The Happiest People in the World Have This in Common
If you’re on the quest to be happy, like many people, then you may want to note that the happiest people in the world have one thing in common, experts say. It’s not what you think, either. When you hear about the happiest people in the world, you probably think that these people all have lots of money. But, that’s not necessarily the case. They all have one thing in common that is very basic to humans.
The Happiest People in the World
So, what really is happiness? According to VeryWellMind.com, “Typically, happiness is an emotional state characterized by feelings of joy, satisfaction, contentment, and fulfillment.” They add, “While happiness has many different definitions, it is often described as involving positive emotions and life satisfaction.” So, a lot of things have to fall into place for someone to be “happy,” according to the fullest sense of the term. They add that there are two key components of happiness, or subjective well-being, and those are the balance of emotions and life satisfaction. As for the emotions, while everyone has positive and negative emotions, happiness simply means having more positive feelings than negative feelings. That totally makes sense, and I would never have thought of it that way. As for life satisfaction, that is about how satisfied you are with your life, from work to relationships and other things that are important to you.
So, what do the happiest people in the world have in common? CNBC.com has a new article out about the commonality that happy people share. Dan Buettner has studied “Blue Zones” and centenarians for 20 years. Basically, “Blue Zones” are areas in the world where, on average, people live the longest. According to his research, “When you take worldwide data on happiness, and you control for everything else, you find that people who live next to water are…happier than people who [don’t],” Buettner tells CNBC.com. He added that four of the five “Blue Zones” are all on the water. Those are Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Ikaria, Greece; and Nicoya, Costa Rica. So, why does water make people happier? “It may be the tranquilizing effect of water or it may be that the climate is moderated because of the water,” Buettner explains. “But it seems to make us happier.” My uncle is an OBGYN, and he says it has to do with our coming into the world from the womb and the comfort of the the amniotic fluid of the womb. So, water makes people happy. My dream home would be right on a river, so I get it.
Signs You'll Live a Long Life
1. You Eat These Healthy Things
According to a University of Michigan study (via TheHealthy.com), “Women who consumed the most veggies and fruit had a 46 percent lower chance of dying over a five-year period compared with those who ate them infrequently. The study involved 700 participants in their 70s.
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2. You Workout (Specifically, Run 40 Minutes a Day)
According to NBCNews.com, “Scientists in California found that middle-aged people” who ran “for a total of about 5 hours per week lived longer and functioned better physically and cognitively as they got older.” They state that the “researchers tracked runners and nonrunners for 21 years.” Aside from running, CNBC.com states that, “Strength training twice a week and aerobic exercise three times a week, even if for just 10 minutes a day” also helps.
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3. For Women, You Had a Baby After Age 44
For women, if you were pregnant and had a baby naturally after age 44, “you’re about 15 percent less likely to die during any year after age 50 than your friends who had their babies before age 40, reports a recent University of Utah study,” via NBCNews.com. Lead researcher Ken R. Smith, PhD, professor of human development at the university, tells NBCNews.com, “If your ovaries are healthy and you are capable of having children at that age, that’s a marker that you have genes operating that will help you live longer.”
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4. You Socialize
The National Library of Medicine states that people with bigger social networks and who socialize tend to live longer. In the study, Dr. Freeman states, “People who have more social support tend to have enhanced mental health, cardiovascular health, immunological functioning, cognitive performance, resilience, life satisfaction, stress response and more.”
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5. You're Slim in the Waist
TheHealthy.com states that, “Women with a waist of 37 inches or more had a life expectancy that was five years lower after age 40 than did women with a waist of 27 inches or less, found one study. For men, a waist of 43 inches or more was linked to a three-year decrease in life expectancy compared with those with a waist of 35 inches or less.”
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6. You Drink Tea Each Day
Apparently, drinking one or two cups of tea a day is good for your health. “Both green and black tea contain catechins, which relax blood vessels. However, you should be making the tea yourself; in ready-to-drink teas, most of the catechins have probably dissolved already, so they don’t have quite the same heart-healthy power,” says TheHealth.com.
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7. You're Careful with Your Calories
“Researchers in St. Louis reported that men and women who limited their daily calories to 1,400 to 2,000 (about 25 percent fewer calories than those who followed a typical 2,000-to 3,000-calorie Western diet) were literally young at heart — their hearts functioned like those of people 15 years younger,” says NBCNews.com. So, make every calorie count, and keep calories low.
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8. You Get Your Sleep
Getting a good night’s sleep is important to overall health. According to CNBC.com, getting good sleep is one of the factors to make it to age 90. So, turn off Netflix and get some shut eye.
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9. You Have a Purpose in Life
Do you wake up each day with a purpose? Do you feel needed in this world? According to a 2014 study in the journal of Psychological Science, having a sense of purpose means you’ll have a longer life. In the study, they report that people in the study who passed away, about 10% of the participants, had reported lower scores for purpose in life.
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Bonus - Take This Longevity Test
The experts at Media.nmfn.com actually have a lifespan test that you can take online. I took it, and I won’t divulge the age is says I’ll make it to, but I was happy and pleasantly surprised by the result. It asks you some basic health and family questions. Take the test here, and hopefully you’ll be happy with the result.
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