from the Harvard Health Letter
Want to improve your health? Start by focusing on the things that bring you happiness. There is some scientific evidence that positive emotions can help make your life longer and healthier.
But to produce good health, positive emotions may need to be long term. In other words, thinking positive thoughts for a month when you already have heart disease won’t cure the disease. But lowering your stress levels over a period of years with a positive outlook and relaxation techniques could reduce your risk of heart problems.
Pathways to happiness – In an early phase of positive psychology research, University of Pennsylvania psychologist Martin Seligman and Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan chose three pathways to examine:
Feeling good. Seeking pleasurable emotions and sensations, from the hedonistic model of happiness put forth by Epicurus, which focused on reaching happiness by maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain.
Engaging fully. Pursuing activities that engage you fully, from the influential research by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. For decades, Csikszentmihalyi explored people’s satisfaction in their everyday activities, finding that people report the greatest satisfaction when they are totally immersed in and concentrating on what they are doing – he dubbed this state of intense absorption “flow.”
Doing good. Searching for meaning outside yourself, tracing back to Aristotle’s notion of eudemonia, which emphasized knowing your true self and acting in accordance with your virtues.
Through focus groups and testing hundreds of volunteers, they found that each of these pathways individually contributes to life satisfaction.
Things that won’t make you happy. People tend to be poor judges of what will make them happy. While most people say they want to be happy, they often believe in myths or carry assumptions that actually get in the way. Here are some widely held myths about what will bring happiness:
Money and material things. The question of whether money can buy happiness has, for more than 30 years, been addressed by the “Easterlin paradox,” a concept developed by economist Richard Easterlin. His research showed that people in poor countries are happier when their basic necessities are covered.
But any money beyond that doesn’t make much difference in happiness level.
This idea has been challenged periodically, as in 2008 when two University of Pennsylvania researchers analyzed Gallup Poll data from around the world. They showed, in contrast to Easterlin’s work, that people in wealthier countries are happier in general. The two studies were not directly comparable in method, however. And Easterlin points out that the new study may be flawed by cultural bias, as people from different countries may have different ways of answering questions about wealth and happiness.
Youth. Being young and physically attractive has little or no bearing on happiness. In a study published by Richard Easterlin in 2006 in the Journal of Economic Psychology, not only did being young fail to contribute to happiness, but adults grew steadily happier as they moved into and through middle age. After that, happiness levels began to decline slowly as health problems and other life problems emerged.
Children. Children can be a tremendous source of joy and fulfillment, but their day-to-day care is quite demanding and can increase stress, financial pressures, and marital strife. When ranking their happiness during daily activities, mothers report being more happy eating, exercising, shopping, napping, or watching TV than when spending time with their children. In several studies, marital satisfaction declines after the first child is born and only recovers after the last child leaves home. Personal relationships of all types are important, however. In studies, being married, having more friends, and having sexual intercourse more often are all moderately or strongly associated with happiness.
Reprinted from Positive Psychology: Harnessing the power of happiness, personal strength, and mindfulness, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School, © 2009 by Harvard University. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Westminster caps
film series April 7 with ‘Mongol’
The Jake Erhardt International Film Series will show the Russian film “Mongol” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7 in the Sebastian Mueller Theater in the McKelvey Campus Center. The event is free and open to the public. A short introduction will be given prior to the showing and a discussion will follow. The 2007 film, directed by Sergei Bodrov, was nominated for a 2008 Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film. The movie tells the story of young Genghis Khan and how early life experiences led him to become a legendary conqueror. This is the final film in the series for this academic year. Contact Dr. Deborah Mitchell, Westminster associate professor of English and coordinator of the film series, at 724-946-7030 or e-mail dmitchel@westminster.edu for more information.
Concert benefits
anti-hunger drive
The Canfield Community Concert Band is presenting a spring concert at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 19 in the Canfield High School Auditorium, 100 Cardinal Drive. Canned goods and cash donations will be accepted to benefit Operation Blessing.
Operation Blessing is a volunteer group started over 20 years ago through Canfield churches that provides food to needy families in Mahoning County. They distribute food once a month, and provide special Christmas meals.
The concert will feature Beth Roach performing the “Concerto for Horn No. 1 in E-Flat Major” by Richard Strauss. Roach has been playing the horn since 1994. She began playing at Coventry High School and graduated from Kent State University in 2003 with her bachelor of arts degree in music education. While at Kent, Beth participated in the marching band, symphonic band, orchestra, and brass quintet.
The band will feature a saxophone quartet performing “Scherzo for Saxophone Quartet” by Hans Mielenz and the trombone section will perform “Frolic for Trombones” by Reginald Heath. Other selections from the band will include “Fanfare and Jubilation” by Roland Barrett, “Die Fledermaus Overture” by Johann Strauss, Jr. and “What’s Up at the Symphony?” (Bugs Bunny’s Greatest Hits), arranged by Jerry Brubaker.
For more information contact Leann Rich at 330-503-4113.
Compiled from local reports.
Green living is really more than a buzzword or marketing tactic
Have you noticed lately that you are seeing “green” everywhere you go?
The term “going green” seems to be consuming the media as well as the marketplace. We’ve even heard the importance of this needed lifestyle change from the President of the United States. But putting the word “green” on a product label, on a prime time commercial spot, or in a political speech doesn’t mean a whole lot unless you are aware of what the term “green” really means.
Buying “green” means purchasing a product or service with (the) acknowledgement of the impact it will specifically have on the environment.
Companies that sell green products and services seek to use the earth’s natural resources in ways that reduce harm to the environment and its people and creatures.
The environment doesn’t just refer to what is happening outside of our homes or our workplace. We spend the majority of our lives inside. The products we ingest (as well as those we put on our bodies) and the products we use to clean our home and workspaces all affect our personal environment inside and out.
In relation to the term “going green,” we hear many references to a “carbon footprint.” This term is often used by the automobile industry, but in reality it goes much deeper than the vehicles purchased and how they will affect the planet. A carbon footprint is the measured man-made global warming gas (carbon dioxide). The release of this gas into the air is done every day and is related to just about everything we do – driving, cooking meals, even cleaning.
Making simple, inexpensive changes in our homes and offices can reduce the stressful environmental impact. Reading product (and nutrition) labels and researching their contents will make you more aware of how they affect your (personal) environment and body.
If everyone put a little “green” into their daily routine, we could save money, increase the lifespan of our natural resources, and preserve our “whole environment” for all generations to come.
Stacey Lynn Willis is a Canfield resident with an interest in environmental issues.
