Who's happiest?

Pam's friend, Ruth, always gets four tickets to the Mind Science Foundation talks--and tonight I was one of the lucky recipients.

Dr. Moran Cerf, neuroscientist, was the speaker, and his topic was Dreams: The Brain's Movie Theater.  He had a strong accent and spoke like a race horse, but the talk was fascinating.

Among the things he shared with us was research on the subject of happiness.  He asked us and I'll ask you: What five things contribute most to happiness?  Stop right now and write down your guesses and I'll tell you the answer at the bottom of this post.

But first, I want to include some inspirational photos of Pam's friend Ruth who is 100 years old and as spry and intellectually sharp as most sixty-year-olds.  She does use a walker, but she maneuvers it very well.  She designs and makes her clothes..  A scientist herself, she was very interested in the subject of Dr. Cerf's research and we stood outside the Pearl stable and talked about it afterwards.

Ruth and Pam

Alison noted that we were all three color-coordinated. 

Ruth will be 101 in November
and she made this dress herself!
She likes the flowing design and the big pockets:
"It has everything I need," she said.

So back to happiness.  When the speaker asked us to guess the five factors that contribute most to happiness, one man called out, "Sexual partner!"

Actually, no.  That was, however, number 6.

Money?  No.

Here they are:

Number 1: Sleep!  The quality of our sleep is the most important factor in happiness. (Not the length of sleep, but the quality of sleep.)

Number 2: Social interactions.  People who enjoy being with others and "feeling part of the bigger picture" is second only to sleep.

Number 3: Spirituality: People who believe in something are happier than people who believe in nothing.

(Three S-words in a row!)

Number 4: Exercise: People who exercise are happier than people who don't.

Number 5: Volunteering.  People who do things for others are happier.