Thank you Jesus and everything holy, the radio show went without a glitch. Well, there were a couple of times when Kim and I were spontaneously taken off air, but I rectified that quickly. So many of you had such great questions for Erik, too. For those who patiently waited in line, please don’t give up. Keep trying, and call the number next Thursday as close to 15 minutes ahead of time as you can. We did have a surprise caller: Erik’s big sister, Michelle. That was a touching moment. I’ll post the podcast as soon as I have it!

You might want to refresh your memory and read the tail end of yesterday’s post before you read on.

Me: So they basically just have to remind themselves to be in the moment. Don’t go there. Don’t go there. That could be a mantra.

Erik: Perfect mantra. I’m not telling you to forget and ignore, but learn from. You can only learn from something once and then move on. You can’t keep going back and back and back, over and over. That’s what humans tend to do and is why it’s so hard for them to move forward and to bring their vibration back up when shit happens.

Me: Well, why do they do that?

(Long pause)

Me: To try to understand it in different ways?

Kim: I guess he’s going to use me as an example.

Me: Of course. You can use me as an example sometimes if you want, Erik.

Kim giggles.

Me: Poor Kim!

Kim: Yeah, no kidding!

Erik: There are times when you do rehash situations from the past. Why do we hold onto shit when it doesn’t feel good? It’s sometimes an attempt to understand all the dynamics of it. “Did I look at it the right way?” People tear themselves up in trying to understand all they dynamics of a situation, but in reality, the most important thing is, “What did you connect with immediately no matter what situation it was? What did you get from it right away? What felt natural in those moments that you were supposed to learn from?” Take that, and then move on. Don’t go back and go, “Okay, what am I missing?” People want to dig up the shit, and they want to—

Kim (laughing): Oh, man, that visual is disgusting!

Me: Oh, Erik! Oh, no!

Erik: They want to dig up the shit and smell it 20 times over. “Am I smelling anything new? Is there anything that I’ve missed?”

Me: It’s like a dog!

Kim: That’s exactly what he said!

Me: They’ll go right up to a turd and smell it and smell it and smell it.

Yet they won’t eat sushi. What does that say about people like me who love it?

Kim: That’s exactly what he’s showing me. He’s showing a dog that’s digging up shit and smelling it.

Erik: We tend to do that. We tend to dig it up again and smell it. You get into your head and (in a deep tone) oftentimes in doing this, you create more shit than was already there! You get too deep. You overthink and overanalyze. It’s simpler. Take what you initially felt in that situation and move on. But people have a hard time. They just want to hold onto that shit for as long as they can!

Kim and I laugh.

Me: I know! I hope you’re only getting visuals and not smells!

Kim: Yeah, thank god, it’s only visuals!

Me: Good! So can you give us a few tips, five tips, three tips, however many tips for attaining and maintaining happiness? There might be different tips for attaining happiness than for maintaining it. I don’t know. That’s up to you!

Erik: Well, let’s do both. For a tip: “Shit or get off the pot.” Move on. Keep the forward momentum.

Kim and I laugh.

Erik: Attaining is one thing, and maintaining is a whole nuther piece of the pie. Attaining happiness is about knowing—it kind of goes back to the self-value thing. You shouldn’t place your happiness on circumstances outside of you like people outside of you. Sure, people can make you happy. Circumstances can fulfill you, but ultimately, (He puts his hands together as if in prayer) collecting a sense of self and finding alignment is going to bring you natural fulfillment. Circumstances and people aren’t a form of natural fulfillment. There’s a difference. One’s organic and the other isn’t.

Me: Okay.

Erik: So finding yourself, finding a sense of self and accepting yourself is organic fulfillment, which leads to organic happiness that’s within. Maintaining that is about knowing how not to internalize situations and events, knowing that sense of self no matter what circumstance you’re up against, no matter what events you go through in life. Being able to maintain that strong sense of self is going to keep you happy. It’s going to maintain your happiness. It’s all about maintenance!

Kim chuckles. We girls know about maintenance!

Me: It seems like one of the most important things is to really know and be your authentic self, and of course that’s going to take a lot of emotional honesty—self-honesty. Is that one thing you’re saying as a key to happiness?

Erik: Yep, and that’s when people tend to put the blinders on. A lot of people don’t want to be emotionally honest with themselves because half the time they’re afraid of what their emotions are going to tell them. They’re afraid of the truth.

Kim: He’s actually getting very sweet and genuine.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! It’s going to be a beautiful weekend, perfect for Michelle’s upcoming baby shower that her big sister, Kristina, is so graciously hosting. It should be a lot of fun. Michelle is do done with being pregnant. I remember those last months and how brutal they were. In my case, with three September birthdays, I had to endure the last month in a blistering Houston summer. Ninety four degrees and 1500% humidity. My fingers would swell up like little sausages. Still, even though I wished an early birth every time, once the baby was born and crying in my arms in the hospital rom, fleeting thoughts like, “Put him back!!” crossed my mind.