Have you met your happy chemicals today?

As I sat in the park after my morning walk today, my wife came and slumped next to me fully drenched in sweat and she was panting after her 30-minute jog. We settled on the bench catching our breath and chatted for a while. Suddenly she said she is not happy in her life. What? I looked up at her sheer in disbelief since she seemed to have the best of everything in life.

And why do you think so suddenly today? I asked her shockingly "I don't know, but everyone tells me that I have everything needed in life, but somehow I am not really happy. Closing my eyes then I questioned myself too, am I happy? "No,"* saying was my inner voice and now, that was an eye-opener for me too.

Reaching home I began my quest to understand the real cause of my unhappiness, I couldn't find one myself hence I dug deeper, read articles on the internet and finally spoke to some leading life coaches but nothing made sense to them even. At last my family physician friend gave me the answer which put all my questions and doubts to rest and once I implemented those and will say I am a lot happier person.

She said listen, there are four hormones which actually determine a human's happiness index They are 1. Endorphins, 2.Dopamine, 3.Serotonin,and 4. Oxytocin. It is important that we fully understand these hormones, as we need all four of them to really stay happy.

Let's look at the first hormone the Endorphins.When we exercise, the body releases lot of Endorphins. This hormone helps the body cope with the pain of exercising. We then enjoy exercising because these Endorphins will make us happy. Also laughter session is another good way of generating good amount of Endorphins. We need to spend minimum 30 minutes exercising every day, read or watch funny videos to get our day's dose of Endorphins. So what is stopping us really from being happy?

The second hormone is Dopamine. In our journey of life, we accomplish many little and big tasks, it releases various levels of Dopamine. When we get appreciated for our work at the office or at home, we feel accomplished and good, that is because it releases Dopamine. This also explains why most housewives are unhappy since they rarely get acknowledged or appreciated for their home work. Once, we join workplace, we buy a car, the latest gadgets, a new house so forth. In each instance, it releases Dopamine and we become happy with our possessions. Now, do we realise why we become happy when we shop? Ladies, smile!

The third hormone Serotonin is released when we act in a way that benefits others. When we transcend ourselves and give back to others or to nature or to the society, it releases Serotonin. Even, providing useful information on the internet like writing information blogs, will generate Serotonin.That is because we will use our precious time to help other people via our answers or articles. Even writing articles here on LinkedIn releases Serotonin in me.

And the final hormone is Oxytocin, is released when we become close to other human beings physically, like when we hug our friends or family Oxytocin is released. The "Jadoo Ki Jhappi" from Munnabhai MBBS does really work.Similarly, when we shake hands or put our arms around someone's shoulders, various amounts of Oxytocin is released.

So, it is simple to remember, we have to exercise every day to get Endorphins, (E for exercise and endorphins) we have to accomplish little goals and get Dopamine (Do and Dopamine), we need to be nice to others to get Serotonin (Nice and Serotonin) and finally hug our kids, friends, and families to get ( Hug and Oxytocin) and we will be happy. When we are happy, we can deal with our challenges and problems better.

Stay blessed! #kishoreshintre