Day #1 – Spend Time With Someone You Love
Are you ready for Day 1 of the I’m Too Busy to Take Care of Myself Challenge?
Challenge #1 – Spend Time with Someone You Love
“Hey wait,” you may be thinking, “I thought this was a challenge to take care of myself. Why is the first challenge to spend time with someone else?” Spending time with someone you love actually has health benefits for both parties (whether it’s a mate, child, friend or loved pet.)
- Good friends help you live longer. According to an Australian study conducted by the Centre for Ageing Studies at Flinders University that followed people aged 70 and older over a span of 10 years, those with the largest network of friends outlived those with the fewest friends by 22%. (Source: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.) Good friends cheer you up when you are down and remind you to lead a healthy lifestyle too.
- Hugs from someone you love reduces stress. A study by the University of North Carolina found a hug from someone you love helps release oxytocin, a hormone that can lower blood pressure and reduce stress hormones. No wonder they feel so good! (Source: UNC – Research)
- Spending quality time with loved ones improves heart health. From lowering cholesterol levels to making your ticker beat faster and stronger, multiple studies have found that hanging out with loved ones is good for your heart. (Source: 7 Reasons Love is Good for Your Heart.)
Yes, there are health benefits to hanging with your fam and friends, but here’s another reason: you enjoy their company! Yet despite all these benefits, often, we are so busy we tend to take our loved ones for granted, assuming that we will always have time “later” to focus on them. But “later” is guaranteed to no one, so why not take time today and spend it with someone you love?
When was the last time you hung out with your kids without checking your phone for messages, answering emails from work, or telling them you had to finish something else first? When was the last time you called your favorite aunt to tell her what was going on in your life? Or to ask about hers? When was the last time you spoke to your spouse about your dreams?
Today I spent time with my seven-year-old, Rylee. She’s quiet and keeps herself entertained with books and computer games, so I felt like I’ve been spending more time with my five-year-old son, who gets into everything, or taking care of my mother and her health issues than my daughter as of late.
I was doing research for this blog post (trying to document the health benefits of hugs and such) when she asked me to play. Normally I’d try to put her off for 20 minutes so I could finish my post, but today I prioritized her wants. We played chess, only we used her rules for the game, which is to say she made up new rules, and then it turned into the chess pieces talking in silly voices and doing little dances on the side of the board. We were laughing and I took time to really listen to her talk about her day. It felt good, cost nothing, and made her feel more important than a blog post (because she is.) That’s a win for everyone.
How about you? Did you take the challenge? Did you spend time with someone you love?
Lisa 
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