# Stop Chasing Happiness. Start Living Joy

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/meaningful-life-skills-with-rabbi-simon-jacobson-753912/stop-chasing-happiness-start-living-joy
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/meaningful-life-skills-with-rabbi-simon-jacobson-753912/stop-chasing-happiness-start-living-joy.md
Podcast: [Meaningful Life Skills with Rabbi Simon Jacobson](https://stenobird.com/podcast/meaningful-life-skills-with-rabbi-simon-jacobson-753912)
Published: 2026-02-20T14:42:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/meaningful-life-skills/episodes/Stop-Chasing-Happiness--Start-Living-Joy-e3fc5p4
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/3a56d08/podcast/play/115791076/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-1-20%2Fa46ee7b9-cd9b-3c7b-198a-fed14a32d5f4.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/meaningful-life-skills-with-rabbi-simon-jacobson-753912/episodes/stop-chasing-happiness-start-living-joy
Duration seconds: 1893

## Resource

Here’s a million-dollar question: What can you do to become a happier person? Who wouldn’t invest time, energy, even resources, to find a reliable formula for happiness? Imagine how many problems would dissolve if we simply knew the method. And yet no one has ever handed us a guaranteed formula. Why? We live in an age where everything is accessible. Products, programs, promises—pleasure delivered at the click of a button, pain avoided with the right purchase. If we can order bread, medicine, or technology instantly, why can’t we order happiness the same way? Because we are looking for it in the wrong place. We treat happiness like a commodity—something to acquire, consume, possess. But happiness is not an object you chase; it is a byproduct of how you live. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson to explore the paradox and discover that the people who are truly happy are not obsessed with being happy. They are committed to something beyond themselves—purpose, meaning, service, contribution. The moment happiness becomes the goal, it slips through your fingers. But when you live with intention and dedicate yourself to something larger than your own gratification, joy emerges naturally. Remember: Happiness cannot be pursued.

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## Transcript

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