Wisdom Well September 2024

Dear reader, 

Being new to any country can be an overwhelming experience. Getting accustomed to the new environment, culture, and the language can be a big task. On top of that, you are also going to school and work which leaves little to no time for social connections. However, it is important to remember that social connection is a profound human need. We are not meant to navigate life’s ups and downs on our own. In addition, there has been ample research pointing to the importance of social connection and the health risk associated with isolation including being in higher risk for health problems such as heart disease, depression and cognitive decline. 

It might be tempting to focus on everything you have to accomplish and neglect this essential human need. However, I encourage you to prioritize social connection as human connection is what makes us feel valued and gives us a sense of belonging. 

Below you will find few tips to improve social connections: 

Schedule time for socialization: set time each week on your calendar to connect with people you care about in person or virtually, bearing in mind, virtual connection is not a substitute for in person connection. By purposefully scheduling time for socialization, you will be able to prioritize meaningful connections instead of putting it on the back burner. 

Take initiative: be proactive and reconnect with friends and family or build new relationships. Make your wellbeing a priority and try new activities by going outside of your comfort zone to build a fulfilling human connection. 

Give back to others: volunteering can be a meaningful activity to connect with others, make friends and feel a sense of purpose. Volunteering increases social interaction and helps build a support system based on common interest. 

By giving back to a cause you care about, your actions big or small can help others and benefit your health. 

To conclude we have to remember, what keeps us fulfilled and healthy in life is not money or accomplishments but the quality of our relationships. Being intentional to nurture and strengthen our relationships will have the biggest return in the quality of our life and happiness. 

Amharic version to follow below.

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ውድ አንባቢ፡

ለየትኛውም ሀገር አዲስ መሆን ከዓቅም በላይ ሊሆን ይችላል። አዲስ አካባቢ፡ ባህልና ቋንቋ መላመድ ትልቅ ተግባር ነው። በዚያ ላይ፡ ሥራና ትምህርትን እያብቃቁ መሆኑ ለማህበራዊ ግንኙነት የሚተርፈው በጣም ጥቂት ጊዜ ነው።

ቢሆንም ማህበራዊ ግንኙነት ጥልቅ የሰው ፍላጎት መሆኑን ማስታወስ ጠቃሚ ነው። የህይወትን ውጣ ውረድ ለብቻችን እንድንቀዝፍ አልተፈጠርንም። ምርምር እንደሚያሣየው ማህበራዊ ግንኙነት ለጤናችን ወሣኝ ሲሆን፡ መገለል የልብ በሽታ፡ ድብርትና የዕውቀት ማሽቆልቆል የመሣሰሉትን የማስከተል ሥጋት አለው።

ይህን ዋና ፍላጎት ችላ ብሎ የራስን ኃላፊነት ለመወጣት ሙሉ ትኩረት ማድረግ ፈታኝ ቢሆንም፡ ለማህበራዊ ግንኙነት ቅድሚያ እንዲሠጡ አበረታታዎታለሁ። ማህበራዊ ግንኙነት ዋጋ እንዳለን እንዲሠማን ሲያደርግ፡ የአለኝታ ስሜትም ይሠጠናል። ማህበራዊ ግንኙነትዎን ለማሻሻል እነሆ ጥቂት ምርቃቶች፡

🗓️ ለማህበራዊነት የጊዜ ሠሌዳ ይኑርዎ፡ በሣምንት ውስጥ ከሚጨነቁላቸው ሰዎች ጋር በምናባዊም ሆነ በአካል ለመገናኘት ጊዜ ይያዙ። ምናባዊ ግንኙነቶች ለሰው ለሰው ግንኙነት ምትክ እንደማይሆኑ ልብ ይሏል። ለማህበራዊነት ጊዜ በመያዝ ወደ ጎን ከመግፋት ይልቅ ትርጉም ላላቸው ግንኙነቶች ቅድሚያ መሥጠት ይችላሉ።

⚡️ ተነሣሽነት ይውሠዱ፡ ከወዳጆችና ቤተሠብ ጋር ለመገናኘት ወይም አዲስ ወዳጅነት ለመገንባት ንቁ ይሁኑ። የራስዎን ደህንነት ቅድሚያ ያድርጉትና የሰውን ግንኙነት የሚያሟሉ አዳዲስ ዕንቅስቃሴዎችን ይሞክሩ።

🎗️ ለሌሎች መልሠው ይሥጡ፡  በጎፈቃደኝነት ከሌሎች ለመገናኘት፣ ጓደኞች ለማፍራትና ለዓላማዎ ትርጉም ለማግኘት ትርጉም ያለው መንገድ ነው። ማህበራዊ መስተጋብርን ይጨምራል፡ እንዲሁም በጋራ ፍላጎት ላይ የተመሠረተ የድጋፍ አሠራር ለመገንባት ይረዳል። ለሚጨነቁለት ምክንያት መልሶ በመሥጠት፡ ድርጊቶችዎ ትንሽም ይሁኑ ትልቅ፡ ሌሎችን ሊረዱና ጤናዎንም ሊጠቅሙ ይችላሉ።

በማጠቃለያም፡ በዕውነቱ በህይወት ውስጥ፡ ሙሉና ጤነኛ የሚያደርገን ገንዘብ ወይም ክንውናችን ሣይሆን የግንኙነታችን ጥራት ነው። ግንኙነታችንን ለማበልጸግና ለማጠንከር ሆን ብሎ ማድረግ በኑሯችን ጥራትና ደስታ ላይ ከፍተኛ ተጽዕኖ ይኖረዋል።