On-air personality Meaghan Murphy super-charged the crowd at a recent Upper School assembly on Friday, November 3, with a simple message of hope, positivity, and the power of gratitude.

Murphy is a self-described “editor, on-air personality, lifestyle and health expert, home-hack master, and certified trainer.” She has appeared as a regular guest expert on Live with Kelly & Ryan, Today, and more. Currently, she’s the editor-in-chief of Women’s Day, following her seven years as the executive editor of Good Housekeeping.

“We’re going to talk about how to charge your happiness fully,” said Murphy as she began her energetic presentation. “I’m going to talk about some of the strategies and science-backed advice I use in my book, and we’re just gonna put it into some context.” Murphy’s latest book, Your Fully Charged Life: A Radically Simple Approach to Having Endless Energy and Filling Every Day with YAY, is a guide to bringing your best self to every moment despite the pressures of daily life.

As the assembly progressed, she shared her main passions — as represented in all her work — for cultivating and sharing gratitude, making meaningful connections with people, filling your days with things that matter, and spreading a genuine approach to positivity to enrich others and help make the world a happier, healthier place. Her message resonates with many of Oak Knoll’s popular aphorisms, such as “Actions, Not Words” and “People with Purpose.”

Murphy did not shy away from current events and distressing external factors that seek to draw our spirits down. She acknowledged that her life was not always rosy. “As a kid, my nickname was Grumpy. I was this angsty, miserable human being,” she shared. Through hard work — akin to the daily workouts one participates in to prepare for a marathon — she trained herself to shine more light on the good than the bad and prioritize positivity. Ultimately, discovering her gift for writing, she was able to find an outlet for her feelings, conduct research for articles, and eventually discover American psychologist Martin Seligman and the theory of Positive Psychology.

Seligman’s wellness theory relies on the acronym P.E.R.M.A. — positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment. Murphy elaborated on each aspect of this route to a thriving mentality while sharing her own journey, obstacles, and ultimate revelations about the sometimes challenging work of happiness.

“Here’s the thing. We have to acknowledge what’s hard, and what stinks, and what sucks, but we can’t let that be too loud,” Murphy emphasized. “We can’t quiet the good because the bad is so loud. I absolutely recognize the bad. But if I allow that to consume me, to swallow me, and to crush me, then I can’t affect positive change. I need to know what’s bad so I can make better choices and create positive momentum. I can take action. I can support my friends and my community, and I can do good.”