06:20
06:20

What If You've Been Defining Happiness Wrong?

by Dr. Femke E. Bakker

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Meditation
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What if happiness isn't a peak moment you occasionally stumble into, but something far more available than that? In this video, I explore how redefining happiness, away from exceptional highs and toward a quieter sense of ease and self-support, can actually make it more accessible in everyday life. We talk about the role of contentment, the power of being okay with where you are right now, and how selfgentleness gives you the tools to have your own back even in the hard moments. This video is an excerpt from Femke's Selfgentleness Hour, a live session on Insight Timer every second Friday of the month at 3pm ET.

Transcript

You are here,

You're meditating,

You're listening to teachers,

You're reading books,

And you've come a long way.

And I'm here to tell you that you've done enough.

It is okay to be who you are right now.

Words and all,

Faults and all,

Beauty and all.

It is okay.

It is okay to be where you are.

Self-johnsonness doesn't mean that you will feel peaceful all the time.

It doesn't mean that you will feel good and ease all the time.

Topic of today.

No,

It will help you to find those comforting thoughts,

Those soothing thoughts,

So that you get to know that you have your own back,

That you are your own biggest fan,

That you are your own biggest supporter.

And that is that self-gentleman's perspective.

So many people think of happiness as a big thing to achieve.

Because when we think of those moments that we were so happy that we could scream,

Oh,

I'm so happy.

At least in the beginning of our life those are those moments that feel exceptional that feel like They fall to us from time to time.

It's not something that we feel we have control over.

But if you manage,

To redefine happiness to yourself into something that That basically means that you can help yourself to feel some ease.

To feel not to feel too much stress or no stress at all and you find happiness in that then i think you are really pretty well on your way at a certain point i realized If I experience during meditation,

For instance,

Or by practicing self-gentleness,

That I can bring myself to the here and now,

To be just here with whatever's going on and find that peacefulness within.

That actually I never have to worry about the future.

Because if I can prove to myself,

If I know,

If I inherently know that I have the ability to find that peace in the here and now,

Then whenever the future will become now,

I don't have to worry about it because I will know how to be in the now.

And our worries about the future are so many thoughts about whatever will come without knowing what will be there with so much uncertainty.

While empowering yourself by being here and now and being so okay with that whatever is going on knowing that you have your own back even when you're feeling not so good It is really nice to have that support from yourself so that you don't have to worry for when that future.

Will become now.

We need to practice how to allow all emotions and notice more.

Because happiness is available.

It is an act of awareness.

I also think that that has to do with the definition of happy.

So if you define happy as those peak moments in life,

Then by all means,

I never would want to be happy all the time.

It would be way too intense.

I could not live on those exceptional peaks in my life.

All the time,

It would drive me crazy,

Really.

Because I'm someone who needs.

And contemplation and calmness also.

I think that I define happiness as being okay with who I am.

Right now.

And right now.

And right now.

You get the gist.

Then you could ask the question.

Is the word happy then the right word?

Don't we want to?

Reserve that for those peak moments.

Of extreme happiness.

Well,

That could be an option.

And I think if you would opt for that,

Then I can see why you say,

Well,

It's good to be happy from time to time.

And for the rest,

I'm just.

.

.

Content.

I'm just okay.

But I also know that a lot of people that are striving for that happiness,

That want to feel that.

And so for me,

Happy is also.

If I'm really sad,

And I know how to soothe myself.

And I know how to.

.

.

Love myself in that moment and to take care of myself and to support myself.

I might not define it as a peak exceptional moment.

But I think I would define it as happiness that I have my own back.

Happiness that I know how to hold myself,

To soothe myself.

So,

Yeah,

When it comes to those concepts and words,

It really depends a lot on how we define it.

Because yes,

Awareness is everything.

Being aware of your own conditioning,

Your own trauma,

Your own biases Those are things that are really important.

I'm in a period in my life that I was really having a hard time with several circumstances.

Then the word contentment was really my rescue.

Because I realized that when I was really feeling bad and sad and frustrated and maybe depressed is too big a word,

But I was certainly feeling blue for a long,

Long period of time.

And in a certain moment,

I realized that if I can just find some contentment with.

.

.

Where I am right now.

And try to see those things in my life that I can be content about.

That really supported me because when I found that contentment.

.

.

It supported me to feel a bit better in the moment.

And from there on it starts to grow.

© 2026 Dr. Femke E. Bakker. All rights reserved. All copyright in this work remains with the original creator. No part of this material may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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