Eyres On The Road

In the second episode of this mini-series on The Happiness Paradox, the Eyres examine how our obsession with control make us frustrated and unhappy. They ask us to acknowledge how little we actually control, and to be grateful that the real control lies with God. The alternative to a Control Attitude is a Serendipitous Attitude, and the true definition of Serendipity involves greater sensual and spiritual awareness and acceptance.

The Eyres have just returned from Switzerland where they were with their son Tal who is a writer and thinker in the area of Positive Psychology, which led to discussions about the illusive concept of happiness and well-being. So on today's show, Richard and Linda discuss how the very three things we think will bring us joy--control, ownership, and independence--actually rob us of happiness and undermine our well-being. This is the first of a six part series on discovering true JOY.

As April gets under way, the Eyres challenge us to put a new twist in our Gratitude Journals by keeping track of what we ask God for each day in prayer and of questions we ask to other people. The theory is that asking is the other side of the coin of gratitude. What we thoughtfully ask for makes us more aware of what we already have. Richard and Linda are casting from Switzerland and are joined on the podcast today by their son Tal who lives there.

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty" said Keats, and today the Eyres discuss the core principle of TRU and how truth can be the pursuit of life and the essence of who we are. Being real, being "congruent" and genuine, should be our aspiration, and with it comes a beauty that changes everything for the better. And the Holy Spirit reveals spiritual truth. Through stories, illustrations, and even a personal poem, Richard and Linda pay homage to the power of TRU.

For decades, speaking and presenting on subjects of parenting, marriage, and life-balance has been a staple of Richard and Linda's lives. On today's podcast, they share their preparation for a speech they are giving to employees of the SLC International airport where they will focus on two things: Three Steps to a strong family (establishing family rules, family traditions and a family economy) and life balance (how to balance family, work, and personal needs).

This Episode of the Eyre's series on three-letter-lessons for life may not sound very exotic, but how we EAT determines so much of how we feel physically, mentally and spiritually. Richard overviews his book The Half Diet Diet with Linda adding color commentary on their own journey to not only control their weight, but to bridle all of mortality's appetites and gain the power and beauty and joy that those appetites can provide only when they are controlled.

Today the Eyres continue their series on three letter lesson concepts for life--and number 24 in the series is TCH or "Touch." Being able to be touched--emotionally, spiritually, spiritually, is key to joy, and being able to touch others is the key to connection and communication. From the touch a good tennis player puts on the ball (The Eyres are casting from a tennis tournament in Indian Wells) to the touch of class that some radiate, TCH can change our lives.

As always the first week of each month, the Eyres explore a new aspect of Thankfulness, drawing from their book "Daily Thanks." For March, the gratitude challenge is to say "thank you" to someone every day and to record 1. who it was and 2. what you said thanks for in your gratitude journal. The promise is that conscious, intentional, deliberate gratitude, both felt and expressed, makes us better people as well as happier people.

In this week's episode, Richard and Linda get back to their series on "three-letter lessons" and talk about the symbolic word "sip." Can we quit gulping and guzzling and gorging our lives with "too much"? Can we slow down and appreciate and sip the taste and beauty that life offers us? Drawing from their recent travels and reading, the Eyres offer some ways that, despite our worries and pressures, we can find moments of peace.

It turns out that working together in families with Grandparents and Parents communicating about the needs of the children is good for everyone and produces measurable improvements in everything from longevity to health and well-being. The Eyres talk about this today and about their Zoom course at Grandparenting101.com which explores how to create this teamwork.

In this episode, Linda and Richard talk about their faith and how important the Church has been in the raising of their family. They make the case for seeing Religion as the "means" rather than the "end" and refer to two recent articles they have done on faith which can be found at http://bit.ly/3XnkIdN and at http://bit.ly/3IcW4Za ; and to their four daughters' podcast In the Arena with the Eyre Sisters, which is found on all podcast apps.

In this episode, the Eyres talk about how parents and grandparents can help their children and grandchildren make good choices and receive spiritual confirmation on the large decisions that will impact the rest of their lives. Some decisions can and should be made in advance, and others by prayerful consideration followed by the assurance of the Holy Spirit. We can teach our children those patterns.

The Eyres have talked extensively about three-generation and extended families and how important they are to children's development. In today's episode they go deeper and talk about some of the things extended families can do that nuclear families can't do, and explain why they think it is still possible to have in-touch, mutually interdependent extended families even though we don't all live close to each other.

In this episode, the Eyres get back to their forthcoming book on Three Letter Lessons, and focus in on the word-pet AIR, discussing how our breathing effects our mind, our body, and our mood. AIR becomes code for calmness and peace, and how we breathe determines more than we know. They also discuss the name Eyre, pronounced "air" and where their name originated.

On today's show, the Eyres challenge us to increase our awareness, both through our senses and through our souls, and to then transform that awareness into gratitude; and to record one incident of that awareness-to-gratitude transition in our thankful journals each day. Their hope is that many of these epiphanies will be about family.

In today's episode, Richard and Linda encourage a New Year's Resolution related to intentionally and deliberately teaching our children VALUES. Kids don't just inherit or adopt values by osmosis, they need to be taught the concepts and implementation of specific values. The Eyres suggest an approach of focusing on one specific value, like Honesty or Respect each month, and they offer a set of musical Children's stories that can help.

As we begin 2023, Linda and Richard talk about changing our view of family from the American definition of "parents and kids" to the World definition of "3-generations, kids, parents and grandparents." Outcomes are improved when parents and grandparents take a teamwork approach to raising children. The Eyres challenge us all to a New Year's resolution of creating this teamwork, and offer us the insights of Grandparenting101.com.

On Christmas Eve, the Eyres present 3-letter lesson #21 in their series. "ODE" is defined as a poem of praise, and they pose the question, "Why do prophets and sages spend do much time and effort praising God? Does God need our praise? No, it is about what God knows WE need--we need the perspective of His "everythingness" and our own "nothingness." Praise is important because it is the antidote to pride, and Christmas is the ideal time to start!

As Christmas approaches, Richard and Linda reflect on Christmases past and look to the future, but introduce the 3-letter lesson of NOW and the importance of living in the present and learning to love THIS moment in time. They challenge us, during this busy season, to pause and really be here, NOW, noticing the smiles, the surprises, and the momentary joys that we often miss.

In this episode, Richard and Linda carry on with their monthly gratitude challenges and encourage us to incorporate the beauty-full concept of Grace into our entries in our gratitude journals. They invite us to consider the relationship between being grateful and being grace-full. General thankfulness is fine, but only when it has a deeply felt object or focus and the subject or recipient of God does it begin to fill with Grace.