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Jim takes an adventure on how to be navigate our pilgrimages with our emotional elephants.  He calls upon Jonathan Haidt's Happiness Hypothesis work to understand why our emotions more often than not govern our gifts of reason. Haidt uses the metaphor of a rider upon an elephant that cannot force the elephant to go in a particular direction. The rider is the rational part of our brains whereas the elephant is the emotional (automatic) portion of our brains. It takes courage and compassion for human beings to create a synergistic relationship with ourselves,neighbors,and God. (Read the Happiness Hypothesis for deeper learning). Jim refers back to last week's episode and the Plan (Prayer), Do (Devotion), Check (Contemplate), and Act (Adapt) [PDCA] cycle as a model for talking with and riding the elephants in our living rooms who we avoid, or fear to tame . Jim shares how he is using this model to hold the reigns of his emotional, complaining elephant with more wisdom, patience, and maturity. His current work is with a 21 day Complaint Free Challenge.  Emotional elephant joy riding can be awesome when you have a purpose, plan, and flexible course of action.  You shouldn't be afraid of falling off either. Check out Michelle McQuaid and Peggy Kern's podcast to learn more about developing emotionally well elephants in workplaces.  Check out Marc Chernoff's elephant metaphor to better understand how old and outdated habitual patterns and beliefs keep us tied down.   'Hope that you enjoy this adventure and your own ride w/ your elephants and the emotional opportunities to grow in your self, families, and communities. “Happiness is not something that you can find, acquire, or achieve directly. You have to get the conditions right and then wait. Some of those conditions are within you, such as coherence among the parts and levels of your personality. Other conditions require relationships to things beyond you: Just as plants need sun, water, and good soil to thrive, people need love, work, and a connection to something larger. It is worth striving to get the right relationships between yourself and others, between yourself and your work, and between yourself and something larger than yourself. If you get these relationships right, a sense of purpose and meaning will emerge.”  Jonathan Haidt, The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom   Blessings along The Way, Jim