Thoughts on happy...

Amy Bloom has an interesting and decidedly non-committal Sunday New York Times book review. In her review, she talks about both the proponents and opponents to the happiness phenomenon. As she mentions, for as long as people have been seeking happiness, there have been people making fun of the first group. Bloom discusses several book titles from each camp. This being a positive blog, I'm more interested in the pro-happiness ones, but to each their own...

Bloom's review mentions happiness guru Deepak Chopra. I've personally never read any of his books, but he had a column in the San Francisco Chronicle last week. In this column he tackles the thorny issue of how to have a good life. His advice? Have a good day. Chopra gives five specific elements that he considers essential to having a good life.

Chopra talks about how interpersonal communication is a key to helping people have a good day in the above article. Researchers at UPenn took that a step farther, analyzing the New York Times' most-emailed stories to see if readers liked to propagate good news or bad. The researchers found people sent stories with an overall positive tone and/or ones that were about intellectually challenging subjects. John Tierney's NYT column on these conclusions goes on to say the researchers found, most of all, readers like to send stories that inspire awe.

The science department of another news organization, the BBC, published an article that suggests happiness deters heart disease. It cited research by US scientists which said those who were anxious or depressed were the people at highest risk for cardiac issues. The research, published in the European Heart Journal, could not conclusively prove being happier would protect an individual but did say it was worth the effort.

...

Sports Illustrated noted yesterday that Wednesday may have been the greatest day in Winter Olympics history for the US. Lindsey Vonn, Shani Davis, and Shaun White each grabbed a gold as the US registered six medals in one day. No other country has ever garnered more edals in a single day. The article also notes that the last time the US competed in a Canada-hosted Games (1988), America only had a total of six medals for the entire Olympics.

(Photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated)