Jump Life Rules

Life Rules: 10 Essential Rules for Living Your Best Life

Life Rule#3:  Be Grateful

Life Rule #4: Laugh

Why?

Not only is it enjoyable and a way to socially bond (which has its own benefits), research shows laughter has a number of direct health benefits:

  • Strengthening your immune system
  • It may reduce food cravings (who hasn’t eaten just because they’re bored?)
  • Can increase your threshold for pain.
  • Is linked to healthy function of blood vessels

Life Rule #5: Sing

Why?

If you’re like me, you enjoy singing just for the sake of singing. That’s not the only benefit though, you may also experience:

  • Increased happiness
  • Faster Healing
  • Improved immune function
  • Pain relief

Singing with a group is even more beneficial due to the social interaction it provides – and truth be told, some of my happiest memories are the days I spent playing music with the bands I was in.

Life Rule #6: Spend Time With Your Friends and Family

Why??

Well, for starters you’ll (hopefully) enjoy their company. Research also shows:

  • Friendship can ward off germs. Our brains control many of the mechanisms in our bodies which are responsible for disease.Just as stress can trigger ill health, it is thought that friendship and happiness can have a protective effect.
  • Friendship has a much bigger effect on average on happiness than income itself
  • Call your parents – research shows happiness for both children and parents is strongly linked to this relationship.

Life Rule #7: Forget About The Money (Well, Sort of )

Money certainly matters – but it does not increase happiness after a certain point. Consider the following:

  • Catherine Sanderson, a psychology professor at Amherst College notes that we’re never satisfied. “We always think if we just had a little bit more money, we’d be happier, but when we get there, we’re not.”
  • “Once you get basic human needs met, a lot more money doesn’t make a lot more happiness,” notes Dan Gilbert, a psychology professor at Harvard University

Life Rule #8: Dance

Why?

  • A study at Laban college indicated dance had a positive effect on physical fitness and psychological wellbeing
  • Dance is a very good exercise for heart patients compared to other aerobic exercises like cycling. They also noted patients enjoyed it much more
  • A study in New York in 2003 has shown that cognitive activities like crosswords help ward off dementia but, but physical exercise didn’t – except for ballroom dancing.

And of course, there are social benefits associated with meeting people dancing .

(Source: Wikipedia, Benefits of Dance)

Life Rule #9:  Give

Why?

  • When we do something fun, our happiness is fleeting, but when give, and help another person, that happiness lasts.

I discussed this at length in an article: about altruism as a key to happiness

Life Rule#10: Eat Your (Green) Vegetables

Why?

  • Calorie for calorie, green vegetables are about as good as it gets.
  • They are high in fiber, high in a number of nutrients
  • Consumption of green vegetables has been linked to everything from improved immune systems to helping ward off heart disease to longer life.
  • The best ones?  Kale, Spinach and Broccoli.

Sources

Final Thoughts

It looks like Mark Twain may have got it right when he said:

“Dance like nobody’s watching;
Love like you’ve never been hurt.
Sing like nobody’s listening;
Live like it’s heaven on earth.”

To review, the 10 essential life rules I’ve found are:

  1. Love
  2. Live With Purpose
  3. Be Grateful
  4. Laugh
  5. Sing
  6. Spend Time With Your Friends and Family
  7. Forget About The Money (Well, Sort of )
  8. Dance
  9. Give
  10. Eat Your (Green) Vegetables

So go forward: Dance. Love. Sing. Live.

And listen to your mom: eat your vegetables.