5 Ways Happiness Affects Your Cellular Structure

[Quix]

PREVENT DISEASE . COM

MARCH 25, 2016 by DR. MARIANNA POCHELLI

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http://preventdisease.com/news/16/032516_5-Ways-Happiness-Affects-Cellular-Structure.shtml
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There is an irrefutable argument in favor of happiness: Happiness and good health go hand-in-hand and scientific studies have been finding that happiness can make our hearts healthier, our immune systems stronger, and our lives longer through enhancements of our cellular structure.
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"And yet there is mounting evidence that happiness might be at least as powerful a predictor, if not a more powerful predictor than some of the other lifestyle factors that we talk about in terms of cigarette smoking, diet, physical activity and those kind of things."
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1) Protects Our Heart . . . The initially happiest participants had a lower heart rate on follow-up (about six beats slower per minute), and the happiest participants during the follow-up had better blood pressure.
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2) Enhances Our Immune System . . .
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. . . After five days in quarantine, the participants with the most positive emotions were less likely to have developed a cold.
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3) Combats Cortisol and Stress
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. . . happiness releases a protein called BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) which has a protective and also reparative element to memory neurons . . .
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4) More Prone To Optimistic Thought Patterns
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5) Lengthens Our Lives
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I think this article is quite accurate and informative. If you know someone who is not aware of such factors, this is a great introductory article with a wealth of substantive facts.
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And, there's a fair list of sources at the end.
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Each of the above numbered items has at least 2 paragraphs of elaboration and explanation that are easy to read and understand.
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I no longer think there's any doubt. As The Book says: A merry heart does good, like a medicine; but a broken spirit dries the bones. Prov 17:22.
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We can learn from such facts and improve the quality of our lives. Or, we can go our clunky ways and suffer accordingly.
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[alicewonders]

Thanks for posting this.  I do believe that God gives us the ability to heal ourselves and it makes sense that a good disposition would do wonders toward that. 

For those who suffer from depression, as I do - if I can listen to my own advice, one of the things that brings a good feeling to me when I am down - is to quit staring at my own navel and look around and see who I can help in some way.  Reaching out and helping those who need it will do more to make you forget your problems than any pill will.  Sometimes I just get too absorbed in my own problems and that's not healthy.

Thanks Quix.

[Quix]

Thanks for posting this.  I do believe that God gives us the ability to heal ourselves and it makes sense that a good disposition would do wonders toward that. 

For those who suffer from depression, as I do - if I can listen to my own advice, one of the things that brings a good feeling to me when I am down - is to quit staring at my own navel and look around and see who I can help in some way.  Reaching out and helping those who need it will do more to make you forget your problems than any pill will.  Sometimes I just get too absorbed in my own problems and that's not healthy.

Thanks Quix.

ABSOLUTELY INDEED.

The long dark night of my soul after my divorce was several years long. I'd go talk to store clerks to have SOME human  contact. My closer friends didn't know what else to say to me and couldn't bear to be around the pain in my life and on my face.

Eventually, the only way I crawled out of that horrible state was reaching out to others--to help them--feebly, at first--but bit by bit--I made it out.

I was depressed the first 30 years of my life. Glad those days are over.

Depression has been called anger turned inward. That may be an important thing to check out. I didn't think it applied to me. Looking back, I think it did.

I didn't really have permission to be angry--regardless of how I expressed it--growing up.

It can be important to say:

"I feel angry when you _____________."

That takes personal responsibility for your feelings and leaves the other person responsibility for their actions.

And, there's  the  simple task of rewiring one's stinkin' thinkin' . . . and that verse about . . . 'as a man thinks in his heart--so is he' can have a lot of bearing on our mood, too.

It IS possible to focus on the positive.

For Corrie ten Boom in the concentration camp--it meant delight in a bird flying by a window.

The business of writing down 5 things to be thankful for every day has been found to be very redemptive and productive toward an overcoming life.

Thanks for your kind reply.

[alicewonders]

ABSOLUTELY INDEED.

The long dark night of my soul after my divorce was several years long. I'd go talk to store clerks to have SOME human  contact. My closer friends didn't know what else to say to me and couldn't bear to be around the pain in my life and on my face.

Eventually, the only way I crawled out of that horrible state was reaching out to others--to help them--feebly, at first--but bit by bit--I made it out.

I was depressed the first 30 years of my life. Glad those days are over.

Depression has been called anger turned inward. That may be an important thing to check out. I didn't think it applied to me. Looking back, I think it did.

I didn't really have permission to be angry--regardless of how I expressed it--growing up.

It can be important to say:

"I feel angry when you _____________."

That takes personal responsibility for your feelings and leaves the other person responsibility for their actions.

And, there's  the  simple task of rewiring one's stinkin' thinkin' . . . and that verse about . . . 'as a man thinks in his heart--so is he' can have a lot of bearing on our mood, too.

It IS possible to focus on the positive.

For Corrie ten Boom in the concentration camp--it meant delight in a bird flying by a window.

The business of writing down 5 things to be thankful for every day has been found to be very redemptive and productive toward an overcoming life.

Thanks for your kind reply.

I'm glad you were able to conquer your dark time.  Writing down things you are thankful is a good idea.  I'm going to try it!   

[truth_seeker]

"Grateful people are happy people, and those that aren't, aren't." (from the wall of AA meeting halls, in Costa Mesa Calif. and Huntington Beach, Calif.

"Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing or situation - some fact of my life - unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing or situation as being exactly the way it is at this moment.

I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes.

Acceptance has taught me that there is a bit of good in the worst of us and a bit of bad in the best of us; that we each have a right to be here.

When I focus on what's good today, I have a good day, and when I focus on what's bad, I have a bad day. If I focus on a problem, the problem increases; if I focus on the answer, the answer increases. When I focus on people's bad qualities, they multiply; when I focus on people's good qualities, they seem to grow and grow.

Perhaps the best thing of all for me is to remember that my serenity is inversely proportional to my expectations. The higher my expectations of other people are, the lower is my serenity. I can watch my serenity level rise when I discard my expectations. I have to discard my 'rights', as well as my expectations, by asking myself, "How important is it, really? How important is it compared to my serenity, my emotional sobriety?"

I do whatever is in front of me to be done, and let go of the results.

I must keep my magic magnifying mind on my level of acceptance. When I remember this, I can see I've never had it so good.

Adapted from “Doctor, Addict, Alcoholic” by Dr. Paul O. in Alcoholics Anonymous (The Big Book), Third Ed."

[alicewonders]

...

When I focus on what's good today, I have a good day, and when I focus on what's bad, I have a bad day. If I focus on a problem, the problem increases; if I focus on the answer, the answer increases. When I focus on people's bad qualities, they multiply; when I focus on people's good qualities, they seem to grow and grow.

...

Thanks t_s for some really constructive advice!   

[Quix]

ABSOLUTELY EXCELLENT.

THANKS TONS.

I particularly liked this extra lots:

When I focus on what's good today, I have a good day, and when I focus on what's bad, I have a bad day. If I focus on a problem, the problem increases; if I focus on the answer, the answer increases. When I focus on people's bad qualities, they multiply; when I focus on people's good qualities, they seem to grow and grow.

Priceless.

Well put--your whole post.

THANKS BIG.

"Grateful people are happy people, and those that aren't, aren't." (from the wall of AA meeting halls, in Costa Mesa Calif. and Huntington Beach, Calif.

"Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing or situation - some fact of my life - unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing or situation as being exactly the way it is at this moment.

I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes.

Acceptance has taught me that there is a bit of good in the worst of us and a bit of bad in the best of us; that we each have a right to be here.

When I focus on what's good today, I have a good day, and when I focus on what's bad, I have a bad day. If I focus on a problem, the problem increases; if I focus on the answer, the answer increases. When I focus on people's bad qualities, they multiply; when I focus on people's good qualities, they seem to grow and grow.

Perhaps the best thing of all for me is to remember that my serenity is inversely proportional to my expectations. The higher my expectations of other people are, the lower is my serenity. I can watch my serenity level rise when I discard my expectations. I have to discard my 'rights', as well as my expectations, by asking myself, "How important is it, really? How important is it compared to my serenity, my emotional sobriety?"

I do whatever is in front of me to be done, and let go of the results.

I must keep my magic magnifying mind on my level of acceptance. When I remember this, I can see I've never had it so good.

Adapted from “Doctor, Addict, Alcoholic” by Dr. Paul O. in Alcoholics Anonymous (The Big Book), Third Ed."

[truth_seeker]

Dr. Paul O. is something of a legend, in AA. An Orange County Calif. physician that got sober in his 50s and remained so for over 30 years until his death. Married over 70 years at that time, his wife passed away shortly thereafter.

Wrote:

"There is more to Quitting Drinking, Than Quitting Drinking." and "You Can't Make Me Angry."

Another AA legend, hailed from The OC; "Chuck C." who was the father of actor Richard Chamberlain, but a very successful shopping center developer in his own right.

Chuck C. wrote "A New Pair of Glasses"

Known sober figures from AA include Sir Anthony Hopkins, Ringo Starr, Elton John, Alice Cooper, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan (deceased), Mel Gibson (last I checked), Robert Downey Jr., George W. Bush (not AA), Steven Tyler, Paul Williams, Bill Ward (drummer, Black Sabbath), Stevie Nicks, Joe Walsh, Neil Young, James Taylor, David Bowie (deceased),  James Hetfield (from Metallica), Tom Waits, Ozzy Osbourne, Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Dick Van Dyke, no doubt several in Congress too.

[Quix]

Dr. Paul O. is something of a legend, in AA. An Orange County Calif. physician that got sober in his 50s and remained so for over 30 years until his death. Married over 70 years at that time, his wife passed away shortly thereafter.

Wrote:

"There is more to Quitting Drinking, Than Quitting Drinking." and "You Can't Make Me Angry."

Another AA legend, hailed from The OC; "Chuck C." who was the father of actor Richard Chamberlain, but a very successful shopping center developer in his own right.

Chuck C. wrote "A New Pair of Glasses"

Known sober figures from AA include Sir Anthony Hopkins, Ringo Starr, Elton John, Alice Cooper, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan (deceased), Mel Gibson (last I checked), Robert Downey Jr., George W. Bush (not AA), Steven Tyler, Paul Williams, Bill Ward (drummer, Black Sabbath), Stevie Nicks, Joe Walsh, Neil Young, James Taylor, David Bowie (deceased),  James Hetfield (from Metallica), Tom Waits, Ozzy Osbourne, Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Dick Van Dyke, no doubt several in Congress too.

WONDERFUL INFO.

THANKS THANKS.

I think I posted an alcoholism thread on here somewhere.