If you ask most people what’s one thing they really want out of life, it is to be happy. Quite simple but it can be quite elusive. I came across the information below recently and found it very insightful. It is a scientific look at happiness and there are some fascinating findings. I would encourage you to take 5 minutes to have a read as I think it is worth the time. If you are interested in more, look up Shawn Achor under the same heading below.

Also, now that we are finally seeing a bit of Springs weather, hay fever is on the rise. If you suffer from hay fever and are having a hard time getting it under control, please come and speak with one of our pharmacists. The treatment options now extend far beyond simply using antihistamine tablets. Research now indicates there are some very simple things you can do on a daily basis that can reduce hay fever symptoms by up to 1/3.

And finally, before I stop and let you read the article below, I just wanted to touch on our 7am to Midnight opening hours and our price match guarantee. South of the Swan river we are first to open and the last to close and there is ALWAYS a pharmacist on duty. In person or by telephone we are always here to help with any health and medicine series.

Our price match guarantee is an offer we make to ensure we provide the best hours and the best value we possibly can. We understand there is significant variation in pharmacy pricing. At our size and our opening hours, we hope you understand we cannot be the cheapest on every product. But, it is important to us that our clients do come back so we always endeavour to provide the best value possible. To support this, on any product we can that you find cheaper elsewhere, we will happily match that price. So, if you choose us as your pharmacy, we are almost always available to you, there is always a pharmacist you can speak to and you will get the best possible value for your money.

Please read on and I hope you enjoy the article.

Best wishes

The Happiness Advantage

It has often been said that happiness is an art form. That is, there is an art to being happy. Part of this art is understanding that your happiness is a state of mind that is available to you whenever you like as opposed to a feeling you get when the circumstances of your life are exactly how you want them to be.

Interestingly, being happy is one of our primary desires in life. Yet, many people fall far short of meeting this desire. The scientists have long considered this art of happiness a bit airy fairy until a small group of Harvard scientists decided to study happiness in a scientific way. The end results are fascinating, but in a nut shell, show that choosing to be happy on a daily basis will change almost every aspect of your life.

The research started by finding that:

• 4 out of 5 Harvard students suffered depression at least once in the school year
• Depression rates today are 10 times higher than the 1960’s
• Average age for the onset of depression is now half that of 1960 

They then moved on to find out what the 1 out of 5 Harvard students that weren’t depressed

were doing differently. The finding was surprisingly simple.

The first thing they found was in the thoughts of these students. Quite simply they had more happy thoughts. They had a habit of focussing on positive things and happy things in most situations. In every situation in life there is good and bad and you can choose to focus on either. The people who were the happiest simply focussed on better things. The second common thing they found in the group who didn’t suffer depression was they had an appreciative outlook on life. They were people who were grateful for the people and things in their lives rather than being focussed on what they were missing in their lives.

The kicker was that they retrospectively found the non-depressed students outscored the depressed students in their grades by an average of 15% - and the research was conducted prior to release of any grades (so they weren’t just happy because their grades were better).

Through following the activation of different parts of the brain during different moods and activities they found that the brain is actually hardwired to perform better when we are in a positive state of mind. Positive happy people have a biological advantage in brain power over negative people. Negativity creates a sluggish brain just like eating junk food. The brain power extends to thought, memory, creativity, intelligence, problem solving, ability to relate to others and energy.

The brain research extended to find that as you “practice happiness” more, then larger parts of your brain become activated in response to positive thoughts. With larger parts of your brain being activated you become even more resourceful and creative. In effect, the happier and more positive you are, the easier it becomes to be happy and positive and your intelligence grows – and this is scientifically measurable.

The studies went on to measure the effect of happiness on other aspects of life and found that it affected health, life-expectancy, divorce rates, friendships, income, job-satisfaction, career-advancement, body-weight and the list goes on. In every case, people were found to be happy because they got a positive outcome in one of these areas.

They got the outcome because of their happiness and positivity. 

The key point here being that happiness isn’t something that just feels good. It is the essential ingredient for a great life. 

“Don’t wait until you get what you want to be happy, be happy and then go and get what you want” 

Jim Rohn