Are you a Healthy Happy Human?

The natural state of the human is to be happy, energetic and a glowing force of life.

So why is it so many people struggle with stress, illness, depression, melancholy and unhappiness? This is such a huge topic and one that will continue to be asked for years to come, but in the meantime here’s my take on it.

We don’t come into this world feeling anxiety, hatred, anger, sadness and unhappiness but many people end up that way. It all comes down to how we perceive things and the meaning we give to them. Basically it’s how we are programmed as humans.

As we start out, we absorb all the information and energy surrounding us, whether that be positive or negative. We continue doing so until around the age of seven. Up until then much of our programming will have come from our parents and grandparents, family, religion, television, radio and other media sources that shapes our lives and how we view things. We may not be aware of it happening, but hearing certain melodic musical adverts for a certain type of food will register with us. The association of that melodic music with foods can make us want to have them just by hearing the noise.

The same applies with how we feel about things and the labels we give them. For example, a friend who lives in New York was telling a story about how, just after Hurricane Sandy hit New York a couple of years back, she saw a dog running down her street with a rooster in its mouth. She told her friends what she saw and thought is was so funny. I didn’t think it was funny at all. I felt sorry for the poor old rooster and politely told her that.

Then she said how I perceived it and the meaning I gave to it were completely different from her viewpoint or other people’s or the dog’s. I didn’t quite get this but she explained the dog didn’t see it as bad, he merely saw the rooster as food. Once I looked at it from a different angle, the situation became much less harsh. It was simply the way I had been viewing it and the meaning I had given to the situation. Those dictated the way I felt about it all. This changed when I looked at it from the dog’s perspective.

Crazy maybe, but if we are viewing so many things in life in a certain way and giving negative meanings to them this can adversely affect the way we feel.

So, what can we do about it?

Change the way we think. The meaning we give to things is a simple and effective way to start. It can help shift our point of view away from something being negative or bad or stressful. Many of us now know studies have shown stress is the biggest cause of disease and health problems. Starting to see things in a different light may just help you to become a healthier, happier human.

Give it a try!