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Happier people keep healthier as they age

Even when accounting for age, lifestyle and economic situation, happier people maintained better physical function as they grew older.

By

Bahar Gholipour, LiveScience

Tue, Jan 21, 2014 at 2:32 PM

Photo: Aletia/Shutterstock

Being healthy can make a person happy, but happiness itself may also lead to better health, according to a new study.

 

Researchers found that people who enjoy life tend to maintain better physical function than those who don't in daily activities as they age.

 

The study included more than 3,000 people age 60 and older living in England, and followed them for eight years. The study participants reported how much they enjoyed life by rating statements such as "I enjoy the things that I do," and "I enjoy being in the company of others." [7 Things That Will Make You Happy]

 

Using in-person interviews, the researchers examined whether participants experienced impairments in their daily activities, such as getting out of bed, getting dressed or bathing. They also gauged participants' walking speed with a gait test.

 

The results showed that happier people maintained better physical function as they aged, even when the researchers accounted for confounding factors such as age, healthier lifestyle and economic situation.

 

The unhappiest people in the study were about 80 percent more likely to develop impairments in daily functions, compared with the happiest, according to the study published on Jan. 20 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

 

The researchers also found that happier people's walking speed declines at a slower rate than those who enjoy life less," said Andrew Steptoe, director of Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care at University College London.

 

"This is not because the happier people are in better health, or younger, or richer, or have more healthy lifestyles at the outset, since even when we take these factors into account, the relationship persists," Steptoe said.

 

The results also showed that the study participants with higher economic status and education, and those who were married and working, had higher levels of well-being.

 

As expected, poor health was linked to lower levels of happiness: People with chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, stroke and depression reported lower levels of enjoyment of life.

 

Researchers had previously shown that older people with greater enjoyment of life are more likely to survive over the next eight years, Steptoe said. The new findings show that "they also keep up better physical function," he said.

 

The study cannot confirm a cause-and-effect relationship between happiness and health, but adds to the evidence that enjoyment of life is relevant to the future disability and mobility of older people, according to the researchers.

 

"Efforts to enhance well-being at older ages may have benefits to society and health care systems," the researchers said.

 

Email Bahar Gholipour or follow her @alterwired. Follow us @LiveScience, Facebook &Google+. Original article on LiveScience.

Dreams Do Come True

I last wrote when I was about to submit my book proposal for Moving Toward Happy: A Practical and Spiritual Guide to a More Fulfilling Life, to Hay House as part of the Writer's Workshop, where they allowed all attendees to submit their proposals without an agent. That, in itself, was quite a gift!

I was beyond speechless when Hay House called me Monday, November 25 about 5pm to tell me I had won First Runner Up, with a Master Publishing Package from Balboa Press worth nearly $8,000!! (Yes, that deserves lots of exclamation points!!!)

I had signs from the Universe that made me believe this might be the turning point (the proposal was due on my birthday 10/28, and my badge number read 2828282 - some might dismiss that as mere coincidence but I absolutely couldn't). I had a shred of doubt of course; who wouldn't with a big deal like this? But winning First Runner Up has brought new meaning to the phrase "Dreams Do Come True."

Now, you might say it's just the second step (submitting it was the first) and I still have a long way to go, but to me, I have already won. I have been acknowledged, prized and congratulated not only by Hay House, but many friends and family. I have deepened my resolve to make "AUTHOR/SPEAKER" the adjective that goes automatically with "Terry Chriswell" and although I have bouts of paralyzing fear, I will advance confidently in the direction of my dreams and endeavor to live the life which I have imagined (placing myself directly into the quote from Henry David Thoreau.) I WILL meet with a success unexpected in common hours. I am making my dreams come true. How about you?

If you can, join me for my Moving Toward Happy Workshops March 15 and 22 in Lakewood CO! Check out www.movingtowardhappy.com.

The best is yet to come.

The 2-Year Gap

I was surprised to find that my last post was almost 2 years ago today. Clearly, I haven't looked at my posts in a long time, and I find it serendipitous that I looked at it today. Why? I jotted a note to myself the other day to remind me to write in my book proposal to Hay House that I actually have a blog. My book proposal that's due to Hay House on yes, my birthday Oct 28. 

I had the genuine good fortune to attend a seminar in April with Wayne Dyer and Hay House, which is allowing any participant at the writers' workshops around the country to submit a book proposal without an agent. There are 3 prizes - the top one a $10K advance and a book contract. I have my eye on that prize, but I won't be at all disappointed to have prizes 2 or 3 (self-publishing contracts with their sister company Balboa). And I certainly won't be disappointed to not win at all, since it's my first "trial by fire" of writing a book proposal at all.

It was an amazing number of "coincidences" - first that the book proposal is due on my birthday; that my badge number had "282828" in it and lastly that I met Wayne Dyer himself in the airport the next day, with both of us on our way to the coasts of Florida - Wayne to the East and me to the West. I mean, how could it be that the Universe wasn't telling me SOMETHING? Maybe it was just "shit or get off the pot already" which is why I am back blogging to begin with.
So yes, this enormous milestone of October 28 is not necessarily because of my 48th birthday which is lovely as birthdays go, but really because I am celebrating the fact that I shat and got off the pot, as it were.

The book is in the works, the proposal is almost done, the timing could not be more perfect. I am finally ready to shed the weight of fear and of dreams unfulfilled, to accept the criticism and barbs of those I care about and those I don't. I feel complete and whole enough to surf the wave of challenge and potential, of personal growth and courage and find out if my life's purpose is going to be endorsed by Hay House on November 28 with an announcement of the winners, or if I will have to wait. It's all good.

