GUEST COLUMN
Happiness is defined in general as the state of ardour you feel on getting what you desire. Happiness is the state of wellbeing, the feeling of contentment and joy or in other words a pleasure with a positive emotional feeling. We all look for happiness in our all daily activities.
An American psychologist, professor Daniel Gilbert said that human beings are the only animals which are able to think about their future. He pointed out that happiness is subjective. The brain does not differentiate between virtual and real stimulus to it. In both cases, the brain creates an interpretation of reality, it is so good and realistic that we do not grasp that it is only an interpretation. The emotional reactions are almost the same in both situations. There is a neurological reason for these mistakes in perception.
What makes us happy, colours all our perceptions of what happiness is. But even our own perceptions of what happiness is will change at different times in our lives. How do we know what will make us happy after 20 years? Human brain is set up to imagine the future quite well but not perfectly, and this difference is the one we often experience as what we thought would make us happy and what actually does.
What could make happiness more reliable? The answer to it is to find out how you will feel about a particular future course of action for example after achieving money, a career, a choice of city, spouse and children is to ask people who have already gone through the process and how they felt about it. As humans are creatures of belief, in our uniqueness we are naturally averse to relying on the experience of others. However, such a strategy, while not particularly exciting is the best available method to deliver us satisfaction in life and wellbeing.Whereas the happiness from relying purely on ourselves is only able to be stumbled on. Due to the way our brain works, our predictions of how we will feel in the future are not always accurate and that includes what will make us happy.
It is not only my experience, but I am sure it may be yours experience as well, that in India the health needs of most of the people are competing with the basic human needs like food, shelter and education.In India we are still realising the importance of good health, knowing very well that only healthy person can complete any task easily and quickly and the government is still figuring out how to keep our fellow countrymen healthy. Hence, good health should be the highest priority of all mankind. But, our experience shows that health which is an asset is being pushed to a secondary position on several occasions especially in poor and developing countries like India.
Irrespective of caste, creed, region and religion, everybody needs health, education and nutrition. They are interrelated and are the foundation stones for the growth of the individual as well as the nation. A sensible person will never kill the hen which gives him the golden egg but our society and the government is killing it. What is HEN here? H for Health, E for Education and N for Nutrition. The troika of health, education and nutrition is being driven in a haphazard and in an uncoordinated way in our country. The WHO asserts, following countless studies, that nations which invest in universal healthcare, make a sound investment in their human resource. The Ayushman Bharat health scheme 2018 introduced by the Government of India will be a milestone in improving the health care services to the poor and needy.
Whatever we achieve whether natural or manmade can be used and enjoyed only when we are healthy. Hence everybody should strive to remain as healthy as possible during their lifetime. How can we achieve good health is the important and pertinent question. We can be healthy only when we eat nutritious food. For better health, we should eat only when we are hungry and when we are eating then we should keep in mind to eat only a nutritious and balanced diet. We all should take a cup of green tea which is rich in antioxidants, eat a banana which is the best source of energy and magnesium, a lemon which is rich in vitamin C, an egg which contains almost all the important elements needed for the body, a green leafy vegetable which is rich in iron, calcium, magnesium and a fresh fruit which has fibres, folic acid and vitamin C. An American professor of Harvard Medical School, Dr David Sinclair advised that we should eat plants that have been stressed and grow under harsh conditions. It is found that those who eat less and work more, live a healthy and a longer life.
Everybody desires to be happy. Health and happiness are interrelated and directly proportionate to each other. If you are healthy, you are happy. If you are happy, you are healthy. Health is a fundamental need of any individual and everybody should be health conscious. For that we need food, which can be bought by money and that is earned by employment. The goal of the government should be provide the employment to all eligible people or help them set up small business which can generate money. If we are healthy then we can achieve our desirable goal and enjoy our life, as it is said by an ancient Indian Rishi Bhrighu that we all are products of pleasure and to achieve pleasure is the goal of every individual. One should always take care of themselves in order to remain healthy. To achieve good health one can follow this acronym DEWS: Diet, Exercise, Work and Sleep. One believes that health is not only an asset but a resource too. It should be nurtured by all.
(The writer is an orthopaedic surgeon based in Dehradun)
Wednesday, 30 December 2020 | Dr BKS Sanjay | Dehradun
