The happiness factor

To be or not to be, that is the question? The opening line of Hamlet’s soliloquy is a memorable piece that you probably remember from school days. But it is the beginning of a personal consideration about the merits of suicide; it’s no wonder the play is one of Shakespeare’s tragedies. I like to think that perhaps Will could have improved it just a little by the addition of one simple word. To be happy or not to be happy, now that is an even more interesting question? Perhaps in changing the tone of the opening line Hamlet might have changed his fate and so turned tragedy into something altogether lighter and containing an entirely different set of possibilities. Happiness is, after all, a muscle that we could all do with exercising. And our experience of it is, unlike many other things, totally within our own gift. In fact, it’s a choice we can and do make on a daily basis. The more you take this exercise, the more it becomes habit-forming and this particular habit provides each and every one of us with many of nature’s best kept secret chemicals to boot. Happiness is defined by Wikipedia as a mental or emotional state of well-being characterised by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy The benefits of being happy are well documented: Happy people live longer and experience better health than their peers. Happy people tend to be more intelligent than their peers, happy people tend to be more satisfied with their life than those who a...
Source: The Hysterectomy Association - Category: OBGYN Authors: Tags: Happiness Source Type: news