We now seem to have pretty conclusive evidence that unhappiness is not responsible for ill health and the opposite is probably true. If you’re chronically ill you’re more likely to be unhappy – and no wonder.
“Good news for the grumpy” declared Sir Richard Peto in revealing the results of the large-scale study he co-authored, published in the Lancet this week. After tracking a cohort of a million British women over a 10-year time-span, he and his team found that those who were unhappy or stressed were no more likely to succumb to ill-health or premature death than their cheerier counterparts.”
What we can often control however, is our health, and how well we cope with any conditions we have. The vast majority of illness that affects the western world is self-inflicted. Obviously not deliberately but often with reckless negligence and disregard of consequences. Smoking; drinking to excess; reliance on processed and nutritionally-minimal foods. Our lifestyles are slowly killing us or making the latter part of our years difficult and a burden. That is not a wise choice.
“Don’t wish it were easier. Wish you were better.” ― Jim Rohn
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(15)01087-9/abstract