Positive Emotions - How They Affect Our Health

The top ten positive emotions are happiness, generosity, enthusiasm, peace, trust, concern, kindness, laughter, optimism and respect. Oprah spoke of this at the National Book Festival when she was given the top book award for her book titled "Why Some Things Are More Fun Than others." She mentioned that those ten emotions need a 3:1 Ratio of positive to negative to truly have a happy life. On her show she listed them one after the other and explained how each felt. It seemed like a natural progression for her to share these thoughts with others.


Joy is the first of the top ten positive emotions and is the feeling you get when you experience total fulfillment. We all experience some joy from time to time. For some people it can come from having a great baby. For others it may come from writing a brilliant essay or winning an award. Whatever the job is for you, it can help us to live a happier and more fulfilled life.

Regret is our darker side of joy. When we experience too much happiness we may mistake it for happiness because we think it is a positive emotion. The feeling of regret we feel can make us feel horrible and depressed.

Serenity is another positive emotion and is the feeling of being completely and totally okay. It does not matter what is happening or what the situation is. It is our ultimate feeling of well being. Peace is not just knowing we are healthy, we also know that we are happy and content. Aurora Fagen, author of "Aurora's Secret Ordinary book" says feeling serenity is like smelling the roses or picking a rose petal.

Gratitude is another one of the positive emotions that helps us to flourish in our lives. Gratitude is actually a very good cure for depression. A study was conducted by Dr. David Burns, who found out that a drop in moods were noticed by those people who expressed their feelings often and regularly. This kind of attitude helps to enhance a feeling of well-being in people.

A feeling of gratitude is also a very important emotion. A popular saying is "feel the joy for what you have." This says that we should take pleasure in every moment of our existence. The feeling of gratitude means that we should be grateful for the good things in our lives. People who are fully in gratitude are those people who are rarely unhappy. gratitude is a very important ingredient for our well-being.

Lastly, negative emotions are those feelings that are the opposite of positive emotions. Being sad, depressed, angry, or frightened are all examples of negative emotions. We should resist from these negative emotions and try to change them into more positive ones.

If we let go of negative emotions, we will notice that positive emotions will emerge. In fact, when we do have negative emotions, it means that we are already on the road to well-being. We just have to remind ourselves that these feelings will soon pass and that they will eventually be replaced with more positive ones. This is actually the best gift that we can give ourselves.

One of the most common positive emotions is happiness. This is probably because when we are happy we smile more. Smiling helps stimulate the blood circulation. There are many people who are happy all throughout their life but when they see others around them who are not as happy as they are, they feel envious and as if they are missing out.

Another common feeling that is also associated with happiness is laughter. Laughter is considered to be one of the best feelings that can cheer us up. Some of the most popular funny movies include Happy Gilmore and The Day After. A happy feeling leads to others feeling happy too and this creates a chain reaction and makes the entire day a lot more enjoyable.


These are just a few of the positive emotions that promote health and happiness. We might find it hard to control all of our emotions at once but with practice, we will learn to control our emotions better. If you want to be happy all the time you must make yourself aware of the different feelings that come upon us and how to handle them accordingly. When you are able to do this, you will have a great sense of well being and fulfillment.