But as I have said before in this column, I think joy and happiness play a postivie role as a preventive health measure. I?’ve encouraged my readers to fill their lives with joy as often as possible, and explained how a heart filled with joy is stronger, and thereby can better handle the stresses that each of us encounter from time to time throughout our lives.
There may be some who doubt that joy can really bring good health to such a vital muscular organ as the heart since there is no medical research data to prove such a concept. But, as I see it, although hard evidence is lacking, it certainly can?’t hurt!!
This past summer, I once again had the opportunity to fill my heart with joy and practice what I preach.
The occasion was my son?’s wedding. As I watched my first born take his vows I couldn?’t help but remember all the life cycles we had shared since his entry into the world and into my arms 29 years ago in that small delivery room in New Haven Community Hospital.
I remembered his first words, those unsteady steps, his spontaneous and broad smile, and his passage in and out of the various stages of his growth and development. From his first day at nursery school to this day as he stood next to his bride, I remembered so much.
I remembered the good times as well as the trials and tribulations we had endured together. I remembered every stage of raising him, nurturing him and being by his side each step of the way until that day he left home to begin the next stage of his life when he entered college.
I remembered feeling sad that day as I drove him to his dormitory because I knew my son was leaving home and would never really return except for occasional holiday and vacation visits. As it did somewhat when he left for college, my role would change again. He now had a wife and would never again need me in the same way. It was a bittersweet thought as tears of joys washed down my cheeks.
As he stood hand in hand with his bride, I knew that he was embarking on his greatest life cycle. He was about to join with another in life?’s work and pleasure, in its happiness and sadness. Hopefully, they would also join in its reproduction. It brought a smile to my face as I thought of the prospect...perhaps I would become a grandparent someday which would bring even more pleasure and joy into my life.
That joy was augmented as I looked around the room at family and friends who had gathered for this festive ocassion. I?’m sure it cleansed and opened my arteries, improved circulation and strengthened my cardiac muscle. The swelling in my chest must have been joys affect on my heart. The pride and love I felt had to have had an extremely positive effect on that most vital of all human organs.
My son was joining a bigger world, a world of enhanced responsibility and commitment. Again I smiled to myself as I remembered our walk down the beach a week before his marriage and our talk about his past, how life was going to change and his future now lay with him and his bride.
At this holiday season, we should all make a resolution to find and celebrate joy in our lives as often as possible. Because, as the saying goes, while joy may not add years to our life, it certainly seems to add life to our years.
(Frank H. Boehm, MD is a professor of OB/GYN and Director of OB at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, TN. He can be reached at his web site http://dr-boehm.com. Dr. Boehm resides in Boca).