“Secret to Live Longer”, this thought keeps coming to most of our minds as we age and mature in our lives. Well why not, say it our survival instincts or whatever we all want to Live Long and Happy.
So what is the secret? There is no secret recipe to it but there are certain things which definitely add to our lives. Clean eating, exercising, healthy lifestyle is one aspect of it, there is something equally important which we miss nowadays. That is Mental health which we seem to ignore many times, and for mental health our Social relationship plays a very important role. Though we are socially very active these days in Virtual digital world but in Real tangible world we often run out of people to talk to.
We all feel self sufficient when it comes to fulfillment of daily needs that it seems redundant to connect with people around us. When was the last time you made an attempt to talk to that uncle/aunty who come for evening walk in your apartment, to the person standing near you at the billing counter, people in Lift, neighbours who are reluctant to talk, your house maid beside work and likewise. It is not only We who are in this mode of Social interaction, same is case with most of the people around us. This mutual deterrent for interacting with each other lead to isolation.
I still remember the Punjabi aunty in my childhood neighbourhood who was always seen in any social gatherings in our society. That’s another story we kids used to run away from her for enormous questions she asked. But somehow she was always happy, chirpy and fresh. I am sure she also had her share of work at home with kids, husband, health but she made her choice to be active socially and be happy.
Here an interesting piece of research on same line by Psychologist Susan Pinker. She studied people on The Italian island of Sardinia, which has more than six times as many centenarians as the mainland and ten times as many as North America. Susan Pinker states “it’s not a sunny disposition or a low-fat, gluten-free diet that keeps the islanders healthy — it’s their emphasis on close personal relationships and face-to-face interactions. Check our her TED talk where she talks about super longevity and what it takes to live to 100 and beyond.
Do you think it is worth building Social Interaction to live a Long Life?
Image courtesy: Savonix
Very true