Love. It certainly feels good, but is it good for your health? Yes, it is! Researchers at Yale University found that love protects our hearts. According to Dean Ornish, MD, who wrote about the subject for MSNBC, "men and women who felt most loved and supported had substantially less blockage in their coronary arteries.

Similarly, researchers from Case Western Reserve University studied almost 10,000 married men and found that those who answered ‘yes’ to this simple question,—'Does your wife show you her love?'—had significantly less angina (chest pain). When researchers at Duke surveyed men and women with heart disease, those who were single and lacked confidants were three times as likely to have died after five years.’"

We also know that loneliness and social isolation weaken our immune systems, while research shows that love can help us to heal.

Altruism. Studies have shown that helping others contributes to longevity, better mental health, boosting the immune system, reducing stress, and diminishing the effects of physical maladies. In fact, an Emory University study found that helping others triggered activity in the same portions of the brain that are activated when people receive rewards or experience pleasure.

Forgiveness is good for your health and your relationships.

Forgiveness education may help prevent revenge and intergroup conflict. Forgiveness education has also shown promise in preventing crime by reducing vengeful responses that can lead to criminal acts. And forgiveness training is also being tested to determine whether it contributes to reducing and healing intergroup conflict such as that experienced by Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland or Tutsis and Hutus in Rwanda.