It’s long been presumed that one of the keys to a long and healthy life is to be happy. Happiness is what many say is the key to life, the thing that we should all be striving for more than anything else, and that if we achieve it, our life purpose will be realized.

Now, nobody is arguing against the satisfying properties of happiness, nor is anyone saying we should not strive to achieve it, but there is some science suggesting that simply being happy is not enough to aid in longevity. It turns out that mood doesn’t have much of an impact, especially when compared to exercise or diet. Youth Health Mag has more:

Compared to happy people (or those who answered usually or most of the time in the questionnaires), those who believed they were unhappy (whose answers to the questionnaire might have been sometimes or rarely/never) were almost 30% likely to die if their age was considered.

However, the researchers discovered an interesting perspective: these unhappy people also had poor health to begin with. Thus, when their health status was considered, the difference to between happiness and unhappiness among the participants is almost missing.

So, if you feel particularly down in the dumps, don’t let it pull you down further by assuming it’s bad for your health. Times of sadness and grief might be just as important as those of joy, provided they come to an end. Check out the full post for more.

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