The monster snowstorm that hit the Midwest this week brought brutally cold temperatures and mountains of snow. While many faced power outages, frozen pipes, and dead car batteries, I was reminded of a lesson learned …
Advice from a Penguin: The Importance of Sticking Together
Living in the arctic has its challenges—temperatures around -22 degrees and winds up to 125mph (can you imagine THAT kind of wind chill?!), just to name a couple. The male Emperor Penguins must face these challenges in addition to no shelter or feeding while protecting their chicks, who have yet to hatch from their eggs. What is the secret to their survival, you may ask? Sticking together.
While the female Emperor Penguins go on a search for food (which lasts several months), the male penguins are left to care for their unhatched chicks. During this time, the males will huddle together, often by the thousands, in order to stay warm. The penguins shift positions periodically, taking turns on the outside of the huddle to face the brunt of the harsh conditions. These penguins huddle together in order to survive.
Although we do not have to face this kind of weather, research shows us that individuals who have strong social relationships are 50% less likely to die (read more). So, like the penguins, it is crucial that we stick together during life’s roughest “storms.”
Not only can social relationships lengthen your lifespan, but research states they can also provide a sense of belonging, increased sense of self-worth, and a feeling of security (read more). So, I think the penguins are on to something here—we need each other.
Jamie Tworkowski, found of the not-for-profit organization To Write Love on Her Arms, sums it up quite well . . .
“You’ll need coffee shops and sunsets and road trips. Airplanes and passports and new songs and old songs, but people more than anything else. You will need other people and you will need to be that other person to someone else, a living breathing screaming invitation to believe better things.”
