Episode Transcript  

One

The Cult of Busyness  

If you want to know the false god of our age, just listen to how people answer the simple question, “How are you?” The automatic reply is usually, “Busy!” Busyness has become a badge of honor, the way we measure our worth. Our culture no longer asks whether a life is meaningful or good; it asks whether it is productive. We equate constant motion with importance, as though the person who never stops must surely be winning.

And yet, beneath all that motion lies a gnawing emptiness. The endless hustle leaves us depleted. Even when we “rest,” we tend to choose distractions that mimic the very pace we’re trying to escape: frantic scrolling, binge-watching, or adrenaline-charged entertainment.

This isn’t real life, it’s a treadmill. And the more we chase, the less peace we feel. Our obsession with activity feeds anxiety, not joy.

The Christian vision offers something radically different. It does not glorify frenetic motion, nor does it commend laziness. Instead, it calls us into a rhythm, work and rest, labor and prayer, where every action is ordered to God, and where our worth isn’t measured by the length of our to-do list but by our belonging to Him.

Do you long for a simpler, more meaningful life?

Two

Ingredients for Happiness 

Everyone wants to be happy. So, how would you define happiness? 

Let me suggest that happiness is to possess the good things that fulfil human nature. In general, God designed the human person to need certain good things to be happy, to be fulfilled: Union with God in Jesus Christ. Receive the life of Jesus by the frequent reception of the Sacraments. Deep friendship with God through daily mental prayer. We want good physical and emotional health that comes from sleep, nutrition and hydration, exercise, hygiene, shelter, clothing, stability and variety, order and surprise. We want good relationships, meaningful work in which we do some good for others and for the world. Knowledge, our intellect needs to be fed by reality in the form of truth. Beauty, our emotions need to be nourished by reality in the form of beauty.

These are the ingredients for happiness 

Money, time, and power aren’t goals to pursue. We only value them because they help us get what really matters: God, family, meaningful work, love, health, truth, and beauty. But if we have those, we don’t need more money, time, or power. Chasing them as ends leads to slavery. Using them as means leads to freedom.

Three

Recipe of Life 

We just looked at the basic ingredients for happiness. Now we need the recipe. We need a way to organize our lives to achieve happiness and holiness. St. Benedict called it a Rule of Life. We call it a Recipe of Life. We need the right ingredients in our lives in the right order and in the right proportion.

Let me suggest a daily recipe for happiness: Friendship with Christ (30 min/day in Mental Prayer through the Rosary and Lectio Divina). Frequent reception of the Eucharist and Reconciliation (1.5 hours). Physical and emotional needs. Sleep (8 hours). Personal hygiene (30 minutes). Prep, eat, and clean up meals (3 Hours). Exercise (1 hour ) like a good walk. Time for relationship with your family and friends, which we can do over meals or walking and talking, which takes no extra time. Meaningful work inside the home or out (8 Hours). Knowledge about God and the good world He created (30 minutes to read or listen to something). Experience beauty in its many forms (30 minutes).

That’s 23 hours, which gives you a whole extra hour for friendship. You can get all that in 24 hours!

Four

Order, Structure, and Flexibility

These are the six ingredients to a recipe for happiness. They fulfill the way God designed us. There also needs to be an order to the way we pursue them. For example, we’re no good at anything without sleep or at least rest, so we go to bed on time and get up on time. Then the most important ingredient is a relationship with God, receiving Him in the Eucharist and spending time in prayer is the priority, so it should come first. As C.S. Lewis writes, “put first things first and we get the second things thrown in; put second things first and we lose both first and second things.”

But the recipe must be flexible, life isn’t always predictable. Some days call for more work, others for caring for children or aging parents. Some days, truth and beauty get a little less attention, and that’s okay. A rule keeps us grounded, but if the exceptions become the rule, our lives unravel. 

Do good things together. By creatively combining good things, we make it easier to live the life that leads to happiness. Prepare a meal, eat, and talk with your spouse, family, or friends. Walk and talk with a friend. Take a walk outside, pray the Rosary with a friend, and talk. This gets you prayer, friendship, exercise, and beauty! 

Five

Cut Out the Wrong Ingredients—And You'll Have Time for the Right Ones

Many people object, “There’s no way I can fit all of this into my day.” Or, “It’s too overwhelming to change everything at once.”

That’s okay. Start small. Start by tracking your time. For one week, write down how you spend your time in thirty-minute blocks. Then look at the results. You’ll likely find hours lost to scrolling, streaming, and distraction. Now ask yourself, “What needs to go?”

Cut out the junk: unnecessary busyness, compulsive news-checking, endless entertainment, and phone addiction. These aren’t neutral. They clutter the soul, dull the mind, and train the heart to crave disorder and noise. They numb us to real life and to God.

But here’s the good news: when you clear the clutter, space opens up. You have space for prayer, for deep friendships and good books, and exercise. For beauty, laughter, nature, music, creativity, and restful meals. These aren’t escapes from life, they are life. When we remove disordered pleasures, we don’t lose joy, we recover it!

And then, our life, ordered, peaceful, and filled with goodness, becomes not just a recipe for happiness…but for holiness.

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