life inspired Baltimore amidst his physical ailments.
We'll also uncover the transformative power of meditation in attaining acceptance and genuine joy. Through our journeys, we'll share how embracing life's hurdles and living virtuously can lead you to a profound sense of fulfillment and inner peace. We'll also contemplate the idea of purpose and its significance in our pursuit of happiness. Brace yourself for a thought-provoking discussion on the Eightfold Path and the necessity of leading an ethical life. Buckle up for a deep dive into the quest for true happiness!
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Welcome to A Therapist Buddhist in you. My name is Luke Duboy and I'm here with co-host Zaw Maul. Hello everyone, we are brought to you as usual by the Recovery Collective in Annapolis, maryland, and thank you all for joining us today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you. Good to be here again.
Speaker 1:It's a special occasion today because it is Zaw's birthday and we just ate ice cream. Oh, that was delicious In celebration of his birthday and I am blissful and I am happy that's great. What a great topic let's talk about today's all. Not just your birthday, but happy birthday to you, thank you. So if you like Zaw and his birthday, like comment, share I turned 47.
Speaker 2:I've been messing around with people. When I'm 47, I just look young.
Speaker 1:That wisdom leads to Benjamin Button syndrome there. Yeah, let's talk about happiness, the joy, the pursuit of the gift of happiness, the importance of happiness.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a good topic. This topic came to mind of I guess the term is true happiness or genuine happiness, not like a fleeting pleasure, pleasant sensation that is unquenchable, or craving that is unquenchable, but more of a sustainable happiness. Because, yeah, after my birthday, I started thinking about time, how limited time is, so I came up with this amount of times available throughout the week and how much commitment I have and how much little time I have.
Speaker 2:And then the more I think about it, it's like time being used up, it's like a limited resource. But then the bright spot of my life has also been human connection with other people. So I just started thinking about that. I cannot create more time. I only have 24 hours a day. He has 24 hours but I can create more meaning in my life and I feel like that's where the true, genuine happiness lies, in a way. So that's why I wanted to talk about this topic from the point of view of creating a life that is meaningful. It can be material but less important, but more of like spiritual or relational, where life is meaningful through human connections, and then relate that with the idea of genuine happiness, either from a Buddhist point of view or from your therapy point of view as well. When you help people, you know when people get to that place of freedom, joy, happiness. Life is very life is a gift in a way, you know.
Speaker 1:When I listen to or hear a topic, whether it's in a group setting or support group, I try to think of okay, when I think of happiness, how else can I explain or feel that? And I think a level of contentment, I think of an inner peace, a matter of the external complexities of life that happens Like how can I have that genuine happiness with life stuff? That's what comes to my mind when you say genuine happiness.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So the definition or the term in Bali that is used for true, yeah, or this is the truth, like the noble truth. I'm trying to relate that to that True is something that doesn't contradict itself. So, like connecting that with happiness is very meaningful for me that, when I was chasing after pleasure out of like drugs and alcohol and all these things, is a happiness that contradicts itself. It doesn't stay faithful, you know, it changes or a crash or it's not, it's an illusion. But when it comes to true happiness, it's something that is sustainable, that is reliable, that is secure. And the best part is that for me to be happy, I don't need to take anything away from anybody else. That, to me, is a genuine happiness because I can draw it out from within, and I think that's a very empowering concept that I've learned from Buddhism that when I say, may I learn how to be truly happy, it's a win-win situation because it doesn't mean that I have to take this stuff away from someone else for me to be happy. But it's all internal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think society offers or sells the idea of quick fix solutions for happiness. Buddhism does not. And to your point, you're saying happiness is within. But it's certainly a marketing angle to get happiness in a very quick way. How does Buddhism give an alternative perspective on happiness compared to society's quick fix solutions?
Speaker 2:Yeah, how do I simplify it? So in the 16 step discourse, the mindfulness of breathing, there are four categories and the second category deals with feelings. The first category deals with the body, or the breathing, or the 32 parts of the body, transition into the second part, which is the feeling, vidana, and there's a metaphor or imagery used there that we can use the breath to calm the body. And then the word that they use is bhiti, which is translated as rapture, and the image that they use is like a spring lake, or it's a lake. There's an internal spring that comes from within and it cools the lake, so it's not receiving anything from the outside, but it's receiving something internal. So that is kind of a description of happiness, or tukka, it's a Bali term for happiness. So I don't know if that answers your question or if that creates more question. I'm trying to simplify what happiness means in Buddhism.
