#280: Marriage: Anti-Aging Advantage

If you worry that my husband’s failure to embrace my composting plan with enthusiasm is a threat to our happy domesticity, don’t be concerned.
 
We’re solid. Bruce and I laugh a lot at one another’s foibles, and what we can’t laugh at, we tolerate.

So I was pleased to get the weekly email from RealAge, a health promotion newsletter which points out that a happy marriage is good for longevity.  Here is the important bit:
 
One big benefit of a happy marriage is you tend to keep each other in line. You encourage good behaviors, such as going to see the doctor, and discourage wild and crazy ones (e.g., smoking, drinking too much, eating poorly) in one another. You also give each other emotional support through good times and bad, in sickness and in health, which makes your bodies run better and boosts your overall health. Plus, you often laugh together, which is good for your body and soul.

I admit that I read this with considerable relief. Because – let’s face it—“encouraging good behaviours” is my specialty, and now I feel as if I have been given the green light. Sanctioned nagging! Who knew?
 
So now, when I gently remind brownie-loving Bruce that “you don’t need that” as he reaches for another delicious treat, I can meet his long suffering expression with the observation that “It is for your own good. You will live longer because I am saving you from yourself. I have science to back me up.”

At the very least I will have demonstrated my love.

And he will just laugh anyway, and eat the brownie.