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Holidays: A great time to invest in social capital

  • Published
  • By Col. Brian Hayes
  • 90th Medical Group commander
I love the holiday season. It is a time to truly live, love and laugh out loud. It is a time to be thankful for who we are, what we are and what we have become. It is also an excellent time to invest in social capital.

What is that?

Social capital is having a network of personal friends and belonging to supportive groups where you build personal relationships. If you have this social capital then you are more likely to live a longer, happier and healthier life.

Studies show that people with social capital are at lower risk for high blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks and suicide. To reap the benefits of social capital, you need to know the support is there so your daily stress level is less. In the Air Force the support is there. We just need to make sure everyone knows it.

Social capital is like money in the bank -- you make deposits when you help other people and take withdrawals when you need help. You may have experienced this when you did something nice for someone and they replied, "I owe you one." The bottom line is each of us should know someone we can call when we need help.

Here are a few ways to ensure the support is there. If you drink, don't drink alone: build that social capital. If you smoke, don't smoke alone: that's why the Air Force has smoking areas. They don't want you sitting in your car puffing on a cigarette alone when you can be building social capital with your smoking buddies. That way when you are in the hospital years from now with lung cancer, you'll have plenty of friends to support you. Above all, be nice to people; build that social capital so it's there when you need it.

Dr. Kawachi, one of my Harvard professors wrote, "Loneliness kills ... social connectedness is among the most important predictors of health and independence as we age -- almost as strong as not smoking or being overweight."

I recently went up to the mountains with family and friends to cut down our Christmas tree. We had a great time trudging through the snow, pulling children on sleighs, while searching for the perfect tree. We joyfully helped each other out. I must say that I was the recipient of a lot of social capital that day as friends helped me find a tree, cut it down and carry it out of the wilderness. They also helped carry my children out as one got a migraine, a second fell out from "starvation," and the youngest was too tired to walk back. When I got home that night, I mistakenly lopped off the fullest part of the tree, the bottom, as I attempted to fit it into our home.

As I gaze at it now, I know I gained much more from that day than just this skinny tree. I have a group of friends, I didn't know six months ago, who will gladly take care of me and my family.

They're a true blessing, and I look forward to taking care of them whenever they need it.
I am honored to be with you. I thank God every day for my life, my family, the awesome people with whom I serve and the chance to live in this great country. May God bless you with a bank account overflowing with social capital. I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!