Speaker 1:What are some other words in Burmese that are, my mind went, synonyms for happiness, serenity, peace, internal peace regardless of external chaos? What are some other descriptors of true happiness?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean some kind of clarity, concentration, calmness. These are all description of happiness, some sort of like stability, because the first nubul-chu, the impermanence, things are always in flux, but there's also a sense of stability in the way of that.
Speaker 2:Yeah it is true. So let me just partner with what is true, and then you get a solid foundation by standing on that. So if I look at the world from that point of view that everything is changing, life is there is suffering in life and nothing is personal. So if I stand on that ground, that's where the secure and reliable happiness is, because I'm standing with the truth as opposed to oh, I'll never lose this relationship, my love will be forever, or I will be in a maximum health for the rest of my life, I'll never grow old. So if I'm like partnering myself with those illusions, then that's happiness that can contradict itself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when you say that, standing with the truth, that can be right now suffering has happened, or the truth is that I've got happiness in my life. I don't know if that's contradictory or the paradox of acceptance or the reality of life, but my mind goes, and I think a lot of people can relate to this. I have true happiness if I have purpose in my life. I don't think that's a Buddhist way of looking at things when it comes to happiness. If I have purpose in my life, that I'm living for a reason, that will lead to a level of happiness that I wouldn't have. We often see, in terms of stages of change, people in their 60s, 70s and 80s. If they didn't feel like they had a purposeful life, then that may lead to sadness, depression and lack of happiness. I don't know. Buddhism looks at it that way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't disagree with that, or I'm not sure. Maybe you can expand more on that, because I do feel like that can bring happiness to live a purposeful life I don't think that contradicts or that there is a room for that in a Buddhist world as well to live a meaningful life. That's also the thing that I am as happy as I make it up to be in a way that what do I want out of life and then stay in true to that.
Speaker 1:Is it because one of the Buddhist teachings is living altruistically?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a little bit complex subject but we can simplify it in a way of a virtuous life. Virtuous life as in taking actions that doesn't cause harmfulness, because altruism can be kind of like an ideal poster child kind of picture, where it's too good to be true that you're so altruistic, but a step down or more realistic way is to be living a life that causes less harm, which in a way promotes loving, kindness to other people anyway. So if I'm not stealing, if I'm not lying, if I'm not doing any kind of sexual misconduct, use of drugs, these are all that leads to the opposite of altruism. But when I'm living an ethical, virtuous life, I'm actually radiating peace, which creates that room for altruistic mindset, naturally without having to go out of my way to do that.
Speaker 1:Tell us more about your perspective on happiness.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know. It all comes back to the Eightfold Path, the very first category of the Eightfold Path of morality. So that, for me, is where happiness lies, and also that's also what every time I talk to my mother or my relatives Burmese relatives from my dead side, my aunts they always talk about how important it is to maintain the precepts, because that way that's the most secure way to stay happy. But if I don't, I'm standing on a very loose ground. So what they mean by that is that if I hold true to those five precepts on a regular basis, my happiness is stable, but like, not happiness as in pleasurable things, but it's more about calmness, that I don't lie, or I try my best not to lie. No sexual misconduct, no killing, no stealing, no use of drugs or alcohol, like those are the bare minimum of five precepts, and if I stay true to that, happiness is sustainable.
Speaker 1:So that piggybacks on our previous episode on guilt. If you live by these precepts or these morals and values or these spiritual principles, then that aligns with contentment or a level of true happiness. Is that a simplified way of looking at it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is. But also like this is like speaking from my own experience too is that they don't have to be the barriers in a way, these precepts, because I used to live that way, that, oh, I will never break them, only then I'll be happy. But like life is not that way, you know, sometimes I got to break those to realize that, oh, I don't like this way and I want to stay in that refuge, you know, in that zone of where I feel confident and secure and good self-esteem. So why?
Speaker 1:don't you tell us when your birthday, a time you broke one of these precepts?
Speaker 2:Oh, multiples. Yeah, I don't think we'll have enough time.
