Season One: Episode 13 // Outrageously Happy

Self-Aware Millennial

Since this is the last episode of this season, I want to talk about the theme of taking responsibility for your power, but first, I want to tell you about a cartoon that’s smarter than half the world’s leaders.

One year, my mom gave me a framed Peanuts drawing by the creator, Charles Schulz. It’s a simple four-panel piece of art featuring good ol’ Charlie Brown and his blanket-toting friend, Linus. The pair are behind a red brick wall, heads resting on their hands, looking contemplative.

Charlie asks Linus, “Do you ever think much about the future, Linus?”

“Oh, yes...all the time,” Linus says.

Charlie turns to his friend and asks, “What do you think you’d like to be when you grow up?”

Linus turns to Charlie, and with all the confidence in the world responds, “Outrageously happy!”

Outrageously. Happy. What an answer! That grand, simple message is hanging in my dining room, where I pass it every day. I’ve been overexposed to it, and so I’ve taken it for granted. But, every now and then, I stop to reread it, and it hits me all over again—outrageously happy. The truth is, most of the time, I don’t think about happiness, much less experiencing outrageous happiness.

When I started this show, I knew it was because I had something to say. I knew I’d been blessed to have access to so many personal development resources, and I also felt that if I could only share them with other people my age, maybe, just maybe, we could do things differently. That you and I could make a positive difference in how humans treat each other and themselves and the planet.

After 15 weeks of doing this, I believe that even more. The only difference now is that I have a clearer goal.

Outrageous happiness. Or as it’s more commonly known, joy.