Good Morning: Friendships offer up a healthy lifestyle for longevity

Humans have always relied on friendships to get through life, and it is no secret that loneliness can be detrimental to a person’s health. For many people a quest for better health is spent trying to find the right doctor, self-help book or pill.

Sure, I have seen a good doctor in my day, and worked out at the gym, but what really keeps me healthy is my many friendships. I can go as far back as my oldest friend, Mae Hoffman, with whom I grew up in Apple River. It happened that Mae and I are the same age, and she grew up next to where my grandmother lived. We have been friends since we could walk. We got each other through the teen years, and now she lives in Minnesota with her husband. Our friendship has stood the test of time, and I count her as part of my healthy lifestyle of friendships.

I watched a segment on television one morning that spoke of how close bonds with friends can add years to your life. This was based on a book written by Barbara Bradley Haggerty, called “Life Reimagined: The Science, Art, and Opportunity of Midlife.” The reporter on the segment said that Haggerty writes in her book that the lack of social friends can shorten a person’s life. In this report it equates it to being as unhealthy as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. I’ll go along with this.

As a single woman with her two dogs, I love my alone time, but what means more to me is my socialization with friends and acquaintances. I love a hearty laugh among friends as we imbibe in a few drinks, and I love the quick hellos of those I meet at the local watering holes.

I have not read Haggerty’s book, but I like two words in the title, “Life Reimagined.” Growing up, I think we all imagine what life will be like, and the reality of aging sometimes proves us wrong. But the beauty is that if we do things right, we can rethink, evolve and, through friendships, live a quality of life that God intends.

It reminds me of a conversation I had just the other day with my good friend Kim Boldt. Kim and I speak by phone most days. Most of the time it is a quick, "Hello, how are your allergies," and we never hang up without saying the words “love ya.” She and I spoke of the importance of socialization. Both of us agree that it is important. Friendship is a beautiful thing.

Some people need the socialization of friends to make it through life. Others are fine with solitude after a long day at work. The beauty of life and lifestyle is that it is individual. What works for some may not be the same prescription for others, but what it comes down to is that, as human beings, we need interaction with others to survive, and from what I have learned with the aging process is that my friends keep me healthier.

Not one to need a self-help book, I think I just may pick up a copy of Haggerty’s book. The topic sounds interesting, but I don’t need an author to tell me something that I already know. Friendships are the key to life, and being social is good for the heart and head. The love of friendships is also good for the circulation of the soul.

Correspondent Jane Lethlean can be reached at jlethlean1210@gmail.com.