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“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
— Albert Einstein
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Common Sense
The Progress
Editorial
March 24,2022
From the Staff
What makes a good life?
Social connections at age 50 better at
determining longevity than our mid-life
cholesterol levels, study says
Have you ever seen those Life is Good t-
shirts with the sandal-wearing stick figure sit
ting on a chair playing a guitar, or relaxing in
an adirondack chair by a fire, or hanging out
camping, canoeing, or riding a bike? If so,
you probably think that happiness comes
from participating in cool hobbies.
But what exactly makes a good life? If
you ask millennials, you might think it’s to
get rich (80% say) or become famous (50%
say). But, according to the Harvard Study of
Adult Development which tracked the lives
of 724 men for over 75 years, happiness and
longevity come not from getting rich or fa
mous. If you want a happy life which, in turn,
often leads to a long-lived life, you should
focus on our relationships with family,
friends and community.
“The clearest message was “good relation
ships keep us happier and healthier. Period,”
said Robert Waldinger, the current director of
the Harvard Study. People who were most
satisfied in their relationships at age 50 were
the healthiest at age 80.
Social connections are really good for us
and lonelinesss kills. After tracking the men
(some students at Harvard and other from
disadvantaged homes in Boston) for almost
eight decades, it turns out that people who are
more socially connected to family, to friends,
and to community are happier. They’re phys
ically healthier and they live longer than peo
ple who are less well connected. People who
are more isolated find that they are less
happy, their health declines earlier in midlife
and their brain function declines sooner.
Lonely people generally lead shorter, less
happy lives than people with friends. Fair?
Hardly, but you’ll need to take up your argu
ment with the universe.
We all know people can be lonely in a
crowd, lonely in a marriage. And it’s not the
number of friends we have or whether or not
we are in a committed relationship, because
it’s the quality of our close relationships that
matter, the study tells us. High-conflict mar
riages and family relationships are bad for
our health.
According to Waldinger, when the study
looked at the men at age 50 “it wasn’t their
midlife cholesterol levels that determined
their longevity, it was how satisfied they were
in their relationships.”
In addition to longevity, good relation
ships don’t just protect our bodies, they pro
tect our brains, too. Waldinger, in a Ted Talk,
pointed out that “being in a securely attached
relationship to another person in your 80s is
protective. People who are in relationships
where they feel really protected and can re
ally can count on someone, those people’s
memories stay sharper longer.”
Close relationships are good for our health
and well-being. Relationships may be messy
and complicated and the hard work of tend
ing to family and friends isn’t glamourous,
but they are essential for a good, happy and
healthy life.
People who retire need to replace work
mates with new playmates. And we all should
try and replace screen time with people time.
Do something new with old friends. Or do
something old with new friends.
A good life is built with good relationships
and while good genes are nice, joy is better.
Embracing community helps us live longer,
and be happier.
“The surprising finding is that our rela
tionships and how happy we are in our rela
tionships has a powerful influence on our
health,” Waldinger said. “Taking care of your
body is important, but tending to your rela
tionships is a form of self-care too. That, I
think, is the revelation.”
One point to potential naysayers: Making
lifelong friends can be tricky. Adults of all
ages, from straight out of high school to those
in assisted living homes, can find themselves
isolated by twists of fate as common as a
change in work hours or residential choices.
But in Pickens County there are numerous
church, civic groups and opportunities to vol
unteers where you can form connections.
You may find that showing up at an Opti
mist or Lions’ Club meeting (see monthly
calendar the first two editions of every
month) or a church activity (Church Page 3B)
opens the door for a meaningful conversation
with other people.
We understand there are myriad of factors
that leave people alone and lonely and simply
telling someone to join the recreation depart
ment’s pickle ball league doesn’t work for all.
But you can be sure a little face-to-face time
is healthier than trolling social media, hoping
unknown people give stupid thumbs-up sym
bols to something you said.
We’re not saying don’t worry about your
cholesterol, but if you want to live well into
your 80s and beyond, make sure you focus
on family, friends and community now.
Tell us your thoughts with a letter to the editor. E-mail to news@pickensprogress.com
See letter submission guidelines on the Letters to the Editor page or call us 706-253-2457.
Hugh Pendley unsupervised
with a word processor
Oscar
Nations
When I was in the third grade
(c. 1963) Oscar Nations and his
wife moved in to the house next
door. They said Mr. Nations had
retired from the Anny having
served 29 years. Since “COM
BAT!” was my favorite TV pro
gram I felt sure the neighbor
must have been an officer in the
infantry. This was something dif
ferent, having a professional sol
dier as a neighbor.
Mother had the idea of send
ing his wife some milk and but
ter and had me tote it down the
hill to Mrs. Nations. I crept up
to the screened in porch,
knocked and went in.
Sure enough, there sat the re
tired soldier sharpening what
looked to me like a sword. No
telling how many heads he'd
hacked off with that very grim
instrument. I asked, shakily,
“Wh-What's that?”
He answered so fast it
sounded like one word, “It-is-a -
machete.” I was not accustomed
to someone talking fast... I fig
ured a foreign sword would be
more dangerous than a mere
American sword.
