Happiness is Good for you

I read a study a while back that said a negative stressor like getting yelled at can negatively affect your immunity for up to 12 hours, whereas a positive experience, such as getting together with friends for fun, can positively affect you immunity for up to 3 days.(It really shouldn't seem like some radical notion that being happy enhances the immune system.

In fact, in the DVD "The Secret," this same principle is touched upon: we have 60,000 thoughts a day (!). Thankfully, the positive ones have more power to affect your reality than the negative ones. Of course if there are no positive thoughts... that could be a problem.

The lesson? it's more important to have fun than it is to avoid stress.

My still newlywed husband and I (not quite 6 months yet) were invited to a big family gathering. We were extended family, as in Joe's sister-in-law's family. We've met a number of these folks before at birthday parties, etc.

So the Patriarch of the Day was Florio, who every year rents a big party bus, gives all his grandkids some money, and we go into New York City (from Yonkers) and go to Toys R Us. Then we go see the big tree at Rockefeller Center. some of us, including me, also stopped into St. Patrick's Cathedral, which is beautiful and has a life-size nativity scene in he sanctuary. I lit a candle ad said a prayer for my Aunt, who is struggling with cancer and related problems.

At the tree, which is also where the ice skating rink is, I was so fortunate to have ended up at that place during the very time that a Tuba Christmas was going on! Every year, for many years now, a bunch of tuba players gather under the Big Tree and play Christmas carols. Only tubas allowed! there were 450 tubas this year! I had heard of this because I played tuba in high school. I never thought I'd see it in first person!

We also saw the friendly neighborhood Spiderman on the sidewalk, 2 cops on horses, and Santa driving a stretch limo.

We all then had a huge Italian dinner at an authentic Italian place that feeds you for 2-3 hours straight. whew.

To top it off, we arranged for our neighbor to visit our little dog with her little dog for a little while and she kept them together for 5 hours! So even our dog had a great day.

We should be immune to anything tomorrow, always a good thing on Monday!

Speaking of fun- hear some funny songs at
http://www.thesingingpatient.com