The Happiness Effect

An interesting article appeared in this week's Time magazine. It's called "The Happiness Effect," and it basically deals with the impact one makes on others by being happy. Through a 20-year scientiful study conducted by Dr. Nicholas Christakis of Harvard University, it was found that happiness can be contagious. Their finding: "If unhealthy habits like smoking are contagious, why not healthy mental states? Can you catch a case of happy?"

It is interesting that Dr. Christakis found that "your joy may, to a larger extend than you realize, be determined by how cheerful your friends are." In fact, he even found that when it comes to Facebook and the kind of pictures one posts, it is those who smile that "tend to cluster together, forming an online social circle." Clearly, Solomon was right when he wrote thousands of years ago:

* "A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health" (Prov. 15:30, NLT).

* "A cheerful heart is good medicine" (Prov. 17:22, NLT).