8 Unexpected Ways LOVE Makes Life So Much Better
Love moves in mysterious ways… So goes a line from a popular song. Love is like an abstract painting. You know it’s beautiful and captivating, but you can’t just find the right words to define it. And many times, you don’t even understand it. One thing you are sure of – it makes you feel good. When your special someone touches you, hugs you, and kisses you – it feels like you are melting. Yes, you could disappear right then and there because you already have the best day of your life.
Even neuroscientists and researchers around the world have had a great interest about the science and psychology of love. Thanks to positive psychology – more studies have been carried out to determine how love moves us, improves our lives, and makes us better individuals.
You know that love gives you butterflies in the stomach, takes you high like a drug, and makes you feel like everything you have wished for is right there in front of you. But in what other ways does love make your life so much better?
It makes you feel better.
You know how one smile from him or her could brighten up your day. Acts of love, such as kiss, hug, touch and sex can put you in high spirits and relaxed state. Researchers from the University of North Carolina discovered that when couples hugged, they had higher blood levels of oxytocin — the bonding hormone that relieves stress and improve mood.
It motivates you.
Love gives you a reason to keep moving forward and improving yourself. Maybe you have considered losing weight to look more beautiful in the eyes of your spouse or special someone. The love you feel for that person fuels your mind and body to change your diet and work out more. Or, pursue your dreams, meet your goals, and change career path. It is so powerful and intense that you just keep doing what you need to do to get the results you want.
It makes you a better, healthier person.
When you’re in a relationship, your partner has a great influence on your confidence and the choices you make to lead a better lifestyle. According to Psychology Today, research shows that couples in love can greatly affect each other’s healthy choices — whether you’re quitting smoking or getting a flu shot. In one study, if one partner gave up alcohol, the other was five times more likely to stop drinking.
It helps you sleep better.
Married folks – you know how it feels when you sleep with or without your spouse right beside you. A 2009 study by the University of Pittsburgh found that couples who sleep together have better sleep quality and experience better health. The findings, published in the journal Sleep, suggest that women who were stably married had better subjective and objective sleep than unmarried women. Furthermore, women who lost a partner during the eight-year follow-up period had the worst sleep. But if you or your partner has sleeping issues, you may want to have it resolved as soon as possible. One British study found that couples suffer up to 50 per cent more disturbances when sleeping next to someone than sleeping alone. Here’s the rule. If you feel content dozing with your partner beside you, stay that way. Otherwise, separate beds may be useful.
It lowers your blood pressure.
Another reason why you shouldn’t stop yourself from loving is because it’s good for your heart! A study by the State University of New York at Oswego found that when couples are together, they tend to have lower blood pressure than when they are apart. Loving and feeling loved has that calming and relaxing effect on our body. In another study by the University of Vienna, hugging loved ones regularly was found to reduce stress and blood pressure. The researchers discovered that when we hug our loved ones, the hormone oxytocin is released into our bloodstream, which has does not only lower blood pressure and stress levels but also improves memory. Usually, oxytocin is releases during times of intense bonding, such as when a mother is breastfeeding her child or when we are comforting our spouse. Here’s more surprising – when the hug comes from a stranger, oxytocin isn’t released into the bloodstream. The adrenal-cortex ’stress’ hormone, cortisol, is released instead.
It makes you more compassionate.
Scientists are starting to acknowledge the key role of compassion in a happier and more fulfilling life. Whilst empathy refers more generally to our ability to take the perspective of and feel the emotions of another person; compassion is when those feelings and thoughts include the desire to help. Maybe you are familiar with this line “Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others.” Study after study shows that being self-centred doesn’t make us happy. Many people keep asking themselves – “How can I be happy?” or “What makes me happy?” when actually, happiness is more on focusing on the happiness of someone else.
It helps you live longer.
Love may hold the key for a longer life. In the study by UCLA researchers, it was found that the death rate for unmarried people was "significantly higher" than for married couples living together. Meanwhile, Harvard University researchers found that married women are 20 per cent less likely than single women to die of stress-related causes like heart disease, suicide and cirrhosis. As for married men, they’re 100-200 per cent times less likely to die of these causes than single men are. Love is keeping us alive!
It strengthens your heart.
Love also plays a role in protecting you from heart disease. In one study, researchers discovered that a happy marriage may lower the risk of chest pains. They found that married men who felt loved by their wives experienced 50 per cent less angina, despite having high risk factors like high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes. Meanwhile, a study by the University of Pittsburgh found that women in happy marriages have a much lower risk of cardiovascular disease than those in high-stress ones. So thank your spouse or special someone for not ‘breaking’ your heart.
See? Love can really improve your life in so many unexpected ways. So if you are in a healthy relationship, don’t forget to give your partner a hug or a kiss today and show that person how happy your life has become since the day you met him/her.
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