make new friends, but keep the old

I am the absolute worst keeping in touch with people. My friends can attest. And when I make friends with someone who is like me with the friend communication, well it's just over.

While perusing the NYT at lunch (gah - why is it so cold outside? What happened to the 70 degree weather??), I came across an article about how having more friends will make you live longer. Forging stronger social connections for a longer life is the title and it's incredibly interesting. Basically it says as long as you are up and out, you will live a long and happy life no matter what you eat.  This is good news because I found out this morning that Chick-Fil-A will now have a food truck in DC. (Sidenote: If you find the truck stolen and a red head covered in chick-fil-a sauce roaming the streets, chicken fingers in hand screaming "as god as my witness I will never be hungry again", it's not me.)

Anyhow, part of the article talks about how being humble and not self involved also helps lead to a longer life.

"Mr. Robbins cites an illustrative study published in 1983 by Larry Scherwitz, then a psychologist at Baylor University, who taped the conversations of nearly 600 men, a third of them with heart disease. Dr. Scherwitz counted how often the men used first-person pronouns — I, me, mine — and found that those who used them most often were most likely to have heart disease and, when followed for several years, most likely to suffer heart attacks.



The psychologist advised: “Listen with regard when others talk. Give your time and energy to others; let others have their way; do things for reasons other than furthering your own needs.”

So basically, I can barely hope to make it to 2015. Let others have their way?? There is no way in hell that's going to work.  Start thinking about what you will say at my funeral now...please make it poignant, funny, and crude in no particular order.

XO,
B