By Li Bo

A Prescrip tion for Happiness

By Li Bo

A t dinner,I brought up the subject of high blood pressure with my friends and jumped at the opportunity to talk about popular science,saying:“Preventing high blood pressure is very important.One should eat less salt,smoke less and drink less.”

Before I had finished,I was interrupted by someone’s snappy retort,“That’s not true.A lot of doctors smoke and drink.”When he had finished speaking,everyone turned to look at me.

I replied,“Actually,this is all about an individual’s preferences. In terms of health,if you are not sick,drinking a small amount of alcohol can be good for you,but smoking really does more harm than good.”

“Some people smoke their entire lives and yet they are healthy and live to an old age,”someone instantly replied.

I paused for a second and then responded,“Of course,there are some cases of people who have never smoked a single cigarette in their lives and end up dying of lung cancer at the age of 40.However,this is just an isolated phenomenon rather than a sound and comprehensive theory.Theories are based on probability.In other words,how great the chances of something happening are.If you compare 100 smokers with 100 non-smokers,the number of smokers who develop lung cancer is larger than those who do not smoke.So it is sound to say that a smoker’s chance of developing lung cancer is greater.Smoking is harmful to your health and we should develop positive health habits.”

After I said that,everyone just regarded what I had said as a doctor’s stale old sermon.Everyone knows how important maintaining a disciplined life is for your health,but they cannot always do it.I gave up on this old-fashioned approach to health education and decided to help them all radically change their way of thinking.

“In fact,when it comes to one’s health,the most important thing is not just having correct eating habits, but also about having a good attitude,in other words,living a happy life every day.People who have a good attitude and laugh a lot are healthier than people who are unhappy all the time.The importance of a positive attitude on your health is greater than maintaining a disciplined life.Taking things to the extreme,you could say that smoking happily every day is more beneficial to your health than eating regularly but being unhappy.”

After I said this,apparently everyone assumed that I was drunk, but I had only had one glass and knew exactly what I was doing.

The confrontation between materialism and idealism has existed for centuries.You could say that idealism concerns our mood and subjective thoughts,whereas materialism concerns the discipline of daily life. Our concepts of idealism and materialism share a very elusive relationship.It is hard to assess the effect our moods can have on our health, but a relationship truly does exist.

(FromNourishing the Stomach and Cleansing the Intestine:Gastroenterologists’Advices on How to Enjoy a Good Appetite,Jiangsu Science and Technology Press.Translation:Trans.)