Microblog: What Makes People Live Longer, Healthy, and Happy?
In an 80-year-long Harvard study, they found the secret sauce to better physical and mental health.
❓What makes people live longer, be healthy, and happy?
It’s not nutrition.
It’s connection and the joy from these connections.
📖The study showed that the role of genetics and long-lived ancestors proved LESS important to longevity than the level of satisfaction with RELATIONSHIPS in midlife, a good predictor of healthy aging.
🧠“Good relationships don’t just protect our bodies, they protect our brains.” (Waldinger-TED talk).
👥“And those good relationships, they don’t have to be smooth all the time… but as long as they felt they could count on the other when the going got tough, those arguments didn’t take a toll on their memories.”
🥩Of course, nutrition plays a role in wellness but joy and connection is just as important.
💡If diet alone isn’t improving your health, look further.
There are 6 FACTORS that predict healthy aging for the Harvard men studies:
🏋🏻♀️Physical Activity
🥃Absence of Alcohol Abuse
🚬Absence of Smoking
🎢Having Mature Mechanisms to Cope with Life’s Ups and Downs
⚖️Maintaining a Healthy Weight
👫🏻Maintaining a Stable Marriage (Relationships)
Source: Aging Well by Vaillant
🔴News and social media outlets are riddled with negativity. I completely stopped watching the news.
🔅It’s one way I protect my heart.
🔅It’s one way I can be a better wife and mother.
☠️The news outlets sell fear. Fear sells. FOMO sells.
🤕When we focus on fears, we are debilitated and become dependent on the next news source that “HOPEfully” brings solutions.
Our bodies get into a chronic fight/flight mode of stress.
🥀This is no way to live.
🥀Because fear robs us of joy.
🥀Fear robs of connection.
⛑And for the last 1.5 years, I turned off the news and chose to focus that time and energy into my faith, family, and this community.
🌟Being in the know is nice but enJOYing life daily is even better.
🌟Tomorrow is not promised. Make today count.
🌈And I choose my faith, family, meat and this community.
ps. Thank you @leannevogel for the courage ♥️