Researchers found that adults who were “divorced, widowed or never married” were 42% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease and 16% more likely to develop coronary artery disease than married subjects. This new report used data from 34 science studies and involved more than two million people.
There are more factors, that also predict heart disease. There are and some of them relate to how many friends you have and other social factors. Some of the most interesting observations came from a town called Roseto (population: 1.600), a town in Eastern Pennsylvania, settled by immigrants from southern Italy in the 1880s. For decades, the people of Roseto were able to protect their traditions and lifestyles from the old country. In the 1950s, the town began to gain notoriety when it was reported that deaths due to heart disease were dramatically lower than neighbouring towns that were more typically “American.” Read more here.
People tend to have an ‘inherent’ desire to belong and be. The term “belonging” has various meanings. Two major meanings are “possession” and “acceptance as a natural part.” Possessing implies ownership and control. In the sense of being accepted as a natural part, it makes romantic sense.
Possession
Introducing possession in human history had a huge effect on our relationship with nature. For almost half of human history, our ancestors moved as hunter-gatherers leaving only trace signs of their lives. Family of hunter-gatherers were able to support one or two children at best, farmers with private lands could produce several children. Hunter-gatherers also followed a tribal system, but scarcity and the uncertainty of life meant that a tribe could only support two or three extended families. In return for the sacrifice of familiarity, people living in these small societies gained the safety of numbers towards the natural and human risks. Ownership now a days is the basis of all trade, commerce, investment and in a lot of cases for personal relationships and our way of seeing nature.
This feeling of ownership in our relationship with nature is having a tremendous catastrophic effect.
We don´t own life, so can we really own?
You can´t own a soul as it is free, so what does that mean in our relationships with others?
Where can we find that balance point where we can belong to something without possessing?
Where can we have the peak experience of life, having a feeling of complete belonging to nature (and each other)
Safety
In our evolution we moved towards a place of living together in huge cities trying to find safety and belonging in our properties. I was born in a little village in Holland where people would know each other. Walking and biking towards school alone from 6 years old. Exploring and challenging the existing rules together with my friends wandering around in the city and the natural surroundings. That has changed now. Literally we all live closer to each other but do we experience safety and connection?
How much connection and belonging did we really create?
How much you feel connected to the community of people around you?
How safe do you feel?
Take the challenge to fall in love with life
Risk is inherent to life. In our work in nature as guides we are always looking for a peak experience, finding a balance between risk and challenge to give people the maximum amount of learning experience and feeling present in life. We cannot possess this experience as it would take away all the intrinsic value of challenge. The ´product` of such a peak experience are emotions that feed the heart, feelings of belonging to the moment, feelings of growth and connection to life and if shared with others giving it meaning and multiplied infinitely through our interconnection.
To create such a peak experience, we need to leave our comfort zone, the known. And to welcome the new, we must leave the old behind.
To truly fall in love with life we need to take risks, embracing the challenge and having a natural relationship with life as a playful game of conscious decision taking…what else if not?
Our heart is always connecting, but where we take our attention in this process of emitting and receiving depends on our beliefs.
So now…. imagine falling in love with life itself, knowing and experimenting we belong to each other, to nature and to the now!
Imagine our relationship with nature (ourselves) now!
Imagine the power you ignite in your heart!