Speaker 1:That was the political out right there. Well, let's talk about happiness, flourishing, a meaningful life unveiled, if you will, physical health. Is that a necessary ingredient for genuine happiness? Do you think physical health?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think there are different opinions around that, but for me, where I am in my life today, physical health is very important. I wouldn't say it's a prerequisite, but you know, the way I've heard of it from a good friend is that my body is a vehicle for my soul to write on. So might as well maintain the vehicle to be in a good shape, then I have a better chance at living a spiritually fit life, you know. But I think there's also other school of thought in Buddhism too, where body is just a distraction. The calmness of mind is more important. So, but for me, what I stand today is treating both equally. Both body and the mind needs to be in good shape.
Speaker 1:I think that's ideal, but I've certainly seen a lot of people with physical ailments, cancers, who are some of the happiest, genuinely happiest people I've ever met in my life, where as an outsider trying to connect and empathize with them, I feel sympathy and hurt and like can't fathom how can someone that knows that they may not live can have that much happiness. I'll give you an example. Well, locally, there's this kid. His name is Mo Gabba and he was raised in Glenburni and his first diagnosis of cancer occurred at the age of nine months old and soon after that he became blind. And after two diagnoses of retinoblastoma, he was diagnosed with osteocarcinoma or osteo anyway more cancers at the age of six and he turned around a city, and what I mean by that? He was like the number one fan for the Baltimore Ravens and the Baltimore Orioles. He would call into the local sports radio stations and he became famous.
Speaker 1:This kid that had physical pains, was blind, multiple cancers and surgeries and treatments, but he had this infectious laugh in this joy of life, that spark that was contagious, so much so. Unfortunately, he did pass in July of 2020. The city mourned that he had such an effect on the city and the players. There was one player for the Orioles that had colon cancer and he got really close with Moe, this boy who was in a wheelchair, because he was inspiring that he had this joy even though he was going through suffering, and even the Baltimore Ravens but Baltimore they did it with Moe in the end zone to honor him and there's a Moe Gabba day and he just had this contagious, infectious joy for life, even though he was physically suffering with cancer and ultimately succumbed to it.
Speaker 1:But, you would never know or see that from the interactions he had in this legitimate joy for life, even though there was tons of suffering.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's inspiring and that connects back to how we began the conversation about the essence of life. So it's not about the quantity of time that a person lived, but the essence that his life produced to other people. That is very inspiring.
Speaker 1:He flourished even in pain.
Speaker 2:There was this flourishing.
Speaker 1:I look at the word. He was flowering.
Speaker 2:There is this expansion of just joy that was coming out of him, even though it wasn't there was Daisy's bedridden yeah, yeah, yeah, these are just words, but as we're talking, I'm also being reminded of that term of true happiness, which reminds me that happiness parallels or proportional with the truth. Truth is something that is truthful is where the happiness is. So what I mean by that is that truth cannot be concealed. If it is concealed, happiness is either fake or it's not sustainable. As you were talking to, I was recalling this was a long, long time ago. I was still pretty young.
Speaker 2:My dad is a doctor, so I heard about this from him or overheard about that. I don't know if it was a hypothetical situation or if it was one of his patient, but he was just. This is what I remember the difference between when somebody is diagnosed with cancer, the family members empathize and don't really let that patient know because they don't want the patient to be heartbroken, so they hold it off. But it actually is damaging the patient. What he was saying is that when we say the truth to the patient, the body has a very complex and interesting mechanism to accept the truth and then start preparing for death. But it brings ease and comfort to the body, like the calmness and the happiness.
Speaker 1:It's like it's okay. Yes.
Speaker 2:But then like but when that news is kind of concealed, the patient is like kind of having these contradictory feelings that, oh, I think I'm still going to live, but I don't feel good, or whatever it is. So I'm also being reminded of that. That happiness comes from accepting the truth, partnering again with the truth, and that's Danny on that ground.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's making me think as I process that, because I can see that I don't know if I can relate to that, but I believe that in my essence that that is so true. I've never heard it that way. I wish that was. There was more awareness around that. I really wish that was true. When you see it in death, whether it's the denial of the family or maybe with the individual, that maybe they didn't have this true happiness or this level of acceptance, where that fight does happen, can you talk more about moving from the dukkha to like liberation? Do you know what I mean by that?
Speaker 2:The freedom from suffering. Yeah, yeah, I don't know. That's the goal of Buddhism which is attainable in this life time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, sum that up for us when you're birthday.
