It’s springtime: time for love, no matter your age, stage or situation!
In spring, when tender, green shoots and tiny flower buds appear with a promise of re-birth and renewal, the whole world sings of love. Seize the moment and give the world a big bear hug! There’s serious evidence that shows your generous impulse will make you feel better and live longer.
Do you need concrete science for proof? How about scientific evidence from measurable data reported in an expansive, 50-year study? Consider the work of Case Western Reserve University’s Institute for Research on Unlimited Love (Institute Official Site). Researchers documented and reported on a decades-long study that shows that high school students who were considered giving had better physical and mental health in later life. According to Dr. Steven Post, president of the Institute, “Charity in high school leads to better physical and mental health in late adulthood. We’ve known about the impact on mental health, but the data on physical health is relatively new and could only have been produced from long-term studies.”
Have some fun with this! Let me suggest a good read and a quick and interesting quiz for you to take on love and longevity; they’re from the same source, Why Good Things Happen to Good People by Dr. Post and Jill Neimark (2007). The authors provide a summary of the new scientific data on the life-enhancing benefits of caring, compassion and kindness. When we love our neighbors as ourselves and give generously of our time, toil and talents, “everything from life satisfaction to self-realization to physical health is improved” (2007). We live longer, are less likely to be depressed or anxious, express a sense of general well-being and actually are more likely to experience good fortune.
Take the online quiz, adapted from The Love and Longevity Scale, to rate yourself on ten different giving behaviors. You can use it as a benchmark to determine whether you need to weave more generous behavior into your life and become a happier, healthier person or whether you’re always in “The Spring of Life,” a Lover of Humankind. Here’s the link: Love and Longevity Quiz
Spring has sprung, My Friend: Seize the Day! You’ll feel better and live longer.
Happily Yours,
Dr Mell
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Post, S & Neimark, J (2007). Why good things happen to good people: The exciting new research that proves the link between doing good and living a longer, healthier, happier life. New York: Broadway Books/Random House.
