Tag Archive for happiness

The Benefits of Being Alone

Not talking about being lonely, just being alone. There’s a big difference. What with being plugged into our electronic devices, finding parties to go to, hustling about in groups at work or crowds getting to/from work, taking care of family, we don’t have a lot of time alone, by ourselves. Yet, being alone is good for us. It aids creativity, production, happiness, outlook, a chance to do what you want to do, and even sociability.

Sound impossible? Read Leigh Weingus’ Huffington Post article Alone time’ is really good for you. In fact, read it all by yourself, with nobody else around.

“I DO”–Now Get Started on a Family!

One of the first things a newlywed couple is asked is, “When are you going to start having kids?” It’s seldom, “Do you plan to have kids?” This is, after all, a personal choice. Yet our society tends to think of childless couples as incapable of producing a child or selfish or giving up happiness and a more secure old age.

Why aren’t millennials having kids? 8 insights into the child-free life debunks eight of these perceptions. It’s an interesting viewpoint from the non-parents’ point of view. Take a look.

Who Actually Needs Church?

A person may not really need to attend church, but if they attend as a family they’re giving their kids an advantage apart from religion. If not church, then family time for meditation or spent out in nature. Many studies have shown that kids who grow up in families that spent time together in quiet reflection or attended weekly church services were 18% happier in their twenties than their peers who did not have that experience. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, young and teenage children raised with spirituality or religion grow up having better mental health and are less likely to suffer depression and substance abuse. They have better life satisfaction, are more able  to handle adversity, and  they even have fewer sexually transmitted diseases.

I personally know what a difference a little “down time” can make in my otherwise hectic life. Starting my day with quiet reflection seems to make life’s bumps a little smoother, more tolerable. I can understand why experiencing this as a family on a regular basis can be a good start for kids.

Try it. You may very well like it. You’ll like the benefits even more when your kids grow up.

Happiness Up to the Wife

Apparently, “happy wife, happy life” is true.  Granted, the study looked at people age 50 or older, but I’d bet that it extends into younger marriages–and even maybe into how we treat each other in other relationships.

There are several reasons for this happiness factor (as well as the reverse: miserable wife, miserable life). They include the differing ways men and women are raised, societal roles, and the fact (surprise!) that men don’t communicate their feelings and women do (what a revelation!).  The cure for this disparity is better communication–like that’s gonna happen in most man/woman relationships….

For details of this study, read the Huffington Post article “Study Finds that ‘Happy Wife, Happy Life‘ is Pretty Dead On.

 

 

Happy Happy Day–How to Spend It

A hint about how to spend the U.N. International Day of Happiness (today):

 

 

Thoughtful Thursday: Nelson Mandala

From a man who helped form history:

“There is nothing I fear more than waking up without a program that will help me bring a little happiness to those with no resources, those who are poor, illiterate, and ridden with terminal disease.” — Nelson Mandela

 

 

Thoughtful Thursday: Whose Happiness?

The Dalai Lama says, 

“If you want others to be happy,  practice compassion. If you want to

be happy, practice compassion.”

File:Dalailama1 20121014 4639.jpg