“If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.” Rabindranath Tagore
Where do you want to live? That’s a question we need ourselves each day. We can live in self created space of pity and angst. We can choose to live in a world where we see goodness, possibilities, and believe that life is good and getting better. It’s our choice. I hope your choice is filled to overflowing with love, beauty, happiness, and joy.
People often think things like money or luxury lead to happiness, but research indicates some healthy life practices may actually be the key. . . . Here are five ways you can boost your happiness on a daily basis.
A Time to Talk
Robert Frost
When a friend calls to me from the road
And slows his horse to a meaning walk,
I don’t stand still and look around
On all the hills I haven’t hoed,
And shout from where I am, What is it?
No, not as there is a time to talk.
I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,
Blade-end up and five feet tall,
And plod: I go up to the stone wall
For a friendly visit.
“Be grateful for every single person who was part of your story. The ones that hurt you. The ones that helped you.
Because they all taught you.”
Being there for others comes with its own rewards: kindness toward others boosts your well-being and happiness levels. Studies show that volunteers experience a boost in their mental health; they feel happier and more satisfied with their lives. And volunteering later in life has been shown to boost cognitive function and slow cognitive decline.
Our brains release oxytocin (known as the love hormone”) when we’re happy, and we become happy when we show kindness toward others. As a bonus, oxytocin further boosts kindness and generosity.
Oxylocin can help reduce blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular disease. It inhibits inflammation, promotes wound healing, and reduces the risk of immune disorders caused by stress. Your immune system benefits from frequent doses of the happiness hormone too. Oxytocin is not the only brain chemical released through kindness. Dopamine, the pleasure neurotransmitter, also floods our bodies, causing a feel-good state called “helper’s high. Dopamine can also affect immune cells and regulate normal immunity, Simply put, kindness strengthens your own ii-nmune system!
Source: Alive: Canada’s Natural Health & Wellness Magazine
“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.” Nhat Hanh
The day one accepts him or herself as he or she is and loves what he or she is becoming is the day one starts living.
Look in the mirror and smile, as new research has found that being kind to yourself might just help save your life. A recent study has found women, in their forties and up, who practice self-compassion may be less likely to develop the early stages of cardiovascular disease, even if they have other risk factors, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure. We’ve long been aware of the toll stress takes on our bodies and the role it plays in the development of cardiovascular disease. The prolonged pandemic has only served to amplify our daily stressors, especially for women.
So stop, breathe and pop on the kettle. It’s time to be kind to yourself. Taking time to look after your own mental wellbeing can have lasting physical benefits. . . . Self-compassion can take many forms, for some it may involve devoting some time to daily mindfulnessactivities, and for others it might be curling up in a quiet place with a good book or going for a walk. Whatever form your self-compassion takes be sure that it provides you with a place from which you can engage in some positive self-talk – be your own best friend!
A growing body of research shows that compassion reduces anxiety, depression and stress and may also boost immunity—along with longevity. We’re born with the instinct to be nice: Even babies and toddlers have the capacity for kindness. . . . Compassion actually gives you a veritable high. Donating money to help others lights up the brain’s pleasure centers—which are typically activated by things like food and sex—according to a study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. . . . Simply witnessing an act of compassion triggers feelings of awe, admiration, warmth and love, per a study in the Journal of Positive Psychology (which may be why you compulsively click on stories about people who donate a kidney to a stranger). At the same time, it increases your desire to be more charitable yourself. Compassion also curbs the natural (and anxiety-provoking) tendency to navel-gaze.
‘Bringing focus to the small things in your day that have the potential to bring you joy is an essential habit for happiness,’ says positive psychology coach Dawn Baxter. ‘Upgrade your towels and wrap yourself in luxury each time you get out of the shower; start each day with the invigorating aroma of your favourite coffee; and make time to sit in that spot in your garden that gets the last of the sunshine. Life’s simple pleasures are easily overlooked when we’re consumed with what we need to do and where we need to be. But bring your focus back to those micro-pleasures; it’s incredible how they help you find your balance and give you the resources to enjoy your life day to day, regardless of other things that will come at you.’
‘How often do you arrive at the office loudly listing all the things that have gone wrong that morning: “I couldn’t get the kids out of the door today! I forgot my bag! I hit every red light!’’ asks Baxter. ‘Instead, try “positive stacking”: acknowledge the fact that you dodged the rain, remembered your lunch, and put your favourite top in the dryer last night so it was available to wear today – and you didn’t have to iron it! We’re programmed towards negative bias, but get into the habit of spotting the good stuff. It’s easy to shift perspective back into your favour when you try, and once you’ve done it regularly, for a month or so, it soon becomes second nature.
‘One habit we should all try to introduce is giving ourselves time to process what’s going on in our lives,’ says business mentor Rhiannon Bates. ‘Look at your diary and build in time after a challenging meeting to go for a walk to clear your head, or to talk with a friend after a tough day. Process your feelings and let them out, rather than bottling it all up inside. This can feel hard when you’re busy with work or children, but giving yourself even 15 minutes to decompress and reflect on what’s happened in your day, and how you are feeling, can have a huge impact on your happiness levels.’
Source: HAPPY HABITS and six tricks to make them stick!” Psychologies, Oct. 2022, p. 30. Gale OneFile: Psychology, link. Accessed 12 Feb. 2023.
