This is the 10% Happier Podcast. I'm Dan Harris.

Hey, hey, today we've got a short, targeted episode that tackles one very common question.

Here's the question. If, as the Buddhists recommend, if you endeavor to train your mind for

increased kindness, will that make you soft, edgeless, humorless, or even weak or a doormat?

As many of you know, we're in the middle of doing a lot of experimentation with our Friday episodes.

We're trying tons of stuff.

We're doing guided meditations, behind-the-scenes interviews with my producers, celebrity interviews,

and little snippets from the Q&A sessions that I do with

our subscribers over at Dan Harris.com. And that is what we're going to try today. We're going to

give you a taste of one of these so-called renegade sangha sessions that I've been doing over on

Substack. In these sessions, I usually start by guiding a meditation, and then I take a bunch of questions.

So in this brief episode, you're going to hear one of the best, funniest, and most relatable

questions I have received in these sessions to date.

Just a couple of notes before we dive in here, you're going to hear me mention the questioner,

Kate. You'll also hear me mention the questioner, Kate.

You'll also hear me mention another listener who made a comment. That latter comment was coming

in in real time on Substack during the session, which leads me to point out that these sessions

are a lot of fun. And if you want to join them, you can become a subscriber and ask me questions

either in advance or in real time. Also, one more thing to say here before we dive in. We, my team and I

are fully aware that the sound quality on this is not terrific. We will improve that going forward.

Vacation season is nearly upon us. This year, I'm myself to the lux upgrades I deserve with Quince's

high-quality travel essentials at fair prices. They've got lightweight shirts and shorts from 30 bucks,

...