To Be Happier, Invest More in Your Relationships
We are a social species. It’s our nature, and we can’t live our lives without interactions. Ultimately, other people play a crucial role in our happiness.There is a ton of research suggesting that social connections make people happier. Not only do satisfying relationships make us happy, they also seem to give us a shot at better health and even longer life.
Our whole life and so much of our emotional wellbeing is made up from our relationships.
Our biggest relationship is with our self, that voice and observer in our head. But there are so many types of relationships that us “social creatures” have.
Partners, children, family members (mom, dad, grandparents, siblings, in-laws, etc…), friends, bosses, relationships with folks at work, at church, at school – there is a big list.
We are literally always dealing with relations and anyone of these can bring a smile to our face or a frown at a moment’s notice!
Why do we have these relationships? Because, as human beings we are designed to do this. We are neurologically and chemically (think hormones) made to be in relationship with ourselves, our partners, friends, community and life.
Go ahead and Google :
“The Benefits of Healthy Relationships”
Studies show that when we’re involved in Positive committed Loving Relationships:
- We are happier and more positive
- We Live Longer – Have reduced stress and take better care of ourselves
- We Heal More Quickly – Have support and care from our partner and lower levels of Cortisol
- We Have Lower Blood Pressure – We feel more safe and secure, we’re calmer, more relaxed, and more active. All good for the heart
- We Have Stronger Immune Systems – more support and love produce more Oxytocin and we’re less likely to be impacted by the effects of stress, anxiety, and depression.
- We Have Healthier Habits – Do things together. Our partners encourage and support us to take good care of ourselves and to honor our exercise and/or diet resolutions
- We Have Stronger Hearts – Physical intimacy gives your heart a good workout and your brain releases Adrenaline, Dopamine, and norepinephrine, all causing your heart to beat faster
- We Feel Less Pain – the connection and love cause us to do things we never thought we could or would for our love, our partner’s benefit.
- We Have Greater Sense of Purpose – we are committed to loving our partner, to making it work, to making a difference for someone else, and creating something together. All of this gives us a sense of well-being, feeling valuable, and of purpose can add years to your life and reduce your mortality risk.
Here’s the Problem
The negatives of Un-healthy Relationships give us the opposite of the benefits and can make us literally physically and emotionally sick and can take us a long time to recover from. They are toxic and damaging and are of no service. But the problem is that sometimes we get stuck in our patterns, repeating the same things over and over again.
Healthy relationships take work. Breaking patterns takes work.
So how do you have and get the benefits from Healthy Relationships?
I’m pretty sure that you, like most of us try to work at having a good life. You invest in yourself with time and money. You probably give time to working out, eating smarter, taking supplements, learning, going to the dentist and doctor for checkups, and have spent money to be with or find your partner. Whew, that was a mouthful…
Like anything else you want to be good at you have to invest in learning about it. Do you make time for and invest in learning what a great relationship looks and feels like, what the components of it are, and how to have and create the relationship you love?
There are a lot of books and courses available to teach you how to create the relationship you love. But sometimes what you need is someone to help you over some some hurdles.
Sometimes you need a coach.
That’s the punchline of this blog post. If you want a great relationship, it’s worth it and it’s possible. You just need to start doing the work to make it happen.
I offer my services as an expert transformational life coaches that quickly and efficiently provides the training, practice, and experience to create a great 5 Star relationship. I believe and have seen with my many clients that investing in learning about yourself and how to have a great relationship has the greatest Happiness and love ROI (Return ON Investment). Once you get it, you have it for the rest of your life.
