Amy Daczyzyn’s Tightwad Gazette newsletter and books from the 1990s changed my life, not due to converting me to a more frugal lifestyle, but for all the little tips for how to make it happen. As she duly noted when beginning her newsletter, there are about a dozen ways to save a lot of money. But most of the money a person saves over the course of a lifetime occurs in the dozens or hundreds of small things done each day. With her writing, Amy Daczyzyn shared actual how-to’s for thousands of little things.
I feel the same could be said of our preparedness efforts. It’s one thing to say you’ve got to be prepared with clean water; everybody knows that. It’s an entirely different matter to know how to purify water in a variety of different conditions and to make sure you have everything on hand to do so.
So today we have another “little” thing. It doesn’t make the top ten of most important items to prepare, and it may not make the top 100 list, either. But it is easy, can be fun, and will definitely make a difference in both our health and happiness. And it’s a perfect fit for Valentine’s Day.
Today it’s all about the hugs and kisses—the act, not the candy. (We covered the medicinal uses of chocolate last week.)
Several years ago, Dr. Arthur Szabo, a psychology professor at the University of Kiel in West Germany, published his findings in the German magazine Selecta. Unfortunately, there is no link to an online source for you to read it or a translation yourself, at least, none that I could track down. The study focused on men; whether the results hold true for women is unknown, and it’s a pity that no further studies have been conducted. Here’s what Dr. Szabo found:
1. Men who kissed their wives before going to work lived an average of 5 years longer than those who didn’t.
2. They used less sick time than those who didn’t kiss their wives each morning.
3. They earned 20-35% more money.
4. Not kissing their wives before leaving for work significantly increases the possibility of having a car accident.
Dr. Szabo concluded:
Husbands who leave home in the morning without kissing their wives do so either because the couple has had a spat, or because they have grown apart. In either case, the husband begins the day with a negative attitude. He tends to be moody and depressed. He is disinterested in his work and surroundings. While a great many men feign indifference to their wives nearly all of them are deceiving themselves. Even if a man has ceased to love his wife, he is still influenced by her attitude toward him. Our research proves this and conclusively so. A husband who kisses his wife every morning before he goes to the office begins the day with a positive attitude. His feeling of harmony is reflected physiologically as well as mentally.
Other research has demonstrated that both hugging and kissing lowers stress levels and blood pressure in men and women.[1] [2]
Kissing has been shown to reduce skin allergies.[3]
In conclusion, kissing our spouses each morning will reduce illnesses and accidents, which is really important when medical care and supplies are limited and when resulting down time will be even more inconvenient than it is now. Kissing will keep our hearts physically and emotionally healthy. And it may help us be more productive and better organized when earning an income to support the family becomes more difficult as well. Every little thing we can do when combined with the other little things (and big things) will help us meet the challenges that lie ahead. And besides, kissing is fun.
Links to related posts:
The Medicinal Uses of Chocolate
References:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/stronger-the-broken-places/201907/kissing-adds-years-your-life
[1] K. M. Grewen, et al., Effects of partner support on resting oxytocin, cortisol, norepinephrine, and blood pressure before and after warm partner contact, Psychosomatic Medicine, July-August 2005, Vol 67 No 4, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16046364/ (accessed 30 December 2021).
[2] K. C. Light, et al., More frequent partner hugs and higher oxytocin levels are linked to lower blood pressure and heart rate in premenopausal women, Biological Psychology, April 2005, Vol 69 No 1, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15740822/ (accessed 30 December 2021).
[3] Hajime Kimata, Kissing reduces allergic skin wheal responses and plasma neurotrophin levels, Physiology & Behavior, Vol 80 No 2-3, 2003, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031938403002956?via%3Dihub (accessed 30 December 2021).
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