Why Pride is important for you 🏳️‍🌈 ✌️

According to a Johns Hopkins study, people who had a family history of heart disease and also had a positive outlook were one-third less likely to have a heart attack (or another cardiovascular event) within five to twenty-five years than those with a more negative outlook.

Does this mean you need to be chipper all of the time?  No.  Does this mean that your infertility problems or other issues will evaporate when you learn how to feel better? No.  But everything from the process of enduring treatment to finding a donor to disclosing to children or dealing with friends and family can all present challenges and  cause stress.

There is a lot of information in the news right now about the potential for Roe vs. Wade to be overturned. This can cause a cascade of more negativity for the future of women’s health, for fertility treatment and for LGBTQ rights.  The US has made incredible strides in the last several decades and now discrimination and hate is growing like a virus, threatening to infect each and every one of us in some way.

Pride is not just the commemoration of the Stonewall uprising of 1969, it is an example of who we can all be.  Every time we stand up for what is good, and right, we are empowering ourselves inside and out.  When we write to our congressman, donate to a charity that will help others, post a supportive comment on a social media account of someone who is speaking out for people who need a voice, or even lending an ear to someone who is struggling, you are generating positive feelings for yourself and those around you.  When you do this, not only does it distract you from the negativity and stressors around you but you put good in the world and elevate your own mood.  In turn, that improved mood can help you see possibilities that you may not have seen before, tolerate treatment better and send a ripple effect of positivity out into the world.

Maybe all of this sounds a little woo woo to you.  But as you can see, science backs it up.  There is no down side.  Maybe you feel you cant change your situation or the world around you.  Maybe that’s true, but maybe its not. Maybe you can make a change and that change can snowball in the right direction.

So take out your rainbow gear, go to a march, create a fun social media post and celebrate, not only a day when the world took a turn in the right direction -because of people who supported what is right,-but a day that represents freedom, inclusion and caring.  Why not?  You may help one other person, you may help the world and you may improve your health.

Sending love and pride,

Lisa