Happiness and Our Health - Bending Birches NP

Summary

Happiness and health are connected. There is research about happiness and what is happiness. The World Happiness Report, released on March 20, 2024, asked questions of people in many countries. The results in the report reveal that happiness has decreased for young people in some countries since the last report in 2012. The results makes links between social connection and happiness. Sometimes, a lack of happiness leads a person to feeling sad or depressed. If you are feeling sad or depressed, talk to a health care professional about mental health treatment. Embracing happiness may mean letting go of people, places, and things which do not contribute to living in the here and now. Life is very short. Embrace happiness to promote wellbeing and health,

Happiness affects our health. The relationship is bidirectional. Optimal health contributes to happiness and happiness fosters positivity which can impact health.

Exactly what is happiness? Let’s take a look.

Happiness Defined

The term happiness is vague. No need to drop the ball and walk away from the discussion now. We are making strides in shoring up the definition of happiness through research and employing a historical perspective on the philosophy and psychology of happiness.

Happiness is not an outcome. Just like life is not an outcome.

Happiness is not always attainable without other tools. Some people are predisposed to feeling sad or depressed. Let’s make certain we do not pass them by without offering referrals for medications or therapy to help them to feel happier.

Happiness has been equated with wellbeing. I am not convinced that the two concepts are equivalent. I do not believe this brief post can do any justice to debating the question.

Happiness is a sense of contentment, joy, peace. That resonates with me. Maybe those words sound familiar because they stem from a dictionary definition of happiness.

Another perspective is Seligman’s Positive Psychology determination that happiness relates to a “good life”, a “meaningful life”, and “pleasant life”, all of which can be cultivated. That works for me as well.

Clearly, there is not one simple response to the question, what is happiness. Contemplate it. Ponder it. Explore it to your heart’s content. And read about it on the website of The Pursuit of Happiness (https://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/science-of-happiness/)

The World Happiness Report

On March 20, 2024, the World Happiness Report was released. The first World Happiness Report was published in 2012. Partners in developing the report included Gallup, Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the World Happiness Report’s Editorial Board.

Here is a link to the report: https://worldhappiness.report/

I would not go as far as saying we know what place is the happiest place. However, the report can inform our policy making when we learn who are the happiest people (as a representation of a culture, nation, country, etc) and where those people reside.

For example, the report notes how happiness among young people is dropping in North America; South Asia; the Middle East; Western Europe (except for Nordic countries); and North Africa. The current data reveal that younger people (those born after 1980) in North America are less happy than older people (those born before 1965).

In Chapter 2, the authors discuss happiness, social connections, and social support. The links are in the data. Links, I said. I did not say causes or causality.

Refer back to the post I published about social connection and our mental wellbeing (Loneliness, Social Connection, and Isolation: Impact on Mental Health). Gallup and Meta conducted a 2022-2023 survey of people in 140 countries (notably excluding China), with the results published in the report entitled The Global State of Social Connections:

https://www.gallup.com/analytics/509675/state-of-social-connections.aspx#ite-513272

In my previous post, I mentioned the research linking social connection with happiness and social connection with physical and mental wellbeing.

Note the consistency between the World Happiness Report and The Global State of Social Connections relating to young people in Southeast Asia, Western Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand where Millennials feel lonelier than Boomers. Food for thought.

I recommend perusing the entire World Happiness Report (which did include China in contrast to the Global State of Social Connections). The interspersed video clips provide valuable information, highlighting what was studied: generational differences; the variations noticed in war torn countries; the effect of dementia on happiness; the potential impact of entrenched social classes; inequality of happiness among countries; and the prevalence of benevolence across generations. Of note, there is still a dearth of data for persons under 15 years old.

Clearly, happiness and health are connected.

Optimal Health, Happiness, and Wellbeing

The weave of the fabric of our lives incorporates threads attached to our happiness, to our social connectedness, to our physical health, and to our mental health. And, as previously noted in the posts about nutrition and wellbeing, our dietary habits are an additional thread to be considered. Let’s not forget the impact of exercise on our wellbeing discussed in the post entitled Exercise and Mental Health.

Yes, life’s tapestry is woven from many threads.

The good news is that we have the ability to change some components in order to achieve wellbeing, happiness, and optimal health.

Converting Challenges into Opportunities

We encounter challenges every day, at work, at home, in the community; in our personal relationships; in the connections with neighbours; in our collegial relationships; on the global political scene; through interactions with other species; via our interfacing with nature and the environment; and with the universe beyond our world.

What if we espoused principles of happiness for everyone and everything in our daily lives? Would that make a difference, if only for our immediate network?

My call to action is to be a better person by embracing happiness, embracing happiness and health.

One Person, One Community, One World

We cannot change anyone. We can change ourselves.

We can seek a community/social network/workplace/professional organization which espouses an approach to life that embraces life, here and now.

Life is too short for shenanigans. Wouldn’t you agree?

A Call to Action: Happiness for Health

Seek happiness for everyone, including for yourself. You don’t need to fight with someone who will not change for you. Walk away and leave them in the dust behind you.

Stand in line at the post office with a smile on your face. Greet the customer service person on the telephone with gratitude. Offer your place in line to the haggard looking person behind you at the grocery store. Laugh at yourself. Wish for happiness for everyone, even those who create obstacles for you.

Feel the release of tension as you let go.

Remember, when you smile, your mirror neurons send messages to your brain telling you to feel the emotion behind smiling AND anyone perceiving your smile is incited to smile via their mirror neurons. A win/win situation, right?

And, when you embrace feeling happy, you are embracing wellbeing. Happiness to foster health!

Caveats

Embrace happiness but Never ignore sadness or depression. Sometimes, mental health treatment is required to help us feel happy. Talk to a health care professional if you are feeling sad or depressed.

Let It Go: For the Sake of Happiness and Health

Here are some expressions to keep you going (or to piss you off):

Whatever.
Get over it.
It is what it is.
Life goes on.
Joie de vivre.
Who cares?
It doesn’t matter.
Suck it up, buttercup.
Let It Go.

Sometimes, we have to laugh at ourselves and walk away. Our health depends on it. Our health and wellbeing depend on our happiness.

Be well. Be safe. Be happy. Life is short.