happiness (Page 5)

?it’s catching! – Can THIS glass be seen as half full instead of half empty? This Christmas season, remember: laughter can be infectious. You don’t need a sophisticated study to tell you that, but nevertheless, there WAS such a study, which looked at nearly 5,000 individuals over a period of 20 years and discovered that one person’s happiness triggers a chain reaction that benefits not only his friends, but his friends’ friends, and his friends’ friends’ friends. The effect lasts for up to one year. But SADNESS and stress do not spread through social networks as robustly as happiness.
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Are you happy? Well, don’t try to be happier, or you might become less happy. Does that make sense?
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People looking for jobs that bring satisfaction and happiness should concentrate on professions that focus primarily on serving other people, according to a new report from the University of Chicago, which found clergy to be the happiest and most satisfied of American workers.

Researcher Tom W. Smith says, “The most satisfying jobs are mostly professions, especially those involving caring for, teaching, and protecting others and creative pursuits.”
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Being happy is healthy, and we recently told you about a map that shows where the world’s happiest people live. According to an expert on leisure, “play” is as important to a person’s health as keeping cholesterol levels in check and getting regular exercise. And senior citizens seem to be learning this, because a recent study shows that they are happier than their children and grandchildren.

Dr. E. Christine Moll thinks that leisure is like medicine. She says, “It airs out our brain. It renews our spirit. It gives us clarity of thought. It’s a benefit to our blood pressure. It gives us life satisfaction. For all the dimensions of our lives: our physical, mental, spiritual and cognitive health?leisure time should be a necessity not a luxury.”
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