Happy and Healthy
These two words just fit together nicely, don’t they? Like fruit and vegies, salt and pepper or footballers and trouble.
I read an article by author Rick Foster recently about the things he learned from his grandmothers about happiness and health. As Rick says in his article, almost three quarters of a million studies have been published linking stress and tension to poor health. We all know it’s bad for us. So why do we do it?
I think the answer is that we’ve forgotten (or never learned) the other options!
Rick talks about nine “choices” that happy people all around the world seem to make. Reviewing them reminded me about ways to help myself feel happier more often. I thought they might help you too.
- Be accountable – don’t blame anyone else for your troubles, even if it’s their fault! Instead, focus on what you can do to make a difference.
- Identify things that make you feel happy – sometimes it’s easy to focus on the things that bug us and forget about the things that inspire us. Take the time to remember what puts a smile on your face!
- Make time to do these things that you love – for all of us there are a certain number of things that we just have to do. Make sure there are some things that you do because you love them! For me, time with my wife, a good movie with my family, a surf with a mate or reading a good book all work well!
- Be generous – I don’t just mean giving money, although that’s a nice thing to do. Be generous with your time, your attention, your support for those you love. Cook a slow meal for your family, help out at your kids’ school, encourage a co-worker, smile at a shop assistant.
- Be flexible – life throws a few curve-balls. That’s often what makes it interesting. Bring a sense of curiosity to unexpected events. How can I make this work? What is the opportunity here? What can I learn from this? Let go of the need to always have things planned out.
- Decide to be happy – Rick calls it “deep intentionality”. Make a conscious decision to be happy wherever possible. Does it feel like your life’s too stressful to be happy? Viktor Frankl survived a Nazi concentration camp and then wrote a book about how choosing his attitude saved his life.
- Tell the truth – Be honest. Even if the truth is that we’re angry, sad or frightened, telling the truth is good for us. It’s depression and despair that makes us ill.
- Turn lemons into lemonade – Rick’s word is “recasting”. If there’s a setback, acknowledge how we feel about it (see step 7), analyse what the setback means and what we can learn from it, then look for the opportunities that come from the new insights we’ve gained.
- Be grateful – make a habit of noticing five or more things you’re grateful for every day. When you’re on the look-out for things to be grateful for, it helps to improve your outlook. I’ve been paying more attention to this one lately – it’s gold!
My number 10: Of course, a regular chiropractic check-up helps to keep the “static” out of our nervous system. Researchers have shown that people who begin regular chiropractic care feel happier and more positive than they did before they were adjusted.
That should give you something to smile about!