This is my 500th post…a bit of a marker for me on this cold dreary wet October morning. That’s kind of a big deal. When I was finishing high school, I did one of those “career aptitude” tests. It suggested that my top options were to be a nurse or a nun. The latter seemed somewhat farfetched, seeing as I am not Catholic! The bottom, most-least-likely profession I was suited for was “journalist”. That was a no-brainer, because I hated writing papers for school.
I remember my last paper in my undergrad degree, pulling the last typewritten page out of my typewriter with a flourish. I knew this was the very last paper I would ever write. It was with huge huge relief and satisfaction that I was done.
As proof that God has a sense of humour, I chose to start graduate work about three years later. I still told myself it was about the learning, and the writing was a necessary evil.
And now, since the fall of 2008, I have written five hundred entries…five hundred. Wow. In addition, I have studied for and written for presentations to groups, churches, and the classroom…and even wrote a paper for a conference.
I see all the writing rather like eating brussel sprouts…I may not always like it in the moment, but afterwards, I celebrate because of how good it feels to do something that is good for me, and increases my own personal sense of wellbeing. Writing makes me think and ponder and learn and grow…and that helps me be a better person.
As I was contemplating the content for this 500th post, I realized that the next in the series of five life lessons from the latest issue of Psychology Today was a complete and total natural fit.
The work at Conexus Counselling is all about connection…recognizing how significant the value is of being valued and accepted by another. We are created as social beings…we require nutrition, hydration, sunlight, and social contact with others to sustain life…and when we enhance the quality of those connections, we are healthier, more productive, enriched folk.
We are physically healthier when we have rich and meaningful social relationships…note that this does not mean having more “friends” on Facebook that one doesn’t see or actually know…these are people that we laugh with, eat with, play with, visit with, and maybe even say good bye with a hug. Our immunity is better, our cardiovascular health is better. It’s hard on our bodies to be lonely.
Julianne Holt-Lunstad collected data from 148 previous studies looking at the relationship between health and human interaction. What she found was startling:
People with active social lives were 50 percent less likely to die of any cause than their nonsocial counterparts.
- feel better
- smile more
- have greater energy
- feel more productive
- are more at peace
- feel loved
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