Effects of "Chosen" Quality Improves Mood & Lifespan
This shouldn't be a shock. I think we're all aware of the negative impact stress brings. You can feel it. The flowing effect over your body. It can sap your energy. Play with your guts and your brain - agitation and frustration. And, at times, you might visually see it. Maybe it was red, puffy, inflamed skin... hives. Or shaking. Or sweating. The effects are vast.
When you stop and think about it... isn't it amazing how something can cause such a response?
Obviously, some chemical reactions are happening in your brain and around your body. Therefore, it's not a great leap to suppose positive sentiments might actually cause emphatic responses too. Then take it to the next step... these feelings have their own substance releases that produce effects we might actually want.
In fact, David Hamilton PhD pieces together the benefits of being generous and sensitive in his book, The Five Side Effects of Kindness. There are actually many levels of science involved. Lots of proof. Not simply spiritual beliefs. Genuine measurable effects.
Being a good person is good for your health
Perhaps karma really is a thing. It could be that all the spiteful and nasty acts people say and do will truly play on their emotions. Their bodily response could just well be damaging their health. Whereas, every sincere act of kindness not only boosts your health but those around you too.
For this reason, kindness inspires kindness. This chain reaction can lead to hundreds of people being touched by your actions. An example the professor uses is from a study into the effect of one person randomly donating a kidney. This act of kindness saved a life. But more impressively, spawned a string of kidney donations by the people surrounding those receiving the donations.
These people were inspired and uplifted. So with the gratitude filling their heart, they went on to perform helpful acts.
These genuine acts of kindness not only produce warm fussy feelings but hormones like oxytocin. Known as the love hormone, oxytocin is a stimulant. It stimulates your brain with emotions and your body with nitric oxide. When nitric oxide is released into your blood vessels it expands them and therefore, able to lower your blood pressure.
Plus, oxytocin acts as an antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory too. Thereby, it is able to help protect your body from oxidation and limit inflammation. Therefore, it helps to counter the diseases they can contribute towards. By having this kindness byproduct at your service, you're able to better deal with stressful situations. Also, the power of this happy hormone can be seen in our skin. Due to it being an antioxidant, it protects your skin cells and slows down the signs of ageing.
What's more, oxytocin increases the regrowth of blood vessels. This is a major act when your body is healing a wound. So, by being kind, you'll produce the love hormone and it will love you back.
Incidentally, we get "high" off good deads. In a Friends episode, Pheobe may well be right when she challenged Joe to find an unselfish good deed... There aren't any. We can't help but feel good about ourselves after doing something nice. It's as if we are built to be kind. In fact, another hormone is released. In your brain, dopamine is released which causes a natural high.
In the end, it is about choice. You can choose to say or do something kind or hurtful. It may not be a surprise to you that when people do hurtful things, they are attempting to make themselves feel better by bringing us down. When, in reality, choosing to be kind will make us all happy rather than upset and still chasing love.
Therefore, perhaps we should all check ourselves before delivering our first reaction because an emotional response may well be disgusting. Michelle Obama recently pointed out that we shouldn't post or tweet our thoughts because they're often wrong. Or as Jody Lee puts it, "a brain fart often stinks". Maybe Donald Trump should take a whiff before pushing the button.