Frank Mullen – Partner since 2009 (Peak of Blackcomb Mountain – Whistler, British Columbia)
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This week’s fun finds
What the Longest Study on Human Happiness Found is the Key to a Good Life
Since 1938, the Harvard Study of Adult Development has been investigating what makes people flourish. After starting with 724 participants—boys from disadvantaged and troubled families in Boston, and Harvard undergraduates—the study incorporated the spouses of the original men and, more recently, more than 1,300 descendants of the initial group. Researchers periodically interview participants, ask them to fill out questionnaires, and collect information about their physical health. As the study’s director (Bob) and associate director (Marc), we’ve been able to watch participants fall in and out of relationships, find success and failure at their jobs, become mothers and fathers. It’s the longest in-depth longitudinal study on human life ever done, and it’s brought us to a simple and profound conclusion: Good relationships lead to health and happiness. The trick is that those relationships must be nurtured.
In this sense, having healthy, fulfilling relationships is its own kind of fitness—social fitness—and like physical fitness, it takes work to maintain. Unlike stepping on the scale, taking a quick look in the mirror, or getting readouts for blood pressure and cholesterol, assessing our social fitness requires a bit more sustained self-reflection. It requires stepping back from the crush of modern life, taking stock of our relationships, and being honest with ourselves about where we’re devoting our time and whether we are tending to the connections that help us thrive. Finding the time for this type of reflection can be hard, and sometimes it’s uncomfortable. But it can yield enormous benefits.
It never hurts—especially if you’ve been feeling low—to take a minute to reflect on how your relationships are faring and what you wish could be different about them. If you’re the scheduling type, you could make it a regular thing; perhaps every year on New Year’s Day or the morning of your birthday, take a few moments to draw up your current social universe, and consider what you’re receiving, what you’re giving, and where you would like to be in another year. You could keep your chart or relationships assessment in a special place, so you know where to look the next time you want to peek at it to see how things have changed.
Toronto ranked most 'disappointing' Canadian city: poll
The Big Smoke has been ranked as Canada’s most ‘overrated’ city, according to a poll by independent market analyst King Casino Bonus in the United Kingdom.
The poll found 10.9 per cent of visitors it surveyed found Canada’s largest city “disappointing,” with the most regrettable attraction being the Toronto Zoo.
Montreal was a close second to Toronto, with 10.3 per cent of survey respondents saying the city didn’t live up to expectations. Its most disappointing attraction was the Biodome de Montreal.
Meanwhile, Vancouver placed third in the ranks — 9.3 per cent of visitors surveyed found the city disappointing, with Gastown being the most underwhelming attraction.
10 Nutrition Myths Experts Wish Would Die
We surveyed some of the country’s leading authorities to reveal the truth about fat, dairy, soy and more.
1) Fresh fruits and vegetables are always healthier than canned, frozen or dried varieties.
2) All fat is bad.
3) ‘Calories in, calories out’ is the most important factor for long-term weight gain.
4) People with Type 2 diabetes shouldn’t eat fruit.
5) Plant milk is healthier than dairy milk.
6) White potatoes are bad for you.
7) You should never feed peanut products to your children within their first few years of life.
8) The protein in plants is incomplete.
9) Eating soy-based foods can increase the risk of breast cancer.
10) Fundamental nutrition advice keeps changing — a lot.
