HelpfulGardener.com

Or: How to have a bigger brain and, reduced anxiety.

Be kind.

The surprisingly easy way to reduce your anxiety https://wpo.st/Ed1T1

Steve

I find it surprisingly encouraging that we are in fact hard wired to be kind, altruistic, cooperative. We have a built in biological reward system that rewards us for kindness:

Helping others and doing random acts of kindness releases endorphins (endogenous opiates) in our brain that help us feel good, and can even mimic a “runner’s high.”

When you are kind to another person, your brain's pleasure and reward centers light up, as if you were the recipient of the good deed—not the giver, according to research from Emory University. This phenomenon has actually earned the nickname “helper's high” among psychologists who study generosity, and some researchers theorize that the sensation is also due to a release of endorphins, those feel-good chemicals associated with runner's high. It's no surprise then, that a 2010 Harvard Business School survey of happiness in 136 countries found that people who are altruistic—in this case, people who were generous financially, such as with charitable donations—were happiest overall.

Doing little acts of kindness and compassion is also contagious and inspires others to do the same.
https://www.happify.com/hd/the-power-of- ... -kindness/

Maybe, macho assertiveness isn't such a healthy thing. I've wondered if bitter old men aren't one of the reasons women live longer .

It is a little one-off as the opposite of kindness and I don't know how one measures egocentric bitterness but here is something that kind of answers questions on effects:

https://www.menshealth.com/guy-wisdom/let-go-grudge

Steve