There’s a loneliness crisis in the world. Although we’re more connected, we’re more alone as we live within our screens. Loneliness can be felt even in the presence of others when our digital devices distract us or capture our attention. We can be alone together.
Reports say that 40% of Americans say they are lonely. Men in particular struggle with building and maintain close meaningful friendships. Woman have an innate ability to prioritize and nurture close friends. Loneliness and a lack of close friends is the number one predictor of early death. Those with cancer are more likely to recover if they have close friends around them. And it’s why woman typically out live men by 7 years.
Susan Pinker researched what the longest living people in the world did by going to one of the Blue Zones: Sardinia. There she discovered men and women lived about the same length of time. It’s the only place in the world this was so. What she found was the key was not what they ate but the close knit connections they had. From family to friends, people always had someone around. They lived in close proximity to another and looked out for each other. It is these tight social bonds that impacted longevity the most. Not obesity. Not exercise.
It’s even more important to create meaningful connections in the face of the pandemic we’re experiencing now which provokes anxiety as it upends the life we so often take for granted.
I’m on a mission to nurture quality friendships. And help others do the same. Who doesn’t need that now?