REJECTION / LONELINESS

In the book "Feeling Good is Good For You" By Carl Charnetski and Frank Brennan, they probe the idea that doing the things that bring us pleasures also increases the chances for good health.

By the same token, too much stress is considered detrimental to our immune system. This therefore translates that happiness boosts our ability to fight illness.

Rejection and loneliness are very rampant in our teenage years because of the strong inert feelings to belong, to be accepted and to be integrated. If on the other hand, due to our upbringing, background, fears, ignorance, and poor perception, we are not able to belong, integrate or be accepted, this can lead to perceived rejection, which then can manifest as loneliness.

Loneliness is a self-fulfilling phenomenon we often impose on ourselves. One considers himself or herself lonely because of severe lack of pleasure stimulus. Always be in touch with those things that are pleasurable to you, for it has been said that pessimists tend to get sick more often then optimists.

In their book, Charnetski and Brennan advocated a 13-point "pleasure formula" which they claim prevents us from loneliness, pessimism, and therefore becoming sick. These include but are not limited to:

• Eating chocolate
• Petting a friendly animal
• Going to a favorite restaurant with friendly friends
• Listening to music
• Enjoying a glass of wine
• Having sex
• Breast-feeding if post-partum
• Playing a musical instrument
• Gentle tickling
• Exercise
• Saying a little prayer

The key to all this is moderation. Too much of any of these (or anything for that matter) is bad for you.

Example: Participants who had sex once or twice a week appear healthier and show higher good hormone levels than those having sex three or more times a week.

Take heed: " All that glitters is not gold."