How do our choices influence our health and well-being in the future? This is a question which a team of scientists from the Harvard Study of Adult Development asked and answered.
Here’s what the scientists from Harvard found out:
1. Happy child, happy adult
Our childhood and the relationships that define it have a great influence on the way we form and maintain relationships later in life. The happier the childhood, the more secure relationships we will form, which in return will determine our physical and mental health.
2. Not a happy child? You can make sure that there’s one in your life later on
If we were not lucky enough to grow up in a happy environment, not everything is lost. Adults who engage in generative behavior are happier and better adjusted than those who don’t. Generativity means establishing relationships with the next generation, either by raising children or guiding younger adults.
3. Coping with stress is essential
Stress and anxiety are parts of life and the only thing we can change about that is how we cope with them. People who adopted methods like sublimation, altruism or suppression reap the fruits later in life. They are easier to be around, which determines people to help and support them and therefore they age better.
4. Time spent with others makes old age tolerable
If you like spending time with other people and consider it time well spent, here’s the good news. This is not only a temporary fix, but it also has long- term effects. Time spent with loved ones makes the physical and mental pains of ageing more tolerable.
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