What Makes You Happy?

What makes you happy? Does the most expensive car or the biggest house make you happy? Does happiness have a connection with your bank account? According to scientists, the answer is ‘no’. Here are some important topics about happiness.

Happy and healthy
‘A calm mind brings inner strength and self-confidence, so that’s very important for good health.’ This quotation from Dalai Lama tells us the most important things in our life: our health and our happiness. They are the key elements of our life, and that’s why scientists have been working on happiness and health for a long time. They said that there is a strong relationship between a happy mind and a healthy body. Scientists at Carnegie University did some research about the relationship between happiness and health. First, they interviewed the volunteers and divided them into two groups. The first group was happier than the other group. Then, the scientists gave some cold viruses to each group and located them in different places. The volunteers who had been designated as happy were less likely to show the symptoms of the flu. Moreover, the ones who had the flu from the happy group seemed to recover faster than the other group.

Happiness comes from inside
It really comes from inside because happiness is all about hormones. There are four main hormones that make us happy in our life. There are called endorphins, serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin. When we eat delicious food or exercise rigorously, our body starts to release endorphins. It is a hormone that makes us happy. Similarly, when we choose to have happy thoughts or spend some time in nature, our body starts to release serotonin, which is one of the most important hormones to make us happy. Dopamine is released when we set our personal goals in our life and start to achieve them. The last one is oxytocin, which is released when we have a nice massage or when we hug each other.
According to studies, being wealthy or having so many belongings doesn’t make you happy. Happiness comes from inside and it goes viral. All we can say is ‘Don’t worry, be happy.’