Speaker 2:No, I'm not going to go to that level, but I'll just do that with dukkha, which is also a concept in Buddhism joy, or pleasant experience, which is actually part of dukkha, because they do go away, but for me I'm okay settling with that right now in my life. But yeah, there is suffering, separation from the ones that I love or the loss of people that I care about, stuff like that. But then the dukkha part is that there are meaningful things going on and this is also the message that I wanted to carry to the listeners too, which I want to actually encourage people, whether you're in the most happy place or most depressed place. But human connection is so important for me, like that's where joy is, in a way that a sense of belonging, a sense of connection, and I haven't gone through a day without interacting with any other human being. I have done that before in the past, which was a miserable experience, miserable existence, but my work involved connecting with other people and everything that I do, so that's like the bright spot of my life.
Speaker 2:And then again, that limitation of time that I've thought about is that I have a very limited time, but then it's almost like time expands when you connect with another human being. So when you make the best out of it, it's like more meaning is created. So that's also what I'm imagining about the time that I spend with my kids, because I can be like, oh, my time with them is so short or my time is all these things, but then when I'm with them, how do I make the best memories with them and I'm making the best out of it. In a way, it's what I wanna focus on. I don't know if I deviated from your question of explaining about the liberation, but that, to me, is liberating enough to find joy and human connection.
Speaker 1:Well, that's certainly one way to pursue happiness through connection and the truth that comes with connection with family and kids. I guess that can be liberating. It is for me. I think my kids certainly give me an ability to be present and identify the truth with life and sometimes the variables of life try to convince me of the suffering that comes with the lack of control with kids. But it's that gray. What side of the coin am I dealing with? And when I meditate on that and be more present with my kids, that there's. I'll give you this example.
Speaker 1:Today I was doing a speaking engagement and came home and my wife was with the kids for eight hours a day and she pulled up and I didn't even realize she turned off the car. She hopped out of the car so quick and she said Tag, you're in, and I she didn't even do, you turn off the car and so it's a Priya, so I can't tell. But I opened the door and said oh, I see why you're tagging me out. A super diaper blowout all over the car seat for my youngest and that could be an absolute nightmare, horror story and it is, and it's gross and it's stinky and it's all that stuff. But isn't it wild. I'm telling the story and I'm laughing and there's this either sick humor or just this happiness. And just hey, I hold the baby while you wash and we take turns and doing this and getting it out of the car seat. That's you know, and it's. It could be a form of suffering, but now, looking back like that's a story, that's just funny and everybody has one of those that has kids.
Speaker 2:And there's liberation.
Speaker 1:in that there's happiness. Might be a stretch, but there's joy in that.
Speaker 2:Sounds too simple, but like, yeah, that's it. I know to take things too seriously. You know that the likeness in life can be where joy is. And also, yeah, the other reason, since you're talking about family and kids, the other reason why I think about this topic is that when I'm hanging out with my kids my daughter is five, my son is three and it's a lot to be there, to be with them by myself. You know I feel overwhelmed.
Speaker 2:But then there has been many, many moments pretty much all the time actually, on a regular basis where my daughter asked me are you happy, you know? And I don't think about it that much, but since she brought that up many, many times, it got me thinking about how important it is to be happy. Like I cannot force myself happy, but like, if she's noticing me, like not having a good time, I'm kind of like losing the essence of spending time with them, you know. So like it's actually it's almost like a mindfulness practice when she asked me that question, like, are you happy, you know? And then I asked myself no, I'm not, but I can do something about it, instead of being stuck in that unhappy, upset, poor me kind of situation.
Speaker 2:So that's also why I wanted to bring this up for my own benefit as well, to kind of challenge myself that, oh, am I happy right now? And if the answer is no, there's something that I can do about it, or it can just be a change in the attitude in that moment. It doesn't have to be a drastic action where I have to go out for a run or something you know so. But yeah, kids are amazing. They pick up things that we're not aware of.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know where I'm going with this, but of course I made it seem nice and funny, but of course in that moment I was washing my daughter's hands. And then we're. This might be two graphics for some people. I apologize if it is. But then of course I smell. My daughter's name is Maggie and I smell her hands and it still smells like poop.
Speaker 1:So I curl my nose and I look at my wife and in that moment it was the thought of judgment that she didn't clean her hands well enough and she, understandably, based on my facial expression, internalize I'll get over its poop. You've smelled it before. I'm sorry if I didn't get under the nail right, but it wasn't that at all. It was just I was almost like making this face like oh my God, it still stinks, and finding the humor in it at that moment. But at that moment it wasn't humorous. So then I tried to explain myself.