If he had only known, he
could have held it up, twirled it
around and screamed, I would
have fled in terror. It's one thing
to get shot at - they could miss
- getting whacked with a sword
is a whole different ball game.
Come to find out, this was all
unfounded. He was the real Col.
Potter (from M*A*S*H), as in
he had served as the administra
tor of a military hospital. He was
a friendly, agreeable fellow from
North Carolina. He had joined
the Army as a private and retired
as a Lieutenant Colonel.
His wife would give me the
“green sheets” from the Atlanta
paper that had the TV listings for
the week. She got a TV Guide.
She complimented mother on
how good the butter was. Mom
had a wood mold she squeezed
it in. It formed little designs
since the mold had carvings on
it. The butter was rich as dad al
ways kept a Jersey cow. He said
they had the best quality milk
but a Holstein would make a lot
more.
One summer night Mrs. Na
tions helped us string green
beans and stayed late. She re
galed us with stories of traveling
the world over with her husband.
She had my brother and I ac
company her home late that
night. When we arrived, she
drew a Colt .45 revolver and
looked under every bed in the
house... if she'd found an in
trader it would not have ended
well for them...
I miss neighbors interacting
that way. No time for it now -
got to be in a hurry.
(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main Street, Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457
www.pickensprogressonline.com
DAN POOL
Publisher/Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper, Pickens County, Georgia.
Entered at the Post Office at Jasper, Georgia 30143
as Mail Matter of Second Class.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS, 94 N. Main St., Jasper, GA 30143.
One Year Subscription: $41.17 for residents of Pickens County
or the cities of Ball Ground, Fairmount, and Ranger;
$52.30 for all other Georgia residents; $62.32 out of state residents.
[Hugh Pendley is a native of
Pickens County who occasion
ally contributes to the Progress.]
Spot an
error?
Let our
editor hear about it.
dpool@pickensprogress .com
706-253-2457
#lbe ^>cf)ool
Other Voices
My War
By Jim Brescia
March 29 is National Viet
nam War Veterans Day. I
have always thought of Viet
nam as “my war”. I believe
that every Veteran who has
been in combat, thinks of the
war they fought in as “my
war.”
When Veterans get to
gether, they will vigorously
taunt and tease each other
about the branch of service in
which they served. But I
have never heard a combat
Veteran claim, even in jest,
that their war was worse than
another Veteran’s war. I be
lieve that every Veteran who
has been in combat realizes
that all war is a brutal, sav
age, inhumane endeavor.
The climate, geography and
weapons change but the stark
brutality is consistent.
You can be killed in a
trench or by an IED or incin
erated by a bomb. Death and
suffering are all around you.
You see civilians suffering
and dying just because they
happen to be in the wrong
place at the wrong time.
Combatants struggle to
make sense of it all but at
some point, they realize that
no matter how much they try
to stay alive, to some degree,
it is out of their hands. If the
enemy pops up from out of a
hole and you are the first per
son they see, you are proba
bly dead. The people you
love and the things you enjoy
doing are all instantly taken
from you. I do not know
anyone who looks forward to
“shuffling off this mortal
coil”.
So, I have some under
standing of the results of a re
cent Quinnipiac University
survey that asked: If a foreign
enemy invaded the United
States, would you do, stay
and fight or flee the country?
The results:
• Overall 55% fight; 38%
leave;
• Republicans 68%; fight
25% leave;
• Democrats 40% fight; 52%
leave;
• Independents 57%; fight
36% leave;
• 50-64 year olds; 66% fight
28% leave;
• 18-34 year olds 45% fight;
48% leave
The talking heads on TV
will earn enough money to
buy a summer home by dis
cussing the implications and
nuances of the above num
bers. But I have a very basic
question: Where are the
“Leavers” going to? To the
south into the drug cartel
wars? To the north where
they can be “Trudeau’ed”?
Do they think those who
fought to defeat the invaders
will hand over everything
they fought for to those who
fled? Or, in the unthinkable
alternative, do they want to
wait it out and return to a dic
tatorship?
The thing that bothers me
the most about the “Leavers”
is that they apparently do not
value this country very
highly.
They do not think that this
great experiment in freedom
has more good than bad in it.
Or at least, they do not think
this country is worth fighting
for. The easy reaction is to
urge them to avoid the last-
minute rush and leave now.
But I do not want to damn
even the “Leavers” to a life
without the freedoms and
rights available to those of us
living in this, the greatest
country in the world. Stay
and help us make it better! If
it becomes necessary, make
an effort to make the fight for
our homes “Our War”!
And perhaps most impor
tantly, don’t try to take the
guns away from those of us
who will unflinchingly fight
to defend our homeland.
[Jim Brescia is a regular
contributor to the Progress.
He is involved in several vet
eran groups in the Jasper
area.]
WEATHER
By William Dilbeck
HI LOW RAIN
March
15
60
47
.48
March
16
58
49
.00
March
17
69
49
.00
March
18
56
50
.53
March
19
58
37
.00
March
20
63
39
.00
March
21
67
38
.00
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