How do you create a fulfilling life? How do you create a happy one? Two big questions that we seem to be always wrestling with, especially as we turn into a new year, and there are countless people, all the gurus out there that are not afraid to give you their 2 cents on today's events, how to do just that.

Create a fulfilling life. Create a happy life, and in today's episode, I will give you the answer. It'll be revealed, but not from some guru and not from me. But the answer comes from my dad. Hey there, it's Michael. Welcome to Whole again on Fridays. I love sharing a shorter episode to help you navigate today's uncertainty with a bit more grace.

Think of them as moments to hit pause. Take a few deep breaths and reflect on how you wish to show up in life and the type of ripple you wanna put into it. And a few Fridays this year. In fact, there'll be one Next Friday I'll do a new series called What is This? Which is the closest I'll get to a rant.

It'll be a bit of a tongue in cheek. Look at what's happening in the world. And a moment for us to better understand it so we can move forward with more grace. And with that, let's turn to my dad. A few days before Christmas, my daughters and I drove up to Rochester, New York. That's where I'm from. To visit grandpa.

To visit dad. It was a bittersweet trip because my dad, he's now 89, he's been dealing with a few health issues over the last couple years, and it dawned on me that. We have a limited number of holidays together going forward, they become more precious. I see them differently, certainly much differently than say 10 or 20 or even 30 years ago.

So the trip was emotionally heavy for me, and if your parents are getting up there like my dad is. It is true, right, that they don't tell you how to parent your parents. There's no playbook or textbook for that. It's tough and we're all trying to figure it out. Some days we get it right. Other days we're just a bit outside wide of the target.

But we try to take it as my dad would say, one day at a time. After breakfast at his favorite breakfast spot, the All American Diner. They all know him there. It's in Fairport, New York. We took a drive because that's what we do. We take a drive and we drove past the old homes. I grew up in my high school.

We went to shoots apple cider mill, which by the way, has the best apple cider donuts in the universe. Not just this planet. No argument. Hands down the best. And while we're driving, I asked dad, Hey Dad, what advice do you have for the girls on how to live a fulfilling happy life? And he thought about it for a sec.

He said, well, gosh, I'm not really good at these types of questions, but if I had to say, I would say be kind, which great answer, right. Strong right off the mark. And then he said, well, you should help other people out, be in service to them. Okay, another great response. And then he said, move next door to Trump.

And then with beautiful timing, a wonderful theatric pause he said. No, just kidding. That guy is bad news. I didn't like him when I first saw him on that show. Of course, he's referencing The Apprentice and then he did something that I just love about my dad. I didn't notice this about him when I was growing up.

Probably due to my lack of awareness because I didn't feel I was understood, or maybe he just didn't do it back then. But Anyw who he does it now, and he tends to laugh at his own jokes, so he cups his hand and he just giggles into his hand or whisper something like he shouldn't be talking out loud like he's back.

In Catholic school. It's so funny, he just giggles and the girls giggle and everyone laughs. So going back to his answer and how to live a fulfilling life, a happy life, it's all about showing up and being kind and helping other people out. And then we can put the whole Trump thing on the back burner.

Here's a little bit more about my dad for greater context. We didn't have a lot growing up. We were a motel, not a hotel, not a Holiday Inn kind of family. We shopped at Sears, the outlet malls for factory defects, and we were thrifting before thrifting became cool. My mom and dad didn't save for our college, and they didn't have really a lot going into retirement, so we didn't have a lot.

I can say this about my dad. He has been wealthy from the inside out his whole life because he indeed lived the advice he was sharing. He would show up with kindness and he would show up in service to help others. He never had a six step morning routine. He probably hasn't had an asai e Barry in his whole life.

He's never taken creatine, nor has he journaled, listened to a podcast including mine or meditated, and he is never bowled alone, like literally, because we're a family of boulders. Bowl his whole life. Therefore, I became a bowler. But he never bowled alone. Everyone knew who he was because he made life about others, not himself.

He is really proud of the life he's created. It's been about kindness, it's been about others, and he is practiced what he's preached. He hasn't written a book about it. He hasn't gone on a big speaking tour. He's just shown up consistently making it about others and being kind. So, back to the question, how did he create a fulfilling life?

How did he create a happy one? Well, I think my dad got it right, as he would say he nailed it. Sometimes we overcomplicate things here, especially in America, we. Take something that's quite simple and we just, we mess it up. We really do. So if you wish to strip away the ego and create a wealthy from the inside out kind of life and take the approach that will also create wealth that you can use to support your family and yourself.

My dad offers sage advice and that bit about not moving next to that chucklehead. I think that's also pretty good as well, just saying. Being kind and being in service of others will help you feel whole again, whatever that happens to mean for you.

I'm so grateful that you're here, that you're part of our community. I hope you'll take a listen to the other episodes I released this week, and if this one resonated with you, I hope you'll share it with someone you know. Our next episode, remember that Together we go far. When we do, we put a beautiful ripple into the world,

and if you wish to further enhance your digital health, I'll invite you to take my smartphone wellness check and you can access it through the link in the show notes, or you can visit my website, which is Michael O'Brien shift.com, and it's absolutely free. And it will help you scroll less and live more.

And of course, I hope you'll join us here on whole again every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and discover how to heal, grow, and become more resilient and celebrate our scars as golden symbols of strength and resilience. Until then, remember, you can always come back to your breath. You've got this. And we've got you.