Speaker 1:But looking back I can see that moment, for the initial stress my wife was with the kids for eight hours and two of them and does tap out and then it was poop and then it was all of those things. But the gradual steps of just being able to embrace that everyday experience that parents have and seeing the way you can see me laughing with a smile in my face about even the stressful moments and the headbutting with my wife at that time I can look back in happiness. Now. Do you mind sharing a little bit just how meditation serves as a tool to uncover the innate awareness of just these profound insights that can lead to happiness?
Speaker 2:Yeah, again, it's a sense of clarity, seeing things as they are. That's what meditation does to me, which comes with acceptance as well. I don't wanna get too carried away. I've been reflecting on my own experience about like I talk a lot for my job and like words or just words, but like lately I've been just paying attention to what is it that I'm actually hearing and what is it that I'm actually saying, because there's just so many good words, so many good phrases. That means a lot, but then I can kind of like hide behind those. So I know I'm saying acceptance and awareness and all these things, but so I wanna be more intentional about these words.
Speaker 2:So what I'm trying to say is that meditation gives me the ability to see things as they are. What I mean by acceptance is that this is the way things are. So in a way it is free to know that because mind is so predictable. So it gives me that ability to pause and then look at it, which I don't have access to in the heat of the moment with my kids, because I have a physical reaction to loud noises and how they like drive me crazy, to kids wanting two things at the same time. But then, when I kind of recall the place that I can get through meditation is that, yeah, this is life, you know, and it is happening and I am embracing it. I can embrace it because this is it.
Speaker 2:So there's a level of acceptance that comes with meditation because, you know, with meditation, if you've been practicing, you notice that how difficult it is to still the mind, to still the body. But at the same time, the difficulty comes from my projection. Once I sit it with it longer enough, it makes me realize that I don't have to do anything about any of these, Especially if you've already set a commitment to sit for 10 minutes. 15 minutes thoughts come out oh, I need to call this person and you do this, do that, but everything will be okay, you know, even if you don't do that. So that's, that's a base that the meditation gives me and also the fact that Obstacles, you know, in life, is part of it, part of the growth.
Speaker 1:It sounds like a level of enlightenment or acceptance or reality or truth. You've been saying To get to that part can be challenging sometimes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and the best part is that my problems are not unique. That's also what meditation teaches me that, yeah, everybody is going through something in a different version, but that the parallel theme, though, is that the way life is structured, like how we evolve, how we survive, there's always obstacles that hinder the growth of life, but we somehow make it so. That's also where that acceptance comes from, that, when there is difficulty, yeah, of course life is difficult, but we can make through it.
Speaker 1:So far we've talked about how truth, meditation, al truism, virtue, these are all things that lead to a meaningful life and, ultimately, happiness. What else comes to mind to help cultivate true, this true flourishing happiness?
Speaker 2:Yeah, circling back to the human connection, but to take it a little further, is that idea of service, you know, giving, yeah, the idea of selflessness is also what brings true happiness. So, yeah, if you are in recovery or if you are in some kind of fellowship or service industry, people can relate to that. That how much happiness comes from by helping others, which is a paradox, but that's, you know. Buddha is a prime example of that. He spent less time working for enlightenment and the more time I'm sustaining enlightenment by delivering it to other people, you know, 40 plus years, I think that's his ministry. So, yeah, that that's another aspect where it comes to happiness, where we help others, that happiness that is generated.
Speaker 1:So happiness can't occur in a vacuum. That happiness you got to give it away, to keep it, that's uh.
Speaker 2:Well, you gotta have it first.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because then we can spew, uh, toxicity, huh.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I love those meditation where the intention starts with may I learn to be happy, you know, starting from within. That to me is a good setup for not only for ourself but also to be able to bring happiness to other people, and also that it is possible. Uh, because if I don't start from there, that's where that dukkha is, that when my kids are making me angry, that become the source of my suffering For getting the fact that happiness originates from within. But I'm like, only if they change I'll be happy, which is kind of the. It's the reverse.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and this certainly augments some of our previous episodes in terms of contracted awareness. The problem is my children just aren't Listening to me and they're Taking away my peace and serenity and my happiness. Only if this wasn't happening in my life, I would finally have some peace and happiness. And you've been pretty consistent, even though I tried to punch holes in your your viewpoint. You keep saying that it comes from within and these external variables are not. These aren't the reasons that I have this true happiness. So someone is hearing that and goes, sure, that makes the sense, whether it's in theory or reality, but I'm still not happy. What do you tell that person?
