A US research study shows that people who are generally happy and enthusiastic are less likely to develop heart disease than those who tend to be gloomy.
This observational study was the first to show a link between positive emotions and coronary heart disease. A team of researchers followed nearly 2,000 men and women for more than 10 years. Trained nurses will assess participants’ risk of heart disease and measure negative emotions such as depression, hostility, and anxiety, as well as positive emotions such as joy, happiness, excitement, enthusiasm, and satisfaction. did.
The findings suggest that increasing people’s positive emotions may help prevent heart disease, but more research is needed before concrete recommendations can be made. Participants who were measured to have no positive emotions (collectively referred to as “positive affect”) had a 22% higher risk of heart attack than those who had “little positive affect.” Euros had a 22% higher risk than those with a moderate positive effect.
In summary, the more you indulge in emotions that have a “positive effect,” the lower your risk of heart disease. The study also found that even if normally positive people had some symptoms of depression at the time of the study, it had no effect on their overall lower risk of heart disease. This discovery has major health implications.
While there are risk factors that are out of our control, such as genetics and gender, there are also other factors, such as smoking and obesity, that put our happiness in our control.
According to Abraham Lincoln, “Most people are as happy as they choose to be.” We have control over our state of mind. It starts with the quality of your thinking. Cultivate an addiction to positive thinking towards self-actualization. Self-actualized people are generally happy.
According to Dr. Abraham Maslow, one of the great psychologists of our time, happy people are self-actualized. According to the author, the characteristics of self-actualized people are:
There is an acceptance of self, others, and nature, “priority of values such as truth, love, and happiness.” And because they have accepted their life philosophy, conflicts are easily handled. Their perception of reality is accurate and clearly focused on ends rather than means. Simply put, they don’t really care about the little things.
“Internally Controlled” Self-actualized people are autonomous, never feel alone, and greatly enjoy privacy and solitude. They are very calm and at peace with themselves. They are open, spontaneous, simple, natural and true to the values embedded in their habits.
“High Engagement, Productivity, and Happiness” Have the ability to focus on the present and be deeply involved. They can easily forget themselves and become absorbed in work that they love or that they feel is very important to them. Creativity remains childlike and fresh, and you experience peak performance with high frequency. And although they worry about meeting life’s deadlines, they don’t become obsessed with deadlines.
“High-quality relationships” Have deeper relationships that may be limited to a few people. They tend to be kind, patient, affectionate, friendly and unpretentious. But they can also be direct and aggressive when necessary. They also have a democratic personality structure and status is not important. We respond flexibly to differences in values and personalities. I also have a healthy sense of humor.
These characteristics are concentrated in the values of higher levels of existence. According to Maslow, self-actualized people spend less time focusing on lower-order values, such as safety, security, belonging, and a focus on self-esteem. They spend much of their time focusing on wholeness, integrity, justice, spontaneity, self-regulation, simplicity, beauty, goodness, uniqueness, playfulness, truth, effortlessness, and independence. .
He further explains that focusing on fulfilling these higher values (rather than focusing on lower values or negative ones) helps people who are self-actualized more than others. It states that it is a key factor in why we are happier, more peaceful, and more productive. Because they meet the low values on a daily basis, they are now free to focus on these high values. It is also interesting to note that people who strive for self-actualization do not tend to back down even when their basic values are threatened. It is resistant to deterioration and has established high value.
This is a challenge for us ordinary people: the pursuit of happiness. “We all live with the goal of being happy. Our lives are all different but the same – Anne Frank.
This Heart Month, I encourage everyone, including myself, to truly open our hearts and transcend commercial limitations to spread happiness waiting to be shared with those near and far. We invite you to turn inward your love and compassion. Loving thoughts have no limits. Love has no expiration date and can be given freely. Please give freely.
Elvie C. Ancheta is a registered nurse with a Doctorate in Education.
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