your partner actually liking you as a friend is important. romantic love is not enough. because romance shows you how someone feels about you, but friendship shows you how they treat you when they are not trying to impress you. loving someone is easy when everything is heightened. liking them is what makes the ordinary days bearable.
most people do not realise this, but the version of your partner you meet in friendship is the one you end up living with.
the softness, the humour, the small acts of consideration, the way they speak when nothing big is happening, that is the real relationship. romance can win you over, but friendship is what prevents both of you from becoming strangers while still sharing a life.
and the older you get, the clearer it becomes that love is not the glue. compatibility in the boring moments is. that is the part no one warns you about: the relationship lasts only if you can stand each other when nothing romantic is happening at all.
y’all ever think about how if you don’t get an annual raise equal to or greater than the rate of currency inflation, you have effectively gotten a pay cut
Exercise is an antidepressant.
A new meta-analysis of 26 randomized controlled studies found that both aerobic and resistance training significantly reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety, often rivaling standard treatments like medication and therapy.
Although both modes were beneficial, aerobic exercise had a slightly greater impact on depression, while resistance training showed a modest edge for anxiety.
Many of the included studies didn't even meet the minimum weekly physical activity recommendations for aerobic or resistance exercise, and even then, reduced depressive and anxiety symptoms significantly.
For those with depression or anxiety, movement is powerful medicine. And the dose needed might be smaller than you think.
Wake up and immediately look at small screen before clocking 8 hours behind medium screen. Take a few breaks to check in on small screen. Go home and spend a few hours staring at big screen to wind down before getting into bed and looking at small screen.
Living the dream.
i think we were meant to live slower than this. to grow tomatoes. to take afternoon walks. to cry without apologizing for it. to be bad at things and still do them. we weren’t designed for constant achievement. we were meant for moments. small, soft, nothing-special moments that somehow mean everything.
no one prepared me for the fact that when you have a 9-5 you can't like. go to the dentist or the doctor or anything anymore. because you work. and when you don't work they're closed