No matter how much you might like spending time on your own, we all have a longing to be part of something bigger than ourselves. It's a place of belonging. Some of us are born into this atmosphere while others actively need to reach out and create it for themselves.
Dr. Dean Ornish, pioneer in reversing heart disease naturally, found that it's not only diet and exercise that matter in health, it's also love, support, and community. But you knew that on some level. Take a look at your experience, those times when you've surrounded yourself with even one person that is helpful to you, you felt better. When you feel better, you make healthier choices. Those choices then feed into both short and long term well-being. It's a domino effect.
We all have different ways that help us feel part of a community. Here are a few of mine:
♥ When someone smiles, asks how my day is going, and is genuinely interested in the answer. Yes, even the grocery store clerk.
♥ When I'm walking down the street and someone calls out my name.
♥ When driving, people in other cars let me go ahead of them or wave back to me as a thanks when I let them go ahead.
And that's just a starting point. There's so much more that affirms how connected and supported I am. Like I said before, it's all about relationships. How about you? What makes you feel part of a community?
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