Happy Free Thoughts Thursday, people!

Buckle up, there's a lot in this week's letter.

It's my favorite one so far.

3 Things I’ve Learned:

1. Spending time in nature improves your physical and mental health.

Exposure to nature—even urban nature, like a city park—has been linked to increased attention, lower stress, better mood, increased sense of purpose, better social interactions, and even increased happiness and subjective well-being.

This is more important now than ever before as the average person spends roughly 10 hours and 39 minutes looking at a screen each day.

Go for a walk. Leave your phone at home. You won't regret it.

Credit: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/04/nurtured-nature; https://sites.psu.edu/ist110pursel/2018/02/21/americans-devout-more-than-10-hours-a-day-to-screen-time-and-growing/

2. Having shared interests helps couples remain married.

64% of married couples cited having shared interests as a major factor contributing to the success of their relationship.

61% cited having a satisfying sexual relationship as a major factor.

56% cited sharing household chores as a major factor.

Love is work, people!

Share experiences you both enjoy, have great sex and play some music while you wash the dishes and take out the trash!

Problem solved. Raising kids is the easy part, right?

Credit: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/02/13/8-facts-about-love-and-marriage/

3. Your brain continues to develop throughout your entire life.

Researchers call this "neuroplasticity."

As you learn something new, your brain forms new neural pathways to account for this new knowledge or skill.

The more you refer to the knowledge or practice the skill, the stronger and more efficient those neural pathways become (this also works in reverse—the less you utilize the pathways, the weaker they become).

It's almost as if learning is kind of like working out for your brain.

So long as you keep on learning, your brain will keep on developing.

Credit: https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/learning-rewires-brain

2 Questions for You:

1. How many hours a day do you spend on social media? How much will that add up to throughout your life?
2. Who is someone that you're grateful for? Have you told them recently?

1 Quote:

"You can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-worn path, and that will make all the difference."—Steve Jobs, 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech

I came to a small coffee shop up the street from where I live to write this week's newsletter and as I sat down a couple in their late sixties struck up a conversation with me.

Their names were Mary and Dan and they were in town from New York to see their daughter play Shelby in Steel Magnolias which is being shown at a theater nearby.

They were kind and had a great sense of humor. We talked about life, work, family, and how when you get to their age you just want to talk to everybody.

Finally, during a pause in our conversation, Mary looked up at the only TV in the shop which was running the news.

"It's always something," Mary said. "That much has never changed."

She told me to always stay optimistic, despite what the media might say, and explained how her mother grew up during the Great Depression. For Christmas one year, she said, her mom got but a single gift: an orange.

"And she was elated. They never felt poor. They simply did the best they could."

And that's as true now as it was during the Great Depression. Regardless of what we're faced with now or in the future, all we can do is our very best.

Mary's mom made it through the challenges of her time, Mary made it through the challenges of hers, and we'll make it through the challenges of ours.

No matter what... life goes on.

"We should go. She could talk all night," Dan said to me as he stood up and Mary asked if I had a girlfriend.

Live your life to the fullest,

Chris

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