|
Happiness
is...
by Don Bennett, DAS
I
was driving back from Houston, Texas, and I noticed a billboard
that said, "The road to happiness, next three exits."
It was an ad for Wendy's hamburgers. A little farther down the road,
a billboard sported, "Happiness to go!" It was
an ad for McDonald's drive-through, and was referring to their "Happy
Meal". It's called a happy meal, not a healthy meal. Why? People
want to be happy. Sure, being healthy is all well and good, but
what good is being healthy if you're not happy. Happy sells things.
If you're over 60 you might remember this jingle, "Happiness
is, the taste of Kent" (cigarette ad). But if you get lung
cancer, and both lungs need to be removed, I guarantee that you
won't be a happy camper.
Happiness is a state of mind, and whatever affects your state of
mind, obviously affects your ability to be happy. This article will
explore the things that influence your state of mind, and therefore
your "happiness potential".
The Mind-Body Connection gets a lot of press. You can't pick
up an alternative health magazine without finding an article about
how your state of mind affects your physical health. But what about
its counterpart, the Body-Mind Connection. It plays just
as big a role as its brother, but we don't hear much about it. Your
physical health greatly affects your emotional well-being;
more than most people realize. But the pharmaceutical industry would
rather you control your emotional state with drugs, and the food
industry would rather you alter your mood with food (grain products
contain opioids, dairy products contain caso-morphine). But these
things negatively affect your physical health, which in turn negatively
affects your emotions, which makes you gravitate towards mood altering
foods and pharmaceuticals; a vicious cycle, but one that's very
profitable for certain industries.
If you want to experience your happiness potential, there's only
one way to do it, and that's becoming physically healthy. I've had
experience with many people who've modified the way they lived in
order to deal with a serious health problem, and who invariably
reported the side benefit of being happier, less stressed, less
snippy, more tolerant (of things like being stuck in traffic), and
this change for the better was not just the result of being glad
they were no longer plagued with a health problem. The less irritated
the body is, the less irritated you will be. The less
burdened the body is, the less emotionally burdened you
will be. These things go hand-in-hand.
Ever notice how easy it is to make some babies smile, and how other
babies are cranky a lot? The easy-to-smile/laugh state of being
is the normal state. But if a baby is irritated on the inside (most
likely due to a less than perfect diet), that baby will be irritated
emotionally. Try this exercise: Remember a time when you laughed
heartily. Now go back to the moment just before you laughed, but
this time you've got a headache, a toothache, and you just hit your
thumb with a hammer. Now, here comes the funny thing that made you
laugh… Did you laugh this time? This illustrates how your physical
state affects your emotional state.
To have a high happiness potential, you need to pay attention to
all the requisites of healthy living, and not just diet.
Sure, diet's important, but you could eat the healthiest diet for
a human being and still succumb to a serious disease, which won't
leave you feeling very happy. Equal attention must be given to the
following "basics of health"…
1. Sunshine: Get enough, not too much. There are many variables
that dictate what is "too much" (time of day, day of the
year, where on the globe you are, amount of cloud cover, and skin
tone are the major ones), so there is no definitive amount of time
you should or shouldn't spend in the sun. In general, if you want
to remain in the sun as long as possible, sunbathe early or late
in the day (the sun is strongest from about 10-2 PM non-daylight
savings time), but this is not advised during your "vitamin
D winter" (when the sun's rays pass through a lot of atmosphere
and are weakened). Because any chemical you put on your skin will
be absorbed, and chemicals are best kept out of your body, I'm not
an advocate of using sunscreens to avoid sunburn. Plus, sunscreens
interfere with the rays that you are looking to get to create vitamin
D. So after getting direct sun for an appropriate amount
of time, if I want or need to remain in the sun, cover up
is my motto, using white lightweight cotton clothes and a wide brimmed
hat.
