Think Happy!

I’ve just come across a refreshing article over at The National.
It is not simply your mental health which benefits from a broad network of friends but your physical well-being. There is a big biological pay-off, it seems, to having a strong social circle.
Friends can boost your defences against disease, help you heal, lower your blood [...]

At some point, I will write a post on the value of laughter. However, I’m suspect that such a view is intuitive enough to need little defence. So, for now, I will simply leave you with these wonderful sayings from the unmatched Jack Handey:
“I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world [...]

According to a BBC report, the British government are considering introducing lessons in ‘emotional intelligence’ to all schools in England.
…The term emotional intelligence (EI) is a relatively new one. Despite its recent arrival it has become embedded in our vernacular and linked to almost every area of life. From contentment in your home life to [...]

I recently discovered a new self-improvement blog, A Miracle a Day, that I’m really enjoying. It’s written by Jason, who states that ‘You WILL change as life goes on, and if you don’t consciously direct the path of your change into growth, you may not like the direction those changes take.’
So true.
Anyway, I found a [...]

After I’d written my recent post on Thinking Yourself Happy, I came across this article from a Chinese Business paper.
Most of us are aware of the existence of endorphins, those happy hormones that make us feel good…

“You can reduce stress, promote self-healing and make positive life changes by invoking your endorphins,” says therapist [...]

After struggling with depression for many years, I learnt a simple truth that has become the foundation of this blog: Happiness is a state of mind.
This should really have been clear to me over 16 years ago. The first counsellor that I saw would speak about Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and tried to help me see [...]

Conrad Gempf questions whether it is helpful to speak of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as God-given rights.
‘We seem to want those rights to be fundamental to our relationships — the rules that they obey — rather than the other way round.’
Though I wouldn’t necessarilly agree with Conrad’s implication that happiness is tied-up [...]

A French Buddhist monk is, according to Scientists, the world’s happiest man. And the good news is that he is sharing his secrets to make the world a happier place.
The trick, he reckons, is to put some effort into it. In essence, happiness is a “skill” to be learned.
Matthieu Ricard, 60, abandoned his [...]