Speaker 2:Yeah, first of all, meditate and examine why are you unhappy? But not in an analytical way, but more of a investigation, like curious way, um. And then, yeah, self-compassion. Again, you know these are just words, but, um, you know, we, we deserve to be happy and we have the capacity to be happy, and it's not as complicated as we make it to be. So, yeah, I hope this topic was helpful and meaningful for people. Yeah, life is too short and precious.
Speaker 1:So I'll ask you on this birthday version of a Therapist of Buddhist in you episode, how happy are you all? That's a good question.
Speaker 2:depends on what time of the day, I'm answering it.
Speaker 1:Well, we just ate an ice cream cone before that, so that certainly can help, even though that's external.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I am very happy but, to be more specific, I am very secure and content from the point of view of like, the other thing about tricky thing about happiness is that I confuse between happiness and distraction. So, like, life is full of distractions and sometimes I think that's where happiness is, but I'm just ignoring the problem by distracting the temporary relief, which is how I used to live and which was also how I can still live. For me, my source of happiness and the secure contentment comes from the place that my life now is not avoiding pain, always avoiding pain, which is a losing battle because pain will never stop, but it's more about like, how do I deal with obstacles and pain, and then having a game plan for that, which is a secure way of staying happy, because it will keep showing up, but the good news is that the more I deal with it, the better I get down the line. So there's trust in that for me. So in that way, I am very happy to be in that place.
Speaker 1:Can you be happy and suffer at the same time?
Speaker 2:It depends on what you mean by suffering, you know but you can be.
Speaker 1:Can you be happy and have pain at the same time?
Speaker 2:yeah, that's a tough question. I think you can it depends on the relationship that you have with the pain. You know.
Speaker 1:I think the reality and the truth with pain doesn't always have to correlate to sadness. I think, for example, mo Gabba, an example I gave earlier there was plenty of times that he had physical pain or even sadness, but he still had this, this level of flourishing, human flourishing, this joy that can still be present with pain, that I can accept things for how they are and still fine. And maybe I'm more correlating happiness to peace of mind and serenity that even though there can be pain, sadness, external chaos, I can still have internal peace and happiness. It's not always an all or nothing, but this level of reality and contentment with all that is in my world.
Speaker 2:He's nodding his head, so I think no, my thought is taking me somewhere else, which is the fact that you kept mentioning about this episode being the birthday episode, and I don't want to. I don't want to make it all about me, but if I were to, I also wanted to give a shout out to my parents, because I used to think about my birthday as me, me, me, right, but lately I'm like actually it's about my parents oh, yeah, we're.
Speaker 1:So, as a parent and, and knowing what you know, you know, my wife went through. Oh my god, yeah, I can now go to my mom and go. Thank you for doing what you did this day. Yeah, we should be celebrating the moms on the birthdays especially.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this gracious yeah, that that's what I want to focus my attention on. About the birthday, and, yeah, because it was a very meaningful day when my daughter was born, you know, so I can relate to my parents. Yeah, it's all about that continuation of love you know mama, mama malls out there.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
Speaker 2:I think my dad does listen to these episodes every now and then they they live all the way across in Burma. So, yeah, my mom doesn't understand English, though, so she probably has to use some AI to get this podcast translated into Burmese. There you go yeah, but yeah, thank you, luke, this this was fun and memorable and meaningful absolutely.
Speaker 1:Thank you guys for for listening in as we talk about genuine happiness. I think the key takeaway is that genuine happiness is an internal journey of self-discovery, wisdom and compassion, leading us to a life of meaning, purpose and positive impact on the world around us. I mean, that is part of the collective solution to health and wellness and something to strive for and meditate on and be more aware of. Yeah, it's all.
Speaker 2:Happy birthday thank you all right, you're 47 thanks everyone for listening.
Speaker 1:Please leave a review like comment and, as always, if you think someone else would benefit, share this with others. And it is his birthday, so if you want to donate a a cup of coffee or a tea, there's a donate button too. Thanks everyone, my name is Luke and this is all. See you next time. See you.