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 a runner and host of the Martha Runs the World Podcast, which is a podcast about bringing fitness information and humor together. We have Martha Hughes from San Francisco, USA. Martha, how are you?

Martha Hughes  00:43

I'm doing great today. How are you today?

Jake Pearson  00:46

I'm doing really well. Thank you. And thank you for coming on the podcast to share what makes you happy. We're just having a really great discussion. off camera and it's super excited even though the time zones are very different. We're here- What it's to say 8pm in your time zone. It's Monday, Tuesday 1pm here, isn't it?

Martha Hughes  01:04

It is yes, it is. I'm just relaxing after a busy day. And just looking forward to this.

Jake Pearson  01:12

Beautiful. Well, would you mind sharing a little bit about what makes you happy Martha?

Martha Hughes  01:17

Oh well, there's two things that make me very happy. It's running and then talking about running. So I do those both with the podcast, really-- Yes, I love to run, I love to run, both road running and trail running. And then with the show, I get to do both of it. It makes me feel free. It's self propelled movement. I'm not relying on a vehicle, on a bike, on anything else, but myself. And it makes me feel strong. And it makes me feel free. And it's challenging. It's never easy. It sometimes hurts. And it sometimes is frustrating. But it's always good. I mean, it always feels great. Even bad runs may not feel great. But it always is challenging. And it's something about it, I just love the effort and the challenge to get out there and do it. And afterwards, I just feel very accomplished.

Jake Pearson  02:24

Has it always been that way that you always loved running?

Martha Hughes  02:27

Well, when you start out- When you haven't run for a while and you start doing it, it doesn't feel good at all. And it's really hard when you start but I think that's where the challenge comes in. Because when you first start out and your legs aren't into it yet, and your lungs aren't into it yet, the lungs take the longest legs, get in gear before the lungs do, then it's really, really hard. And you have to stick with it for a while. Because if you don't stick with it for like a month or two, you're not going to get into it. But that's what I like about the real challenge though. Some things in life comes much easier. But the things that you are going to cherish the most are going to take the longest, I believe. And once they all click, you get that moment on your run, where you say, Hey, this is pretty good. This feels really good. And once you hit that moment, there's a certain euphoria that it just like this, the chorus and sky starts singing and everything just works. And once you have that feeling you say yes, okay, that's why I do this. And nothing can ever take that away from you.

Jake Pearson  03:47

Beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. As a podcast host and runner yourself what would you say to our audience and our listeners who was struggling to find something that makes them happy in their life?

Martha Hughes  03:57

No one's going to find it but yourself. No one's going to take care of you but you! And I talked about this with- I work in urgent care with a lot of people who are very busy, a lot of doctors and physician assistants and things like that, who are extremely busy people. I talked about this with the doctor and I told and he says, Well, I don't have time for vacations. And I said you don't have time not to take a vacation. And he says yes, well I work here and then I work in the emergency room and stuff like that. And I said yeah, but you still have to take a vacation, I said you're not doing your health any good if you don't go out and get yourself some rest. Because no one's going to take care of you. But you and he said yes, you're right. I do have to do that. And because you can find excuses your whole life and then what going to happen at the end of your life, you're not going to be happy and you're going to be full of regret because you didn't find the time to find what's really happy in your life and you're not going to find the most moment that you didn't find your happiness- I won't swear. But Jack Kerouac, the writer said, At the end of the day, you're not going to remember the time you spent in the office or the time you mowed your lawn. So go climb that mountain, don't spend all your time in your office working, you got to find something that makes you happy.

Jake Pearson  05:26

Beautifully said, I completely agree. You know, once you find something that makes you truly happy, even if it's like a  Kerouac [phonetic 33:33], people really enjoy being a physician or a doctor, and that makes them happy. Kudos to you. But if you're in a career or a job, and that's all you do, and you don't have anything that makes you happy, like you said, at the end of the day, you might have a lot of regrets not doing the things that you really wanted to do because you didn't make time. 

So Martha, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and sharing all things that make you happy. And if you'd love to connect with Martha, and learn more about her running podcasts, you can do so by checking the podcast episode description below. Martha, thank you very much until next time! 

Thanks for listening to the podcast. We hope it gives you something to think about on your quest to discover what makes you happy. Make sure to check out whatmakesyouhappypodcast.com to connect with today's guest and follow us on all our social media platforms and to stay up to date on what's happening next and what makes you happy. Don't forget to share this episode with a friend and we'll see you next time!