Researchers are finding that happiness is contagious. That might or might not come as a surprise to you, but apparently science has shown it to be true now.

People who are happy often spread that happiness to others. If a parent is happy, that spreads to his or her children, spouse, and other relatives whom he or she is close to. That’s not all that the scientists discovered, though. They also found that this happiness may have more of an affect than previously thought. If you’re happy, the people closest to you can catch that. The good news is they can also take that with them, and they will pass it on to the people who they are closest to like their friends, their family members, and the people who they work with.

At this rate, there are three degrees of happiness, and could potentially be more, depending on how one looks at it. While one happy person can’t cheer up the planet, he or she can cheer up those close by, and those people can pass it on to others, who can also pass it on.

Every New Year people make countless resolutions, and every New Year most of them are broken in just a few days – some of them in just a few hours. Popular resolutions involve quitting smoking and getting a better job, but the number one New Year’s resolution again this year is weight loss.

Almost everyone, especially women, feel as though they should lose some weight. It might be five or ten pounds, or it might be much more than that, but it’s an important goal for a lot of people. It’s unfortunate that a lot of them won’t succeed. Their willpower might not be strong enough or they just might not be ready to make the kind of commitment necessary to lose weight.

For those who are ready, however, losing weight can be a significant goal in the New Year, and can make them look and feel much better than they did in years past. People who decide that they should lose weight in the New Year generally want to do so, and all they need to do is make the commitment for their health and their happiness.