A few years back, I read a particular documentary of a scientific research where it was discovered that happy and joyful people tend to live healthier and longer. Of course, when you have a merry heart and when you are always joyful, you free yourself from depression and worries which can weigh you down. You are not merry because all your problems are solved, but because of the hope that you are well able to solve them. This is why we have to make the choice of happiness our lifestyle.
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It is true that in life, you will be faced with a lot of challenges, but you should not allow it to affect your joy, you have to learn to live above it. Your situation is not meant to affect you negatively, but you are meant to; through your merry heart; affect your situation positively. One thing to know is that neither a joyful soul nor a merry heart is a gift, but they are all choices. It does not mean that you have the abundance of everything in the world, but it means that you are contented with what you have. When you follow life with contentment, you will be happier with life.
When you constantly frown and sadden yourself, you will compound your problems. I remember what a friend once said; "carrying a long face will only make your life's journey longer." You will be surprised that you use less facial muscles to smile than you use to get a frowny face. While growing up, there was this particular man in the neighbourhood who was just a perfect example of a merry soul. He would always be happy and carry a smiley face. He took life "one day at a time," and lived each day as it comes - zero worries. The day we got to know his age, we were all shocked. He looked way younger and stronger than his age that we found it difficult to believe it.
There is a kind of refreshing that comes to you when you lessen your worries and have a merry heart. The truth is that no matter how much you worry about a problem, it will not solve it. In fact, when you worry about something and it finally happens, then your worries will be multiplied. On the other hand, if you worry about a negative thing and it does not happen, then you have worried and stressed yourself in vain. There is a kind of connection that the brain has with other parts of the body and they will respond to what the brain convinces them to. If you tell yourself; "today is a good day and I will be joyful - nothing will hinder my joy," the other parts of the body will align properly to what your brain thinks.
You will be surprised that when you start thinking towards a particular line, your whole body will follow suit. For example; if you think depression, you will be depressed, but if you think Joy, then you will be merry.
Here is a little workout to help you become more merry. First of all, you have to focus more on the good things of life - the blessings you have received. It is true that there are lots of your desires that have not been met, but it does not also rule out the fact that a lot of your other desires have been met. When you focus on what is working for you and place less focus on what you think is not working, you will become happier in life. Life has whichever side you need to focus your dominant attention on. If you focus on the negative side, you will become sad. But if you have your attention on the positive side of life, you will not need encouragement to be happy.
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In life, most of what you experience is directly related to the choices you made in the past and the ones you are making currently. So if you make the choice to be merry, nothing will stop it. There are many benefits in being of a merry heart. If you consider the benefits, then you will willingly make the choice of being happy, of a merry heart, and joyful. I will conclude with this verse from the Holy Book as it summarizes one of the crucial benefits of having a merry heart:
A merry heart does good like medicine, but the dryness of the bones is caused by a broken spirit.
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