The Year of Living Happy

Feeling busy? Worn out? Unhappy? And just plain stressed? Alli Worthington to the rescue!

This gal, who not only writes bestselling books (Breaking Busy and Fierce Faith) but has five boys, has figured out a few secrets for peace and contentment for the modern, busy woman.

In her new book The Year of Living Happy, Alli walks us through the ways in which busyness and fear can wreak havoc on our lives, and especially on our faith! She sprinkles her chapters with Biblical Wisdom and dispels the common Christian misconception that happiness is somehow not holy. She invites us to truly grasp God's vision for our life – that happiness and Holiness can coexist for a beautiful journey. Because when we find joy in daily life, we find joy in serving Him in greater ways! Let's chat with our girl Alli!

Who's the book for?

If you are a woman who knows there is more out there for you- it’s for you. If you know you are made for more than a life of just getting by- it’s for you. If you see that God created you to not just to survive life but to live it abundantly- it’s for you. For too long we have read all the commands in the Bible to “rejoice,” “be glad,” “be happy,” and “be of good cheer” but we haven’t had a practical step-by-step on how to actually live that way I spent a year of my life studying what Scripture and modern research say about everything that brings us a happy life, and I’ve condensed it in The Year of Living Happy for you!

How does the craziness of our world shrink our happiness?

Social Media is a blessing and a curse. Now, I’m not knocking social media, I love it. Instagram is the first thing I open every morning. But if we are not super intentional with our social media use, it can and often does steal our happiness. Study after study shows the more we passively scroll on social media, the more discontent we are with our lives. Instagram, if we aren't careful about how we use it and whose accounts we follow, can present the false gospel that our happiness is dependent on our looks, our weight, our bank accounts, and our social life. When we passively scroll the curated perfection that is our Instagram feed, researchers discovered that our subconscious couldn’t help but compare our reality to the curated fantasy online, feel less than, and unhappy in the process.

How can we cultivate happiness?

The good news about cultivating happiness in our lives is it’s easy! Some of the biggest results in our happiness come from small changes. I like to define happiness as a feeling of connection and contentment. As you begin our year of living happy, focusing in on our connections (which is our relationships) and our contentment (which is our gratitude) is a great place to start.

Researchers have studied what makes for the happiest lives, and they are the ones with loving relationships. As you begin your journey to a happier life, focus in on the relationships that build you up. A friend told me that in the Army they have something called battle buddies. A battle buddy is someone who supports you and looks out for you in and out of battle. Don’t we all need a couple of great battle buddies on our journey with us?

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17) Just as a blacksmith will use metal on metal to form it for its intended purpose, God will use certain people in our lives to sharpen and mold us into who he is making us to be. Identify your battle buddies who look out for you, encourage you, and are there for you when life looks more like a battlefield than we’d like!

And the second thing you want to do is practice the discipline of gratitude. It can be as simple as identifying three things you are grateful for at the end of each day. You want to get in the practice of living life in a way where you are looking for things that will be on your gratitude list every day. With this, you essentially train yourself to look for things that make you happy, and that makes you a little happier every day!

Wife, mother of 5 boys, business coach... you're busy! How do you carve time for happiness?

The good news is all three of those roles make me happy! And on a practical level, as a business coach and business owner, I get to design all my work around what fuels me and makes me feel great. When I get to help women build their businesses it brings me so much joy, as opposed to doing work that drains me, it energizes me.

I love that we all live in a time in history where the world is literally at our fingertips. We don’t have to get permission to build the life of our dreams, to create the life we want to live and develop a life of happiness!

I believe that with God and Google we can do anything!

Can you explain how happiness sometimes gets a bad rap in Christian circles?

Growing up, I remember being told that joy was spelled, “J-O-Y”— Jesus, others, and you. It was supposed to be a reminder that joy comes from having the right priorities, and that’s true. But it seemed as if joy were always pitted against happiness. While joy was godly and spiritual, happiness was shallow and selfish. But as I kept walking with Jesus, I came to understand that seeking to follow God and seeking to be happy weren’t mutually exclusive.

I used to believe the search for happiness was a superficial pursuit, that happiness and holiness have nothing to do with each other. But now I see that they go hand in hand. This work of seeking authentic happiness is important, and it is holy. As we seek after the things that create real happiness in us, we find God. And when we live the life God has created us to live, securely and obediently trusting Him in all areas, we are happier.

As I pursued this topic of holy happiness, I learned that the concept that happiness is fleeting and of the world, and joy is somehow more holy, is an idea that only became popular a little over a hundred years ago. All throughout church history this concept was unknown until very recently.

There’s nothing in the Bible that separates the concept of joy and happiness. They have the same meaning according to the original languages of Scripture. So many of the words our English bibles use like ‘delight,’ “joy,” and “gladness’ are actually synonyms for the original Hebrew and Greek words that mean happiness.

God tells us repeatedly to be happy in Scripture. Commands such as “rejoice,” “be of good cheer,” “do not be afraid,” “give thanks,” these are all ways of telling us to be happy!

How does Jesus play a part in our happiness?

Jesus is the sole reason for our happiness! As our Savior he makes us new gives us wisdom and comforts us through any storm. Thanks to Jesus we no longer have to live separated from God. We know our future is secure, and we know that no matter what happens in our life that it will be used for our good and his glory!

Favorite Bible verse?

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

You host a summit, right?!

Yes, I have a Free Fierce Faith Summit with 18 of my favorite leaders, speaker, and authors sharing their stories and wisdom. We cover how we have learned to overcome our fears and achieve personal and professional goals. It’s all free, and I would love for you to get access to it at FierceFaithSummit.com!

Order The Year of Living Happy now, girlfriend!