Maintaining a state of happiness

The Women Lighthouse Podcast is a community for purpose-driven women. In this episode, they discuss maintaining happiness as women, which can be challenging due to societal pressures. The guest, Lillian Assien, shares her experiences and mentions that happiness is inner peace. She finds happiness in God, family, and genuine friends. Lillian faces challenges as a stay-at-home mom, including lack of time for herself and limited finances. She emphasizes the importance of open communication and expressing oneself to maintain happiness. Hello everyone! You are welcome to the Women Lighthouse Podcast. This is a community for purpose driven women who desire to live their dreams and aspirations. Our mission is to inspire you to live your dreams one day at a time while serving as a beacon of hope and guidance. We will be addressing various issues related to womanhood. Join me as we explore our journey of life together. I am your host, Wime Hamilton. Hello ladies! You are welcome to today's episode of the Women Lighthouse Podcast. So we are discussing about maintaining a state of happiness as women. Remember we are on our series on how to manage our emotions and develop emotional intelligence. So let's talk about happiness. Maintaining a state of happiness is very, very important generally. But for women it can be challenging because of societal pressures or cultural factors. So on today's episode we want to explore the concept of happiness from a woman's perspective. And we also want to understand the challenges that women face when managing happiness. Our guest today will be sharing her experiences with maintaining a state of happiness and provide some guidance for other women who may be struggling with their emotional well-being. Joining me today is Mrs. Lillian Assien. She's a wife and a mother of two lovely daughters. She's a stay-at-home mom. She's family-oriented and a good lover. And to add to it, she's my very good friend. Hey, you're welcome Lillian to today's episode of the Women Lighthouse Podcast. It's great to have you on the show. Thank you so much for having me. Nice to be here. Thank you, thank you. So today we're going to be talking about how to maintain a state of happiness as women. We know that it's very crucial. Women face a lot of societal and cultural pressures. So sometimes we find it challenging maintaining a state of happiness, especially when we go through a lot of responsibilities. So I want to find out how do you define happiness? What makes you happy as a woman? Okay, thank you very much. To me, happiness is simply inner peace. That is how I view happiness, yes. When you've come to terms with yourself and you know you have that peace of mind you need. So that's it. This feeling of excitement, yes, everything around you is just okay. You understand? You have that joy in you. So just basically inner peace is all I see as happiness. Okay, so what are some things that make you happy? Well, God, for one, makes me happy. I am grateful for the fact that I was raised in a more Christian background. Talk to us about God and all that. Him creating His own image and likeness, of course. And you know He loves you. So you knowing that God loves you regardless, with your imperfection and all, that makes me happy. Then secondly, family. Family also makes me happy. You understand? Knowing family has your back at all times, yes. And they speak to you through thick and thin. So you know family is always there for you. So family also makes me happy. Then another thing that makes me happy are genuine friends. I'm telling you, experience has taught me a lot. And friends, you know, they have a way of either making or minding your life. Friends you have. So if you have genuine friends, you understand, those that speak by you, that you have them in your corner, they also make you unhappy. So they make me happy too. Having genuine friends makes me unhappy. So that's all. So basically God, family and friends for me. Wow, that's lovely to hear. So when you are happy, how do we know when Lillian is happy? How do you express happiness? I express happiness in so many ways. If you hear me singing, I'm happy. If you see me dancing, I'm happy. If I'm being playful, I'm happy. You understand? Then sometimes I try to challenge myself one way or the other. Maybe I try something new. I just wake up one morning and I'm like, ah, this one I'm excited to do. Let me see if I can do this. Sometimes cooking, I try to try a new recipe of a meal, you know, cooking it and cooking it with joy and also all those ones. It makes me happy. So just a little background for our listeners. Lillian is actually at this phase of her life. She's a stay-at-home mom. She's also married. She has two lovely daughters. So with all this going on in your life at this phase, what are some of the challenges you face in maintaining a state of happiness while juggling all these responsibilities? Okay. So for a start, it's not really easy being a stay-at-home mom. It can be difficult at times and even stressful. It can take a lot of energy from you. You understand? And that alone can affect me mentally. I may not be even emotionally stable because you're here trying to see if you could get rest. The kids are there. Your husband is there. You understand? So you don't get to have time for yourself. So those are the challenging times you have. And for coming from a place where you were working before and you just had to quit work because of, number one, distance. You understand? So family for me comes first. You understand? So you have to quit those things, yes. That's sacrifice you just have to make to be able to have a sound and a stable home. So it's not really easy. Yes. So you imagine then your freedom. You have to give it all up. Your time. At times you give it all up. You understand? Just to be a full-time stay-at-home mom. You get. And then also some issues actually when it has to do with finances. You know, then when you know you are the boss of your own, you could have your own money, you could run or do things you want to do to make yourself happy, to keep yourself, you understand, sane, have fun, excited, go out, meet people, spend your money, you love this, you get this. All these are limited. You get. So those are the challenges you get. They are limited because when you want to not spend, you now look at, oh wait, wait. This money that I have in my hand. This one. If you don't spend it well or you don't budget right, the home suffers. You understand? So yes, all these are challenges you face. Unlike when if you're having your own income, you know, earning your own income, at least if it's bringing from his own side as a man, of course, thank God I have a very supportive husband, but still he doesn't stop the fact that you owning or earning your own income have a long way to help keep the home stable. It does though. Nobody should tell you otherwise. Having your own income as a woman, especially in these current times, it helps. It helps. So those are the challenges one face. So just as part of the, I won't say negative, but I'll just put it as a challenge, a challenge that one face. So it's left for me to figure out what we can be able to do in this state to be sane, to be happy. You understand? So for me to put on a positive vibe, to be able to carry on as a mom, I try to see how to create a balance, a flexible environment for both myself, my kids, and my husband. You understand? Just a flexible environment like, yeah, like, you know, keeping the romance alive. You get listening, open communication, you know, expressing how you feel. You know, you have to talk because if you don't talk or express yourself how you feel, you keep bottling inside. You know, if you keep bottling, bottling, bottling, one point you get to explode. Boom! Very true. Yes, what's going on? What's wrong with this woman? You understand? So it's always to keep yourself sane. You have to create this environment, you understand? And sometimes, again, I go out once in a while, you know, talk to genuine friends, understand? Even family at times, those in your corner, let them hear you out, how you feel. So just express yourself. Expressing oneself doesn't make you weak, you understand? It's just that you accept that you are in a situation and then you just need a way out, you understand? Of dealing with it. Yes, so that's it. I'm not superhuman, you understand? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. 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