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 an author, speaker, and conscious connection expert, Karina Chapman from South Australia. How are you?

Karina Chapman  00:39

Excellent. Thanks. Thanks for having me.

Jake Pearson  00:41

I'm super excited to talk things, what makes you happy in life, and we had a bit of a chat before this podcast, which is quite exciting. So I hope that shines through in this show, as well. So please tell us what makes you happy as a person?

Karina Chapman  00:54

You know, it's the little things for me, I love just like-- we're in winter at the moment in Australia. So it's a bit of you know, there's lots of dull, cold gray days. So just some winter sunshine on my face is something that makes me happy. But I really love being able to read a great book, in a beautiful setting [phonetic 01:13], like the park or something. And I'm an author myself, so I really appreciate the work that goes into writing books, and really, I have always loved reading. So that's one of my big things I really love. 

Jake Pearson  01:25

I love the few and it's not something big is it, they're short, they're small, they're really simple things that anyone can apply. And you've applied that to your life like the sun, how accessible is the sun, so many days in a year where you can just go sit in the sun and just enjoy that, somebody like there are books everywhere, so many books you can just pick up and just enjoy that, there's no big barriers is there for you to happiness.

Karina Chapman  01:50

And I really believe that happiness is from within. And you know, if you just look at the small things like a beautiful flower or giving your pet a cuddle, anything like that can increase your happiness within. So you don't need it from any external sources. It's pretty simple.

Jake Pearson  02:08

Do you reckon that ties into what you would say to someone who's listening to this podcast right now who might be struggling to find that source of happiness because they're looking elsewhere in their life?

Karina Chapman  02:17

I think that a lot of people look for other people to make them happy. And when those other people fail to make them happy, then they feel even more miserable. But once you come to the realization that happiness comes from within, from doing those little things that you enjoy, it's only you that can make that happen. And then your happiness shines out to other people. And it's infectious. So it does actually help uplift other people's spirits as well.

Jake Pearson  02:45

Absolutely. And I love that you say a lot of people look for other people to make them happy instead of within. And that's probably something I've been guilty of, in the past- I need to be in a relationship to make me happy. But when I came out of a few bad relationships, I realized how it's not other people, I've got to do this myself. And then that in turn made future relationships that I had when I was a lot more conscious of that so much more meaningful, and the connection and everything was there was great. What would you say for people who are struggling to find those little things that make them happy? Where can they look? What can they start to explore?

Karina Chapman  03:25

I would say go back to childhood even- What did you like doing as a child? Did you like drawing and painting a picture? Did you like skipping down the road. I mean, if I see a great playground, I'm going to jump on the swing and have a swing. And it says little things like that. Because when we're children, we don't have all of these adult things that weigh us down and views that, we should behave this way or we should be doing that. We just do what makes us happy naturally. So if we look back to our childhood, we can reconnect with those things that made us happy. Maybe it's singing, maybe it's skipping down the road, anything like that can just uplift your spirits. And you know, it helps you to laugh at yourself. 

Jake Pearson  04:07

I love that the swing, the park, that's something that I would love to do. When I was a kid I love to climb trees. So naturally when I see a tree [unintelligible 04:15] I've got to sit on that branch like that is exciting. I've started drawing again in the past, I've got a guitar somewhere in the background, you probably can't see but just playing music like that was something I love to do as a kid even though I wasn't good at it. Connecting back to that stuff that made us happy as a child can be very powerful for our happiness as an adult.

Karina Chapman  04:33

And also making the conscious effort to put time aside to do that, once you've made a list. I find it's good to make a list of the things that you like from childhood and even now, so that if you're feeling a bit down, you can look at your list and go you know what, maybe I will just play the guitar for five minutes, doesn't matter how good I am. You know, it just makes me feel happy. And then you can reconnect with that happiness within instead of like, I wish that person would do this for me and then I'll be happy because you're always disappointed.

Jake Pearson  05:01

Absolutely. I love that for you listeners out there who are listening to this episode, I think you have a lot of homework to do go and create a list of the things that made you happy as a child. Doesn't matter how big or small just write a list and then pick one or two of them and commit just a couple of minutes of your time to that. 

If you would love connect with Karina, you can do so by checking out the podcast episode description below. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast and sharing things around your happiness. 

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 !