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How to be Happy

Hobbies have always played an important role in my strength-building workouts. Without them, I would not be able to maintain the drive and enthusiasm necessary for hard training. For many years, four wheeling and working on my Jeep were among my favorite extracurricular activities, and both were great fun. Here, I am driving my ’95 Wrangler YJ along a riding trail in the beautiful foothills of Eastern Kentucky. Photograph circa 1997 by Shelia Brock.

While I was driving back to Louisville yesterday from a short trip, I happened to catch a small portion of The Dave Ramsey Show on the radio. In addition to hosting a radio show, Ramsey is the author of various financial-advice books and courses, including the top seller, Financial Peace.

During his radio program, the talk-show host asked his audience a very suggestive question. It was this: “How many bored people do you know who are happy?” And then, after a brief pause, he replied succinctly, “That’s right, not a single one!”

Ramsey continued by explaining that his method for fostering happiness is to stay busy, especially by engaging in things that he loves to do. I too find that staying busy is an important component of staying happy. For when you allow yourself to become bored, the waves of personal fulfillment flatten very quickly.

We all need to and have the right to be happy. But, you must create your own happiness by finding things that satisfy your heart and soul; nobody else can do that for you. One key for establishing happiness is to have a hobby that you enjoy. This simple step can eradicate boredom and put an extra sparkle into your life.

Hobbies build interest and trigger triumphs of enthusiasm, and I have never known a dedicated hobbyist to lack energy or will. Whether committed to playing music, learning a foreign language, collecting coins, restoring antique clocks, or to something else, an enthusiast almost always derives priceless joy from his or her devotion.

So if you are bored, why not start a new hobby and see what happens? You can study the history of the city you live in, learn how to play a guitar, plant and maintain a flower garden, take up karate, or build your own strength equipment. It doesn’t matter what you choose to do; what matters is that you do something that you enjoy and which keeps you busy. This formula may be simple, but it is a profound happiness builder.

Rob Drucker