As you read that title, you may immediately pull up images of people that contribute to your happiness, as well as those who don’t. You may think of how well you get along with certain friends or where you clash with siblings (or the other way around). But according to the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, “being around other people generally makes us feel better than being alone.”
The study reported that individuals enjoyed their time doing pleasant activities with friends more than doing chores with a spouse. But the report indicated this probably had more to do with the activity (pleasant ones as opposed to chores) than it did with the individuals time was spent with. When the activities were controlled, in the study, researchers discovered that “spending more time with a partner uniquely increased overall happiness and life satisfaction; the amount of time spent with others had no discernable impact on global well-being.”
The study went on to report that even though chores are typically not our favorite thing to participate in, even if we do so, with our mate, that combined with fun activities, increases our over all “sense of a life well-lived.”
So, my encouragement today is to make every effort to connect with your spouse in both the necessary items – cleaning, parenting, taking care of aging parents, and other challenging issues, as well as having plenty of fun and enjoyable times. Balancing those times is critical, and can pay off with huge emotional dividends. Have a great day!