subject: Factors Effect Your Happiness Index [print this page] Good Urban DesignWhat does urban design have to do with happiness? More than you might think."The data strongly suggests that real community and real friendships are important keys to happiness," says Post. "Some cities make that possible in ways that others don"t."Post explains how urban design can facilitate social interaction--or work against it."Forty years ago, neighborhoods had sidewalks, front porches, and parks-geographical opportunities for people to be socially engaged," he says. "In many communities today, we are lacking these things. We don"t know our neighbors anymore. We just get into our car pods and never see anyone. We no longer have the opportunity to stumble upon happiness by being good neighbors in our communities."Good urban design and effective mass transportation of hammer crusher can also determine howmuch time we spend commuting to work, and how much time we spend behind the wheel of a car running errandsboth of which ultimately impact the amount of time we have for joyfully engaging with friends, family, and community.Giving for Your Own GoodThis may come as a surprise to the "Me Generation," but happiness doesn"t come from living in a big house, buying the latest techno-gadget, and getting stamps from exotic locales in yourpassport.In fact, a poll by Time Magazine found that helping others was a major source of happiness for 75 percent of Americans."Volunteering is an opportunity to be socially engaged and contribute to the lives of others, says Stephen Post, a professor at Case Western Reserve University who co-authored the book WhyGood Things Happen to Good People with Jill Neimark. It"s not material goods that make us happy--it"s having purpose and meaning in our lives."In fact, some recent research suggests that we"re actually hard-wired for helping. Even thinking about helping others is enough to stimulate the part of our brain associated with feel-good chemicals like oxytocin.Helping others doesn"t just make us happier, there"s also evidence it makes us healthier too. "Recent research out of England shows that cities with higher rates of volunteerism had the lower rates of depression and heart disease," says Post.Don"t have a lot of free time? No worries. People who volunteer just two hours per week (100 hours per year) enjoy lower rates of depression and better physical health. china cement mill:http://www.china-mills.com/p20.html flotation cell:http://www.hxjq-crusher.com/34.htmlAs Long As You Have Your HealthPerhaps it comes as no surprise to find that healthier people are happier than those who aren"t as healthy. In fact, a report published by the Pew Research Center found that 48 percent of people who rated their health as "excellent" described themselves as "very happy", while only 15 percent of those who rated their health as "poor" said the same.After all, it"s harder to be happy when living with chronic pain or illness or when faced with a potentially life-threatening condition.While health is strongly tied to happiness, lack of health is even more strongly correlated with lack of happiness. Of those who rated their health as "poor", a whopping 55 percent describedthemselves as "not too happy", while only 6 percent of those in "excellent" health said the same.According to the Pew Research Center, health--along with religion and marriage--were among the strongest predictors of happiness, even when adjusting for a variety of other variables.As the professional manufacturer of complete sets of mining machinery, such as single toggle jaw crusher, Henan Hongxing is always doing the best in products and service.