Additionally,
be well hydrated when sunbathing, pay attention to your body's need
to get out of the sun (if you're reading or snoozing, you won't
"hear" it), and obviously don't get burned, especially
if you eat foods grown with pesticides or you smoke. Why? The sun
is not the primary cause of skin cancer; it is a secondary
cause. If it was the primary cause, all the cultures that get tons
of sun would get skin cancer too, but they don't. In fact, skin
cancer is rare among them. Skin cancer, like other forms of cancer,
is directly related to how "toxic" you are (which is an
article in itself). Your body is always expelling toxins as best
it can. One method of elimination is through the skin. If you want
skin cancer, take skin that is eliminating toxins (like pesticides)
and over-bake it in the sun on a regular basis. Skin cancers have
actually been reduced by getting adequate sunshine (not directly
on the affected area of course), in addition to the other basics
below. For more information on cancer and vitamin D, read this
article.
2. Physical activity: Up and down motion makes you feel good,
and for good reason. The healthiest way to move lymph fluid is by
jumping on a mini-trampoline (rebounding). Sure, you could move
lymph fluid by running, but the punishment you'll give your joints
will very likely haunt you years down the road (if it hasn't started
to already). Remember, I'm an advocate of the healthiest
way to do things, and to move lymph fluid, it's spirited
walking and rebounding.
3. Sleep: Deep, phase four sleep is when major
healing takes place, and it's when the body recharges itself.
REM sleep is where your mind "rebuilds" itself. What interferes
with REM and deep sleep? Eating just before going to bed, a room
that isn't totally dark, medications, and taking problems to bed
with you. Try leaving problems outside the bedroom; don't worry,
they'll still be there in the morning (if your problem is your spouse,
this is not the best way to resolve things). And try falling asleep
while thinking of something that puts a smile on your face. If you're
hungry at bedtime, so hungry that sleep would be impossible, eat
a few small pieces of melon or a few grapes. Deep sleep is
also where a goodly amount of growth hormone (GH) is produced. The
calories used by muscles require GH. If you're not making enough
GH (due to not enough deep sleep), these calories become fat; yet
another reason to get a good night's sleep if you're trying to normalize
your weight.
4. Diet: The less cooked food, and the more uncooked
fruits and vegetables you eat, the healthier you will be, regardless
of blood type, body type, hair color, or Zodiac sign. And go easy
on the nuts and seeds; it is very possible to be an unhealthy, overweight
100% raw food eater if you're eating too much fat, and not enough
simple carbs (which come from fruit, and are not to be confused
with the unhealthy carbs from grains and beans). Excessive fat from
nuts, seeds, and fatty fruit (and oils, which shouldn't be a part
of a healthy diet) can keep you from achieving your health potential.
And eating simple meals, devoid of bad food combinations, goes a
long way towards experiencing your happiness potential. Another
way to look at this is: Easier digestion = less stress management
needed, which brings me to…
5. Emotional
poise: Take advantage of the "power of positive thinking",
which is simply not being in a negative frame of mind, which depresses
the "immune" system and allows disease to flourish. The
good news is: the physically healthier you become, the easier it
is to be positive, and therefore happy. You'll find that things
which once annoyed you, no longer do. And make sure you find time
to relax and unwind, even if it's just a few minutes of deep breathing
here and there.
So we
now see that "happiness is... a healthy body". But our
free-will allows us to choose between "Eat, drink, and be
merry, for tomorrow you die" and "Eat and drink
healthfully, and be happy, so tomorrow you can do it again".
The former is the watchword of those slug'n down multitudes of beer,
burgers, and bad breakfasts, the latter belonging to those who have
the wisdom to realize that a long and naturally happy life can be
theirs if they simply respect (their) nature. To paraphrase Leonardo
da Vinci, "Vitality, beauty, and happiness are gifts of Nature
for those who live according to its laws". And Nature's law
regarding health is, "Give the body what it wants, and don't
give it what it doesn't want". Believe me, that'll make
your body really happy; and when your body is happy, you'll
be able to experience happiness like you never could have imagined.
Oh, and that Happy Meal might make you happy while you're eating
it, but it also might be something that gets in the way of you experiencing
happiness in between meals. Food for thought!
Suggested
reading :
Food
& Behavior
Back
to list of Articles
|