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Defining Happiness (Innovation Fuel – Podcast)

Alejandra Figuera (2107281)

University Canada West

Academic English Preparation Advanced / C1 UAC 030

Julie Lee

February 4th, 2022

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Summary

In the podcast "Defining your happiness" broadcast on November 23, 2021, wellness

specialist Christina Furtado talks about how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed "the normal"

she explains the redefinition of the new normal and how it has significantly impacted the lives

and mental health of many people, as well as talks about how people deal with these changes,

regardless of the circumstances, whether or not you resist them and not get overwhelmed in the

face of uncertainty. In addition, she explains that according to our attitude, we can see the glass

as half empty or half full. Many things are out of our control and should be seen as learning

opportunities, not as disadvantages. And finally, she suggests how to manage anxiety and stress

and take responsibility for how you feel and how you can positively change that feeling, organize

your time and have time to do things that make you happy. Do things that make you satisfied

release endorphins, the hormone of happiness. From my perspective, there are three points on

which I agree entirely with Christina, the first of which is determining what our core values are;

happiness is a decision and realizing that we cannot live on autopilot. (Defining Your Happiness

– Innovation Fuel – Podcast – Podtail, n.d.)

Response

After listening to the Podcast Defining Your Happiness, in my opinion, there is no

absolute concept to define the person’s values, but roughly values are those characteristics that

identify us; with the passage of time and the experiences we have can change, and we can give

them different meanings, but they will continue to be our fundamental values. According to (Lee

& Kawachi, 2019) Personal values refer to the beliefs, principles, or ideas that are important to
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people’s lives. When we do something that does not go hand in hand with our values, we feel

bad. We feel good and happy when our decisions are consistent with our values , though. And

this goes hand in hand with happiness.

In additions, happiness is a decision we make about how we face life, although the fact

that it is a decision does not mean that it is easy at all (how do we explain this to a person

diagnosed with depression?). But regardless of the context, the attitude we take towards the

situations that life brings us, feeling full and satisfied despite our limitations, being grateful,

recognizing our strengths and weaknesses, celebrating our achievements, exercising (release of

dopamine – happiness hormone), sharing with other people and smiling makes the difference

between being in a state of happiness or not.

Finally, living with the autopilot on is living by inertia; it is getting carried away by the

routine and the day today. The autopilot helps us to carry out activities that we should not pay

much attention to, such as brushing our teeth or tying our shoes. Still, when we allow it to enter

our lives significantly and we live rowing life, we will be facing the possibility of being

emotionally active, flexible, and open to experience.

To sum up, the pandemic Covid-19 Making the best of hostile situations, adapting to

change, and keeping optimistic, always we will have some losses and difficult moments is life´s

part. Nevertheless, we can intervene in our moods and be able to heal our thoughts and feelings.
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References

Defining Your Happiness – Innovation Fuel – Podcast – Podtail. (n.d.). Retrieved February 2,

2022, from https://podtail.com/podcast/innovation-fuel/defining-your-happiness/

Lee, M.-A., & Kawachi, I. (2019). The keys to happiness: Associations between personal values

regarding core life domains and happiness in South Korea. PLoS ONE, 14(01), 1–14.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209821