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For the Second Year in a Row, the Healthiest, Happiest City in the US Is …

  • March 07, 2017

Leave it to the Sunshine State to offer up what a community rankings poll says is the healthiest, happiest city in the nation — for the second in a year in a row. According to Today, Naples, Florida, and nearby Immokalee and Marco Island clinched the No. 1 spot. The report measures physical health, social ties, financial security, community and sense of purpose.

While this news might make you want to pack up and move south, the reality is not everyone can live in Naples. The good news is that there are ways to give yourself a happier, healthier life wherever you are.

There's no shortage of evidence that happy people live longer, healthier lives. But just HOW to "be happy" is an elusive mystery for many. We all seek it, yet many feel they're missing the mark on any given day. Part of the problem may be rooted in your concept of happiness. If you rate your level of happiness as being low, consider reevaluating your notion of happiness.

You can boost your happiness almost immediately by changing your beliefs and turning negative feelings into positive moments. Besides unbridled acceptance of reality, the philosophers of old also espoused gratitude, or being happy for what you have now, and for expressing and receiving gratitude.

To that end, people who are thankful for what they have are better able to cope with stress, are happier and better able to reach their goals. In fact, studies have linked gratitude to improved sleep, reduced stress, enhanced well-being, improved heart health and reducing the likelihood of sudden death in patients with heart disease. Keeping a daily gratitude journal can help you refocus on a happier, healthier life.