Importance Of Well-Being Essay

Healthy Lifestyle: Creating Well-Being

There is more to life than just having your basic survival needs met and more to health than just the absence of illness. A sense of well-being, whatever your personal circumstances, comes from a positive attitude and an appreciation of everyday pleasures.

‘Quality of life’ is a relatively new idea, but it’s a concept that doctors and psychologists are beginning to emphasise. Modern medicine has given us more years of life, but often these are marred by chronic illness, loneliness and loss of independence. Quality of life goes beyond physical health – it takes in psychological and emotional factors, too.

Everyone knows at least one person who has had bad luck in life or is in poor health, and yet still seems content. What is their secret? Psychologists have studied such people and attribute their vitality to their ability to nurture their own sense of well-being. These people are passionate about the things they do, whether it be work, relationships or hobbies. They often have a robust sense of humour, and do not take themselves too seriously. Happy people often look younger than their years, and many even be a little eccentric – according to two studies, eccentric people often live longer than average.

“Pleasure rewards us twice: first in immediate

In the 19th century, physicians discovered that music could affect heart rate and blood pressure. In the early 20th century, doctors in the USA used music in hospital to help alleviate pain. Various scientific studies followed, and these showed that music could influence mood, prolong attention span, relieve stress and stimulate imagination. Music is very much a personal taste, but research suggests that the most natural tempo for a piece of music is 80 beats a minute – about the same as the average human heart rate. This suggests that music appeals by tuning in to our natural body