In A Higher Branch, I show that health should be your number one priority, followed by love, family, work, friendship, learning, wealth and charity: all of which provide us with a complete life and when we live a complete life, we are happy. Recently, I’ve been researching the idea that being happy is more important than being just healthy. I did this research because of something that my 10 year old daughter said to me.
Recently we spent a whole day at Bondi Beach crashing against waves, eating, sunbathing and playing. As we drove home later that day, my wife and I looked at each other and said, “Early dinner, early night.” But Amelia had other ideas. She jumped right out of the car and ran straight to her bike and said, ‘Daddy, Daddy, I want to go for a bike ride!” I must confess with you, I was a little annoyed, and said to her, “Sweetie, aren’t you tired? Honestly, what are you running on?” And she looked at me as though the answer was as clear as day and said, “I’m running on Happiness, Daddy.”
And that got me thinking, we do run on happiness! If we eat unhealthy and fail to exercise it will eventually (sometimes over many years) lead to low energy and illness. But if you are unhappy for even just a week, it will impact your energy and vitality very quickly. So my advice is that if you can’t live a 100% healthy lifestyle, aim to at least live a happy one by surrounding yourself with family, positive friends, laughter and a rewarding job. My bigger advice is to aim to be healthy and happy!