Image by luc legay via Flickr

A new study has come out about social networks and it has proven something most of us have suspected for many years: the more friends you have the happier you are. PHYSORG.COM

Now this is very true and most of us know it, however I have a teenager and he is the last of 4 children and all of them had to go through the age of wanted lots of friends and thinking they had to change themselves or appear different in some way to have and to hold those friends. This in my experience only leads to un-happiness.

So in line with adding to the research I would like to add a few Rules of Friendship (for everyone but especially for our teens):

1. If you have to act, think or be different in any way from who you are to have a certain set of friends, they are not your friends. They don’t even know you, nor you them because all of you are acting differently from who you really are.
2. If you have to lie or hide what is going on with your friends from your parents, think again. Those friendships may (I said may) not be good friendships. a little hint with parents, they are not actually trying to make your life miserable.) Most of the time parents just want to keep you safe, yes some parents may not take the time to really get to know your friends and disapprove before knowing the facts – but this is still their aim. We love you, so much we would do anything even make you hate us just to keep you safe.
3. If you want friends – first you have to be one. Friends are people who are there when you need them, they are a shoulder to cry on and a smile in a crowd. Friends know when you need a good laugh and a good cry. Friends do not ever make you do something illegal or dangerous, not ever. Good friends are like parents, they want you to be safe and feel loved. Friends are the family you bring into your life.
4. You can tell a person is your friend when: it makes you happy to be with them, they want the best for you, they know you are wonderful and amazing even when you don’t, they help you feel good about being you, they let you cry on them, with them and for them, they make you laugh and smile most of the time. Friends, real friends never (well hardly ever) compete with you, never put you down, never get jealous of your good fortune or your looks or your luck with the opposite sex, they never, ever put you in danger or allow you to put yourself in danger.
5. Good friends love you, just the way you are.

live a balanced life…

We all know that when we’re happy we seem to stay well, and for years I have believed strongly in the power of being (not just saying positive things) happy. I know for sure due to my own history that consciously and intentionally staying positive, happy can not only prevent illness and chronic disease but can also heal even the most “incurable” (don’t believe in that term at all) health challenge. Now scientists are finding out, I and manyo of my peers have been on the right track all along.

New research shows being happy can add several years to life.

“Happiness does not heal, but happiness protects against falling ill,” says Ruut Veenhoven of Rotterdam’s Erasmus University in a study to be published next month.

After reviewing 30 studies carried out worldwide over periods ranging from one to 60 years, the Dutch professor said the effects of happiness on longevity were “comparable to that of smoking or not”.

That special flair for feeling good, he said, could lengthen life by between 7.5 and 10 years.

The finding brings a vital new piece to a puzzle currently being assembled by researchers worldwide on just what makes us happy — and on the related question of why people blessed with material wealth in developed nations no longer seem satisfied with their lives.

Once the province of poets or philosophers, the notions of happiness and satisfaction have been taken on and dissected, quantified and analysed in the last few years by a growing number of highly serious and respected economists — some of whom dub the new field “hedonics”, or the study of what makes life pleasant, or otherwise.

“The idea that there is a state called happiness, and that we can dependably figure out what it feels like and how to measure it, is extremely subversive,” says Bill McKibben in his 2007 book “Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future”.

“It allows economists to start thinking about life in richer terms, to stop asking ‘What did you buy?’ and to start asking ‘Is your life good?’.”

Growth in material wealth adds little to happiness once buying power hits 10,000 dollars a year per head, according to such research.

But happiness can be bolstered by friendship and human community, as well as larger social factors such as freedom, democracy, effective government institutions and rule of law.

In Veenhoven’s findings, published in the Journal of Happiness Studies, a scientific publication founded in 2000, the strongest effect on longevity was found among a group of US nuns followed through their adult life — perhaps reflecting the feel-good factor from belonging to a close-knit stress-free community with a sense of purpose. ” Physorg.com

Come on get happy, you better chase all your blues away,

the sun is shining, Come on get happy…

Live a balanced life… 

Our lovely Helen is all set to present a the Look Good, Feel Great Be Empowered Women’s Expo to be held in Noosa this weekend. So if you are around Noosa why not pop in and say “Hi”, the cost of entry also gifts you with a free glass of wine (always a winner!) and nibblies. If you are there around 1pm stop by and listen to Helen from ‘balancenoosa’ presenting on “Lifestyle Balance: Wellness for Life.”

Where: Blue Fish Bar and Grill, Noosa Civic

When: Saturday, 24 May, 2008

Cost: $15 admission (includes complimentary glass of wine and nibblies)

You can even pre-purchase your tickets HERE