1.0 link 110520 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/02/the-happiness-factor_n_110520.html Joie de vivre. We all know people whose engagement with life can only be described as joyful. Fittingly, nature rewards these happy-go-lucky types: Being optimistic in middle age increases life span by at least 7.5 years--even after accounting for age, gender, socioeconomic status, and physical health, according to a large Yale University survey. What's behind their hardiness: They minimize the destructive effects of stress. "Of course, optimists get stressed," says David Snowdon, a professor of neurology at the...

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