Jake Pearson  00:00

Are you trying to figure out the secret to happiness? We're here at What Makes You Happy with Jake Pearson. We want to make that happiness more accessible for you in your life. So stick around as we interview everyday people, inspirational leaders and your favorite celebrities on what makes them happy.

Welcome back to the podcast where we ask the question, what makes you happy?

My name is Jake Pearson. And today we have with us Karey Spransy, a Resilience Coach. How are you? 

Karey Spransy  00:36

Hello, hi, I'm fabulous. How are you doing? 

Jake Pearson  00:38

Doing all right, thank you. Where are you coming from in the world?

Karey Spransy  00:41

So I am talking to you today from Amsterdam where I currently live. But as people may be able to hear from my accent, I'm originally from Salt Lake City, Utah in the United States.

Jake Pearson  00:51

Fantastic. Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today to share all things that make you happy. So could you lean into that question a little bit what makes you happy?

Karey Spransy  01:00

Yes. So as you mentioned, I'm a Resilience Coach. And so the answer to that is brought a lot of things make me happy Drag Queens, True Crime podcasts. But for the show, I think you know, what I'm going to say. And what I always keep coming back to is exercising and moving my body, but particularly doing that in nature. 

Jake Pearson  01:00

So why does that make you happy? 

Karey Spransy  01:09

For me, that makes me happy. Because it's something that reminds me to be grateful for everything that I have for a body that can get up and move, no matter what is going on in my life. It reminds me that I can do hard things. And it reminds me that I'm strong. You know, I have been a young single mom, I have been through two divorces, I've survived stage four colon cancer, I've broken my foot, I've broken my wrist. And through all of these little things that have happened, getting up and moving my body, in some way has always been available to me, no matter how much money I have, you know, if my foots broken, then I was on a little knee scooter, when my wrist was broken, I could walk when I was going through cancer, I could go on these little walks with my dad or with a friend. 

And every time doing that life was tough, right? Life was hard going through colon cancer. But then when I would go out for a walk, I could be in nature and see the flowers and feel the breeze and smell the trees and listen to the birds and move my body. And it reminded me that, it's not all bad, there are these little glittery bits of joy and happiness that you can find in it. And it doesn't cost you anything. So that's why it makes me so happy.

Jake Pearson  02:40

Thank you so much for sharing that beautiful story of yours. And there's something that I just wanted to touch on that you mentioned, what was most available to you. And I think in the way the world is right now, well, everyone is so focused on things that they don't have or things that they need in order to be happy. And it just is a brilliant point of-- Well, okay, you don't need all of these things that you haven't got yet to be happy what's available to you right now that you can take hold off and maximize your space that you're in. No matter if you're a single mom. You've just recently married. You've had kids and you've flown the coop what's available to you right now. So what some advice you might give for someone one of the listeners that may resonate with this episode, especially right now who's struggling to find that little bit of happiness in their life? What would you say?

Karey Spransy  03:38

Yes, I think for me, what I've learned is to practice being in the present moment, because I think so much of our unhappiness either depression or anxiety is because we our attention is in the past, or it's on the future on things that haven't happened yet. But if we can stay present to the present moment and things like going on a walk and being out in nature, without your phone or earbuds in and just noticing what's around you or developing a meditation practice, journaling, daily gratitude, some of those types of things. It keeps us centered in the present moment, in the reality of what is actually happening around us and then we're just better able to find our joy rather than put our joy somewhere in the future or leave it somewhere in the past, 'Oh, I was so much happier when or I'll be so much happier when' staying in the present moment allows us to connect to the good things that are always happening. Even when there's hard things happening there's always good things happening and being in the present moment allows us to key into those and really focus on those and make the rest of it are just a little bit easier to deal with and go through.

Jake Pearson  04:54

So I hope you the listener right now, once you finish this episode, just focus on being in the present moment and just notice your surroundings, notice your thoughts, your feelings and everything going around you in that space and start to practice that. Some beautiful advice there Karey, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and sharing all things your happiness.

Karey Spransy  05:16

It has been my pleasure. You're very welcome. And yes, stay present and get outside.

Beautiful. If you'd like to connect with Karey, you can connect with her in the podcast episode description below. And until then, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. 

Jake Pearson  05:30

Thanks for listening to the podcast. We hope it gives you something to think about on your quest to discover what makes you happy. Don't forget to leave a review or a comment and follow us on all our social media platforms so you can see our upcoming guests calendar. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time!