Living The Lifestyle - Monday 10/7/24 Late Edition 😉

crewahl

This is a thread for everyone. If you're new to GoaD, or to weight loss, your questions and comments are always welcome. If you're maintaining, or a long-term loser, your thoughts on the topic may be just what someone else needs to hear. If you're reading this, join in the discussion!

Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion.

Monday - crewahl (Charlie)
Tuesday – Wildcard
Wednesday-misterhub (Greg)
Thursday -imastar2 (Derrick)
Friday - Wildcard

Today's Topic: Socialization

I keep reading articles about an “epidemic of loneliness”, and the relationship between interacting with others and one’s own health. What do you do for socialization, other than family activities?

88olds

Pickleball is a great way to meet people. The game is fun. A lot of people a very serious about playing well. But what I like is the people part. Adults getting together to play a game. There’s a limit to how long people will wait to play. But with 6 courts 24 people play at a time. It’s not unheard of for there to be 50 people waiting. In Key West I met people from all over the world.

Flintwinch

I'm an extrovert and have many social connections. I've got lots of ailments, but loneliness isn't one of them.

Al_Howard

Church, singing group, my Franciscan Fraternity, Library Genealogy group, and TOL.

crewahl

I’m an introvert; not a fan of crowds, big parties - or meeting new people. I interact with the group at Tai Chi and the WW meeting and Tax Aide, but don’t see those people outside of their specific context.

We have been making an effort to meet our neighbors since we moved in 2018, and we’ve started exchanging visits with some of them. The “New England thing”, though, seem Ms to be that you leave your neighbors alone unless they need you or you need them. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Brian_19

crewahl wrote: »

The “New England thing”, though, seems to be that you leave your neighbors alone unless they need you or you need them. 🤷🏻‍♂️

This is aka Minnesota Nice, sometimes explained as "They'll give you directions to anywhere you need to go, but not to their house."

My major social interaction: I play euchre online with three college friends once or twice a month. We meet in Teams and play cards on Trickster. We started doing this during the pandemic and have since made it a regular thing. I really enjoy it.

Beyond that, my wife and I enjoy concerts, shows, and dining out, but we have no real social interactions with others. We're not churchgoers, and I'm no longer active with my running club. I've done a bit of volunteer work since retiring, but nothing that would lead to forming friendships. I imagine, perhaps, that we'll do more significant volunteering together after she retires and that might lead to finding more of a social structure, but for now that's just sort of an idea.

I see the point of the various commentaries on the "epidemic of loneliness." I'm an introvert at heart, so reaching out and initiating new relationships is difficult. It's interesting to me that my father, who lives alone in a senior-living community, has much more of a social life than either of his children. His chief complaint though is loneliness.

crewahl

Brian_19 wrote: »

crewahl wrote: »

It's interesting to me that my father, who lives alone in a senior-living community, has much more of a social life than either of his children. His chief complaint though is loneliness.

Brian - you made me think a bit. I wonder how much of our level of socialization is nature or nurture? I grew up in a rural area where you had to work hard to go see people, and our major (only?) interactions were around church. Did that shape how I interact today? Dunno, but it’s something to think about. (Because I need one more thing to blame on my parents in absentia. 🤷🏻‍♂️😉)

Anyone else have any thoughts about nature or nurture?