This is an IHeart podcast.

Are you looking for ways to make your everyday life happier, healthier, more productive and more creative?

I'm Gretchen Rubin, the number one bestselling author of the Happiness Project,

bringing you fresh insights and practical solutions in the Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast.

My co-host and Happiness Guinea Pig is my sister, Elizabeth Kraft.

That's me, Elizabeth Kraft, a TV writer and producer in Hollywood.

Join us as we explore ideas and hacks about cultivating happiness and good habits.

Check out Happier with Gretchen Rubin from Lemonada Media.

Pushkin. Rubin from Lemonada Media. As humans, we do a lot of things that don't make all that much sense.

I sometimes imagine a completely rational alien species

somewhere out there in the universe that's observing us earthlings and is totally shocked by how often

we act against our own best interests. We eat foods that we know aren't good for us. We avoid small,

simple actions like exercising or flossing, preventative care that we know we'll pay off

in the long run. But we also do some truly beautiful things, behaviors that might puzzle those

rational aliens. We donate blood or even an organ to someone in need and at real risk to our own

health. We're kind to strangers who, in many cases, will never even see again.

I also wonder what those aliens would make of the way humans experience happiness,

how complex and counterintuitive, the things that promote our well-being, must look to a totally

rational being.

Unfortunately, it's unlikely I'll ever get a chance to chat with a rational extraterrestrial,

like one of the Vulcans from Star Trek, those creatures who embody pure logic and self-discipline

about the anomalies of human behavior.

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