L is for Love!❤️
Hi friends! Welcome to today’s video where we will be covering the L in the WHOLESOME acronym, which stands for Love! If you missed our last acronym video, you can find the link to it in the description below. Let’s get to it!
Today we will be covering a topic that not many people realize is vital to their health. Love! Let’s begin with self-love. An unfortunate statistic shows that 1 in 3 people struggle with self-acceptance and self-value. This is a horrifying statistic. 60.2% of women in the US report that they have negative thoughts about themselves daily. One third to one half of teenagers struggle with low-self esteem. But why are these numbers so huge? Well, one study shows that social media use correlates to increased risks of depression, low self-esteem, loneliness, and anxiety. The more you use social media, the more chances you have of creating low self-esteem because it is easier to compare your looks, qualities and what you own to others that you see on social media. Why does this matter and how does it affect our health? Well, obviously, if you are constantly comparing yourself with people you see on social media platforms, movies, videos and such, you will be less and less happy with yourself. This will then lead you to turn your efforts into changing yourself and becoming depressed and anxious if you do not meet your own created expectations. It will be a constant cycle and will be digging your own grave. A study shows that if you are content with who you are, then you are more likely to be a happier person. Your efforts will go into other goals that can build you up as a person and not tear down the one who you already are. When feeling down about ourselves, let’s remember that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made! Psalm 139:14
Now, what about love to and from others? There have been several experiments conducted on this matter, but there is one that I would like to turn our attention to. In 1944 there was an sad experiment done on babies here in the United States. I would like to read this quote about the experiment done.”Twenty newborn infants were housed in a special facility where they had caregivers who would go in to feed them, bathe them and change their diapers, but they would do nothing else.
The caregivers had been instructed not to look at or touch the babies more than what was necessary, never communicating with them. All their physical needs were attended to scrupulously and the environment was kept sterile, none of the babies becoming ill. The experiment was halted after four months, by which time, at least half of the babies had died at that point. At least two more died even after being rescued and brought into a more natural familial environment. There was no physiological cause for the babies’ deaths; they were all physically very healthy. Before each baby died, there was a period where they would stop verbalizing and trying to engage with their caregivers, generally stop moving, nor cry or even change expression; death would follow shortly. The babies who had ‘given up’ before being rescued, died in the same manner, even though they had been removed from the experimental conditions.”
These are tragic results. This just goes to show how important physical touch is humans! “Physical contact with babies is essential for their physical and psychological development. In the absence of touch stimulation, release of important growth hormones may be inhibited in all parts of the body as well as the brain, liver and heart.” Physical touch is not only needed for babies, but for adults too. You may or may not have heard of this before, but it is indeed true that a person needs 8 hugs a day to stay mentally stable and 12 a day to achieve psychological growth! Giving and receiving physical affection is not the only way to stay healthy, but evidence from studies show that doing good to others by helping them in different ways actually reduces stress, improves mood, as well as self esteem and happiness! No wonder the Bible tells us to do good unto others!
Finally, we are going to talk about a last type of love, and this is love towards God! Several studies (which will be linked below) have shown that actively religious people tend to be happier than non-religious people. They tend to have less stress, be more civically engaged and tend to have an all-around better attitude towards life. Why? Well, because we have a God that we can count on to help us through all the troubles of this life. In a world where everything seems to be turning dim, there is a light that we can look to. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.” Isn’t that good news?
So, we can conclude that love to self, love to others, and love to God are all huge factors that can affect our health either for better or for worse. Let’s make it a point to not only to care for ourselves, but be a light in the lives of other people as well, so we can all live happy and healthy lives! “We love because He first loved us” 1 John 4:19 Thanks for watching, friend! We’ll see you in our next WHOLENESS video, which will be focusing on Nutrition! God bless!
- Victoria Flores, Health Coach & Medical Missionary