Another Birthday Come and Gone

After last year's birthday during which I worked the entire day, I vowed I wouldn't do that again. Not that working on your birthday is bad, but working all day is! It's just not a proper celebration of one's special day. And if you have a choice, like I do, I prefer to spend it in some sort of celebration. I'll admit, at 46, (AHHH! that's the first time I have written that!) I still like to hear Happy Birthday being sung to me over a cake with at least one candle. I also like to open cards and presents. I like to be pampered and feel taken care of.
I don't think that ever gets old (like I am). Don't get me wrong, if you forget my birthday or don't send a card, I won't sulk over it. After all, it's my day and like the rest of my life, I am responsible for it.
Assuming I was going to be alone this year, I took the bull by the horns and made plans to go to Devil's Thumb Spa and Ranch, about an hour and a half from where I live. Then we realized the dates were all mixed up and Doug's gig was off. Darn. I do miss him while I am here enjoying my little respite from the everyday, but I am glad I came.
I want to mark every birthday from here on out with something really different and special. It doesn't have to be fancy - God knows I am not a fancy girl. But I want to remember it, and the feeling that comes with being special for a day. Who knows how many birthdays I have left? Could be 50 more, could be 1. This might be the last one! If that's the case, and it's my time to go sometime in my 36th...whoops I mean 46th....year, then I am glad to have done my last one up in the celebratory style to which I wish I could have become accustomed.
Cheers and a happy birthday to everyone born on October 28!

Fate or Manifestation?

The other day my good friend and I were discussions all the information and teachings about manifesting your life. Our current lives, supposedly, is what we have wanted and made of it. And whatever we want, whether it's a car or a job or a bucket of money, can be manifested, perhaps in its/God's/The Universe's own good time, but it will happen.
There is also the "wisdom" that everything happens for a reason, you are where you are meant to be, etc.
That's a real dichotomy I don't understand...yet...and  maybe never will.
I know that manifesting does work, because Doug and I did a vision board months before any thoughts of Denver or publishing a magazine were a twinkle in our brains, and here we are living what we put on the vision board. Did we want all of it? Yes. Did we believe it could happen? Yes. It included happily driving to mountains with sun and following a future of prosperity, happiness, freedom, fulfillment and deepening love between us. While we didn't put on the vision board that we wanted increasingly difficult challenges, I can accept them and that those "opportunities" have made us better people and a better partnership.
So that's funny isn't it? It's where we are in every respect that has been a part of the manifestation but the journey has also been loaded with other complexities...does that mean all that has been fated so we can continue in our manifestation...but we had to learn some wisdom thru these circumstances to get there? I mean, I guess where would we be without differences of opinion, the irregular tide of finances, breakdowns and exhaustion? HA! I think I would be in a better place but I guess you never get to appreciate what you have unless you have had the opposite.
What I do believe is that the universe is always working in our favor, even though plenty of times it never looks that way. I can also say that I don't think we are going to know what's fate or manifestation unless we continue to manifest, and swim with the tide of our lives when it appears not to be what we wanted.
Just two short years ago, I never expected to be living  in Colorado, publishing a magazine and living with a man I adore. I bet next year I can say the same about plenty more things, and in 5 years, I probably won't even believe all the changes that will happen. I just know that I'm going to continue wishing on stars, buying lottery tickets and rolling with the punches, taking one day at a time. Whether you call it fate or manifestation, I'm not sure if matters, but I sure would like to win the lottery.

Loving a Dog Vs Having a Dog

Recently, it has struck me that while I love having dogs for the fun and energy they bring, I also really don't like having a dog for lots of reasons. And this is important to know, because in manycases, we have to learn to love something and let it go for our happiness.
I guess I thought having a dog would be a lot easier than it is right now; Gracie was an older mature dog which was already well-trained and didn't seem to have too many needs. By far, the best thing was that she loved fetch - how easy is it to go into a field, play fetch for 10 minutes and she had her exercise? Fulfilling to you, fulfilling to the dog. I only had bouts of stress with Gracie, and mostly that was because I was stressed to begin with, so having something else to take care of made it worse.
Having this foster experience with young dogs has made me realize that I am easily stressed and fatigued from trying to fulfill all my obligations to the dogs - and I say "my obligations" because they are self-made.
The older I get, the more it seems that having a little body barking and whining really stresses me out. If the dog has pooped and peed, gone for a walk, eaten a meal, had some attention...what else is there? I am constantly thinking that he needs to be with other dogs who think like him, can play non-stop, is he okay outside, should I bring him inside, what does he want, how can I be a better parent? I am sure there are a lot of "people" parents who feel the same.
This little obsession is not understood by Doug, my boyfriend. He thinks a dog is a dog, you be a good dog parent and that's it. Otherwise you let him whine or bark and let it go. Darn, I wish I could be like that. I think mine is inherited - I know my mother is a constant worrier, and my sister, as a "people" parent, is as well. "Am I giving enough?" or "Am I enough?" is a hard pill to swallow because I think you can probably always give more....can't you?
I'm okay now with the thought that I can love dogs, I can advocate for dogs, I can be a supporter of rescues and good people who foster and adopt, but to have a dog for me, at least right now and the foreseeable future, I think I need to release the added stressors from my life and get a great forever home for my foster dog. I love him to death, which means someone else will too. And I think he will be so much happier with more people - and a dog - in another house with a big yard to run around in and chase bunnies.
So, to love and let go - it's a beautiful thing. I am relieved thinking it, and writing it down because I know it's true. I can love in other ways, as I mentioned. I am ready to receive a great adoptive family for Toby and I am grateful for the gift of knowledge that he has given me.