Yesterday my husband and I were pondering
why we didn't use grocery delivery systems. This morning, as I was getting
ready to join the gang, he read out from an article in the morning paper that
spoke to that very topic.
The article surmised that such services may
be bad for many of us as they eliminate one small source of social interaction.
The article quotes an expert as saying "Social isolation is the public
health risk of our time". It goes
on to say there has been a study that found that, on the other hand, social integration is "at the top of a
list of lifestyle factors that had a positive impact on longevity, beating out
quitting smoking, getting regular exercise and maintaining a healthy
weight".
Wow. Who knew that our collective joke that
'the real reason we walk is for the chat and the food' is, in fact, a good
thing!
So what is my point? There may be times,
for all of us, when health or circumstances mean we can't walk but let's keep
coming out and encouraging each other to do so. That does not mean we shouldn't
walk for as long as we can but it does mean our group is about much more than that.
Looking forward to seeing most of you next
week for our annual winter meeting -
and, of course, for chat and food.
