Hugging Is A Good Thing

There are days when I come to work and just want to hug every staff member I see. This feeling stems from long ago, when as a volunteer for Birdsong Nature Center I was told by the Center's founder that in order to stay healthy a person needs 12 hugs a day. I believed her then and
still do.
So, every once in a while I come to work and make it my day to receive and give 12 hugs. Just the other day I traveled around the offices and hugged everyone, and everyone seemed happy to get hugged. I didn't find a single person unwilling to be hugged or give a hug in return. In fact, they all seemed happy to get a hug.
When I got to Norma, our children's librarian, she told me about an email someone had sent her about hugging. And it's this information I want to pass on to you today.
For instance...
Do you know what hugging is? Hugging is natural, organic, naturally sweet, free of pesticides and preservatives. Hugging contains no artificial ingredients. It's 100% wholesome. No calories, no nicotine.
Hugging is nearly perfect. There are no batteries to wear out, no periodic checkups. It consumes little energy, while yielding a lot.
It's inflation-proof. It's non-fattening. There are no monthly payments. No insurance requirements. It's theft-proof, non-taxable, non-polluting, and fully refundable. And it costs very little.
Hugging is healthy; it assists the body's immune system, it cures depression, it reduces stress, it induces sleep, it invigorates, it rejuvenates, and it has no unpleasant side-effects. It's a miracle drug.
So, what sort of people like hugging? Nice people. People who like to share things. People who make themselves and the world they live in a little happier by hugging. Hugging can be done by anyone, any place, any time. (Well, that's mostly true.)
Hugs are free; perhaps that's why so many take them for granted. If hugs cost a lot of money, people would probably knock themselves out to make enough to buy them.
Although hugs are free, they're worthless if they aren't used. An unused hug is lost forever. On a planet that's starved for affection, can we really afford to lose a single hug?
Every human being needs four hugs per day merely to survive; eight hugs per day to maintain oneself at a strong emotional level; twelve hugs per day to grow. (My friend said 12 hugs a day to stay healthy.)
By this time, you may be wondering what hugging has to do with our library. As the headliner for the Bookworm Blog says, this blog is to share exciting news about our library. So, this is to warn you that if you come in someday and see a strange woman running around and hugging people, be prepared...you might become one of those persons she hugs. And if the newspaper picked up on what was happening and sent a reporter to cover the event, you might be in a front page picture with the caption, "Patron hugged at the Moultrie Library."
Now, wouldn't that be exciting news about our library? I thought so, too.
(Source: http://wtimmins.tripod.com/lore/hug.html)