Happiness

You may not know it, but happiness is good for your physical health. Happiness is, in fact, one of the most important factors that will help keep you healthy. Studies have shown that happiness helps lower the risk of developing many physical illnesses. A  study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed that “positive affective states are related to favorable profiles of functioning in several biological systems and may thereby be relevant to risk of development of physical illness.” In simple terms: happiness is good for your health.

But how do we achieve happiness? Happiness is quite illusive because most of us connect it with things that make us feel contented and satisfied.  The problem is that in most cases the things that make us feel contented and satisfied are things that are not yet in our hands. Most of us may connect happiness with a promotion to a higher position, with an increase in salary, or with finally having one’s dream car. But do these things really make us happy? You may find that when you finally get that promotion, or that raise in salary, or that dream car, you are still not that happy enough because new goals are automatically set. We keep chasing things that we believe can make us happy, which is why happiness is illusive.

The only way to be truly happy is to change your view of happiness. There are people who have almost nothing, but they are happy and healthy. What is their secret? They just know that happiness is a state of mind. If you learn to focus more on the positive things that happen to your life and not on the negative ones, happiness will be easier to achieve. Of course, it is easier said than done because most of us are conditioned to think that when something is lacking happiness is missing.

Choosing to be happy is the first step to happiness. When you choose to be happy you make that shift into a mind-set that is focused at seeing more of what you have than what you don’t have. When you learn how to do this you will feel happier and healthier.