Does the money you make put food on the table? Individuals who have a greater annual salary tend to live longer than those with average incomes. What personality best describes you? Those who are shy are two times more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke. In people’s lives, the smallest things make the biggest impact; our environment, income, and health can affect our happiness, personality, and lifespan. Every aspect of human life, no matter how big or small, is affected by something. From enjoying a delicious strawberry smoothie to getting punched in the face, it all has some type of reaction to your life.
This continuous chain of impact starts with education. From day one, your brain is developing and learning. With the correct amount of education, the possible outcomes are endless. With an incorrect amount education, you could end up with a deadbeat job, or even possibly end up on the street as a panhandler. There are very few things stopping you from getting a good education, and of those very few things is the environment you were raised in. Your surroundings play a big role in your adolescent years. As you see in many television shows, movies, and even in real life, growing up in the wrong places can influence the choices you make and who you can become. In the movies, the tough gang members are shown as once troubled children who grew up in harmful areas known as the “ghetto” or “the hood”. Those with warm a childhood usually end up successful or at least happy with what they have. This brings us to another aspect of life, happiness.
It was previously said that small things can affect happiness, and it works the other way just as well. According to Consumer Reports, living in unhappy areas like Nevada and Ohio means you are twenty percent more likely to die a premature death. Happiness was also proven to make you a healthier person, so there should definitely be no downside to being happy, right? Other sources beg to differ. A study at Stanford University found that happy kids grew up to become smokers and alcoholics. Dr. Howard S. Friedman also states that based on an experiment he conducted, “those who had the best sense of humor as kids lived shorter lives, on average, than those who were less cheerful.” You are most likely asking is how this is possible. Living in a happy area means living a longer life, but being happy also kills you? Well, the University of California has the answer to this question. They said that the reason for this was because happy people have a “confidence about their ability to defeat life’s difficulties and willingness, therefore, to take more risks might explain why happy types are also more likely to die young.”
Besides only happy people having effects on their lives, every other type of person has these same effects. A person’s personality can greatly affect their health. For example, anxious individuals are fives times more likely to develop stomach ulcers and have higher levels of acne infections. Sensitive men have lower levels of stress resulting in a smaller chance of developing chronic heart disease and experiencing heart attacks. Argumentative people are the least healthy because they experience much stress leading to high blood and heart rates, but they do also have more children than average couple. Shy people are more vulnerable to viral infections like colds and also deal with a lot of stress. The effects of one’s personality on health are endless, but there is one very important thing that can alter your life.
Climate is that thing. It has been proven that climate is a big component to the duration of your life. Heat causes people to die. Think about it. There are very many kids in Africa that die, but for what reason? It may be due to the lack of food, it may be due to contaminated drinking water, and it could also be due to the fact that it is so hot! Fortunately, America has ways to solve these types of problems. Homes in the hot regions are usually painted white to reflect sunlight. And cold weather parts, which are typically not as dangerous as hot places, have houses that are built on stilts to prevent the icy ground from affecting the homes. America may have ways to deal with these problems, but it doesn’t mean that the effects on our lives are dealt with.
Life will always have effects. Good or bad ones depend on what you do. If you smoke, you will most likely die of lung cancer. If you exercise regularly, you will most likely be healthy. So think about the things you eat. Think about the choices you make. Most importantly, think about the things you do because, it’s as they say, what goes around comes around.