Journaling for Longevity
A couple of weeks ago, my daughters and I surprised my sister big time for her 40th birthday. She lives in Colorado and we live in Portugal. Her husband surprised her with plane tickets and tickets to Universal Studios in Orlando. She was floored. But what he didn’t tell her was that my daughters and I were going to be in Orlando to meet them there. It was the surprise of a lifetime! The excitement and tears and hugs were beyond description.
My sister is my best friend. Getting to see her like that filled my bucket up in so many ways, it tears me up just thinking back on it.
And that got me thinking…
There’s so much buzz around longevity right now. Shows about the places where people live the longest. Books about how to stop your body from aging. Everybody’s trying to beat the clock.
The problem is, like anything to do with health, the information is across the board. “Oh, it’s definitely *fill in the blank* that makes you live longer.” “No, it’s absolutely *fill in a different blank.*” And of course, the things people are trying range from normal to extremely bizarre.
But, I’d argue that it’s much simpler than all of that. One thing that seems to be constant in the lives of people who live into their late 80s, 90s, or even beyond is community.
And not just community that puts their elders in a corner out of obligation at an event and goes about their time. No. These elders are respected and loved in their communities. They matter.
It’s gotten me thinking about just how important community is for all of us. We are social creatures after all. We’re born into a family and start day one off with people around us.
We go through phases worrying about how we’ll fit in. Will we be accepted? Will we be lonely? At our core, we want - and need, to matter to someone else.
And so, this week I invite you to think about the relationships in your own life. The connections that you’ve had in your past, what you currently have, and the ones you’re hoping to carry (or create) into your future.
As we all know, relationships come in all shapes and sizes. Romantic ones. Platonic ones. Goofy ones. Surface-level ones. Ridiculously deep ones. Flirty ones. Family ones. They all count. I encourage you to spend some time this week really thinking about the people in your life. Are your relationships fulfilling? Do you feel like you matter in your community? Will your friendships fill your proverbial bucket well into your 80s, 90s, or even beyond?
It’s food for thought…