You can never be truly be happy without a great health. Utopia in health is what several people desire. Now happiness is often described as a pleasant emotional state that is characterized by feelings of contentment, joy, satisfaction and well-being.
Happiness could have been with you all along – you just may not have taken the time to understand that it was much less complicated than you once believed.
You probably already know that happiness is not about driving the most expensive car, wearing gorgeous clothes, having the latest gadget or living in the most opulent of homes. However, what you may not know is that you are SOLELY responsible for the level of happiness you enjoy and your body secretes ‘happiness hormones’ that promotes positive feelings like pleasure, happiness, pain-free body and a natural high.
You can get instant happy feelings when you get a large sum of money, find the car key you were searching for which was all along in your pocket, your partner gives you a hug, you come to an air-conditioned room after walking in scorching heat for some times and when someone says that you are intelligent. When you
“experience” something good, it results in a happy emotion.
When you allow the happy emotion to be processed by your brain, it becomes a happy or good feeling.
Even though, your brain process information to produce this kind of feelings, their significance in life is pretty low. This is because we get instant happiness within a short period of time and it also remains in our brain for a short period of time with low importance.
The focus here is sustained happiness which contributes to great health.
What is it then that makes us happy? What is it that really drives happiness? There is a widespread anecdote which links happiness to health. You have heard of the phrase “laughter is the best medicine” that has become somewhat of a cliché. Researches have backed up many people’s assumption that happiness and good health are connected and that one’s level of happiness can really influence the level of one’s health.
A breakthrough study involving Nuns was able to determine the health benefits that come with positive emotion. The studies were focused on Nuns mainly because so many of the lifestyle variables are uniform and therefore, reported differences can often be narrowed down to one or two factors, like personality and outlook.
The study of the life and death of Nuns gave important clues to the value of a person’s state. Indeed, the study by Seligman (2002), proved the positive correlation between emotional state and longevity. The study showed that amongst the top quarter of the most cheerful Nuns, 90 % lived up to 85 years and 54% lived up to 94 years. In contrast, among the last quarter of the least cheerful Nuns, only 35% lived up to 85 years and 11 percent lived up to 94 years. The result showed a significant correlation between long life and emotional state.
Similarly, Happiness researcher Holden (2009) also conducted a survey and found that 65 out of 100 people would choose happiness over health, but that both were highly valued. Fortunately, we do not have to choose: happiness and health go hand-in-hand. As Holden stated, “There is no true health without happiness” Correspondingly, there is no happiness without good health.
There is also abundant evidence that unhappiness – depression, anxiety and stress, for example – are also linked to poor health outcomes. Scientific evidence exists to show that during periods of stress, higher amount of cortisol is secretes in the body and when chronic, can reduce immunity and can increase inflammation in the body leaading to a multitude of diseases and condition. This is often referred to as the ‘sadness hormones’ in the wellness industry.
So, be aware that remaining in a state of unhappiness futher sorens your overall health outcome. Having a positive mental state can combat these negative states, thus further increasing the likelihood of good health.