By Lissa Wohltmann
Happiness has such healthful powers. Yes, I realize fighting cancer with a smile is one of those myths that goes along with the notion that taking vitamin C will cure you of the common cold, the earth is flat, or there is a little bunny that will bring you candy in the spring. Sure, some people still believe in these notions regardless of the evidence, but let’s just disregard that little group, shall we? You can, though, help yourself by warding off certain diseases with happiness. But, remember, it's got to be before you get any diseases and not after. Think about it: how many unhappy runners do you see out there?
According to Veenhowen's article, Healthy Happiness: Effects of Happiness on Physical Health and the Consequences for Preventive Health Care, the effect of happiness and remaining on this planet is comparable to smoking. One study even shows that the people who have poor social lives have the same cardiovascular health as that of a person who smokes a pack of cigarettes a day. Of course, you’d have to be living in a cave not to know how detrimental cigarette smoking is to your overall health. Therefore, if you connect the dots, you can see that by being a curmudgeon, the chances of you being physically healthy are pretty slim. Conversely, if you find happiness wherever you go, your chances of good health increase dramatically. After all, being happy and healthy go together like PB&J (that’s, peanut butter and jelly). So, get out there and play. You’ll do yourself a world of good both physically, mentally and socially.
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