BY MARIA LUIS SALCINES
Research shows that happiness and health go hand-in-hand. The happier you are, the healthier you will be.
Something even Aristotle knew 2,000 years ago, “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”
We all deserve to be happy and we shouldn’t think of happiness as something only lucky people have.
According to Robert Holden, author of “Happiness Now,” we are afraid of being happy. He calls it “Happychondria.”
Our fears keep us from greeting happiness with open arms. We have a morbid superstition that if we are happy for too long something bad will happen.
Holden explains that sometimes we are afraid to show our happiness for fear of being thought of as selfish or conceited. We think that if we are too happy we will upset others and draw envy.
People tend to measure health by how much we exercise and how healthy we eat, but if our souls and hearts are not joyful we are not living our best life.
A successful career, big house, fancy car, condominium at the beach and exotic trips will not make you happy. In fact, material things and living beyond your means brings stress and worry.
The most important thing is to figure out what makes you happy and do everything you can to live a meaningful life.
Life today is all about wanting, which isn’t wrong, if you don’t use these things to satisfy your unhappiness.
Stop searching for happiness. Instead, choose to be happy with the blessings you already have.
A happy person expresses gratitude and knows the fullness of that rich feeling for no reason other than being alive.
The things we acquire in life do not determine happiness, but the peace and joy, we carry in our hearts does.
Maria Luisa Salcines is a freelance writer and certified parent educator with The International Network for Children and Families in Redirecting Children’s Behavior and Redirecting for a Cooperative Classroom. Follow her on Twitter @PowerOfFamily or Instagram @mlsalcines. You can also contact her on her blog FamilyLifeandFindingHappy.com.
