Dennis Prager Show - Winston Churchill's Pathway to Happiness
Aired: 2020-01-28
Duration: 07:24


=== Why Enthusiasm Matters (07:24) ===

[00:00:00]  I mean, you know, I've been doing this since 1999 that, you know, it's almost 20 years of happiness hours.
[00:00:07]  That's 20 times, that's 20, it's 1,000, right?
[00:00:10]  20 times 50 is 1,000?
[00:00:12]  Yeah.
[00:00:14]  So it's 1,000 hours.
[00:00:16]  Now, I've obviously repeated topics, and it's important that I do.
[00:00:22]  So I didn't do 1,000 topics, but I must have done 300 topics, 400 topics.
[00:00:28]  It's amazing.
[00:00:29]  Anyway, this one, so I was going to have the living martyrs say some words, but we spoke during the break, and I got his input.
[00:00:36]  And it is, so I want to add something, because this is a very big deal.
[00:00:41]  And it was triggered by the very end of this very long biography I just finished of Winston Churchill.
[00:00:50]  And it spoke about his very many enthusiasms, and the one in this case was butterflies, which he had collected all over the world.
[00:01:01]  And, you know, I have that temperament.
[00:01:07]  I get very enthusiastic about very many things, and it's a major source of my happiness.
[00:01:17]  So I have the ongoing question of, what if it's not your nature?
[00:01:22]  Can you develop enthusiasms?
[00:01:26]  Well, there's only one way to know.
[00:01:28]  Try it and find out.
[00:01:32]  How do you know that you're not enthusiastic about X or Y or Z? You have to give it a try.
[00:01:40]  Is that all right?
[00:01:41]  Are we fixed now?
[00:01:46]  So, you don't know.
[00:01:48]  It's fascinating.
[00:01:49]  My stepson is extremely talented in building things, anything almost, and in IT. I mean, he's just gifted.
[00:01:59]  It's clear.
[00:02:00]  These things come to him.
[00:02:01]  He's an autodidact.
[00:02:03]  He's learned all of this.
[00:02:04]  And he's making a serious income based on what he's taught himself.
[00:02:11]  And you know how it started?
[00:02:13]  He's been in my life much of his life.
[00:02:15]  It started in high school when he didn't get, I forgot what he had requested, the class filled up.
[00:02:22]  So he was given, he was just simply put in set building, a set building class for plays that the students would put on.
[00:02:33]  It was the last thing in his life he thought he would be interested in.
[00:02:39]  And that changed his life.
[00:02:42]  He has such a gift for building.
[00:02:45]  And then for IT and for electronics.
[00:02:48]  I mean, that whole world.
[00:02:49]  Everything related to it.
[00:02:53]  You have to expose yourself and try to get enthusiastic.
[00:02:57]  It doesn't just fall down on you.
[00:03:01]  I knew this.
[00:03:03]  I was very lucky.
[00:03:04]  I had wisdom as a kid.
[00:03:07]  I take no credit for it.
[00:03:09]  I just had it.
[00:03:10]  I was given it and I had it.
[00:03:12]  In high school, I knew I want to be enthusiastic about a lot of things, excluding high school.
[00:03:19]  And I even, I'll never forget, I had no interest in ballet.
[00:03:25]  I subscribed for a year to the New York City Ballet.
[00:03:29]  And it turned out I still had no interest in ballet.
[00:03:34]  But I was proud of myself.
[00:03:36]  I spent the money, and I gave it a try.
[00:03:41]  I was crazy about classical music.
[00:03:43]  That started because of the same thing.
[00:03:45]  I didn't know I would like classical music.
[00:03:48]  I mean, you just don't know.
[00:03:51]  Maybe it'll be butterflies for you.
[00:03:54]  Maybe building.
[00:03:57]  Carpentry.
[00:03:59]  But enthusiasms, the more the merrier.
[00:04:03]  Now, here is the problem.
[00:04:05]  Because everything comes with a problem.
[00:04:08]  The living martyr raised this during the break.
[00:04:11]  Okay, so Dennis, he said, he saith to me, what if the enthusiasm is video games?
[00:04:23]  Now, there's nothing inherently wrong with video games.
[00:04:27]  You know, you play it an hour or so a day, you know, everybody has their diversion.
[00:04:32]  Okay, fine.
[00:04:34]  But when it becomes an enthusiasm, And it doesn't have inherent...
[00:04:44]  I don't think video games have much inherent worth.
[00:04:47]  I'm not saying they're bad.
[00:04:49]  Let me make that clear.
[00:04:51]  It's like I play hearts.
[00:04:53]  I admit it doesn't have any inherent worth.
[00:04:56]  But it's a diversion.
[00:04:58]  Gotcha.
[00:04:58]  I understand people need that and so on.
[00:05:02]  But I wouldn't say Hearts is one of my enthusiasms.
[00:05:05]  I would say it's a diversion.
[00:05:07]  It's a fun diversion.
[00:05:08]  It's not an enthusiasm.
[00:05:10]  I don't think about it when I'm not doing it.
[00:05:12]  I can go any length of time without it.
[00:05:16]  But I like it when I can play it.
[00:05:19]  It's a nice diversion while I'm writing an article.
[00:05:22]  Take a break.
[00:05:23]  Play a game of Hearts.
[00:05:24]  Two games of Hearts.
[00:05:26]  So that's different.
[00:05:29]  I don't consider diversion and enthusiasm quite the same thing.
[00:05:36]  People are enthusiastic about gambling.
[00:05:38]  I mean, you know, you can get worse.
[00:05:40]  I'm not against gambling, if you do it for fun.
[00:05:44]  If you're a serious gambler, it's a very serious problem.
[00:05:48]  So, I obviously understand there are enthusiasms and there are enthusiasms.
[00:05:54]  Okie dokie!
[00:05:55]  Let's go!
[00:05:56]  Two calls here.
[00:05:58]  Detroit, Michigan, Karen.
[00:05:59]  Hi, Karen.
[00:06:00]  Dennis Prager.
[00:06:02]  Hi, Mr. Prager.
[00:06:03]  Pleasure to speak with you.
[00:06:04]  Thank you.
[00:06:05]  I was really lucky because I had wise parents, and they kind of forced us to have enthusiasm because any time, first of all, they required a certain amount of reading, and we've all become very enthusiastic readers.
[00:06:19]  They required us to choose.
[00:06:22]  A hobby, whether it be dance, music, whatever, and try it for at least a season.
[00:06:29]  Then if you wanted to change to something else, you could, but you had to do something.
[00:06:33]  And we've all developed different things that we enjoy.
[00:06:38]  But we grew up having to do that.
[00:06:40]  So I absolutely think that it's something that can be acquired and taught to someone.
[00:06:45]  Obviously better if you're at a young age.
[00:06:47]  I did it with my daughter.
[00:06:49]  She's doing it with her children.
[00:06:52]  And we all do have things that we're really passionate about.
[00:06:56]  That's great.
[00:06:57]  You know what?
[00:06:57]  Thank you.
[00:06:58]  By the way, that does remind me why I am so opposed to so much homework.
[00:07:04]  It's one of the many reasons I can't stand this movement to massive homework.
[00:07:10]  It dulls the child's world.
[00:07:13]  What enthusiasm are they going to build with more math homework?
[00:07:20]  That's exactly right.
[00:07:23]  Back in a moment.