Move Over, Kevin Bacon. Here’s to the Three Degrees of Mr. Rogers.

Here’s a stat that might surprise you.

According to a study using the Center for Epidemiology Studies Depression Index, a standard metric that helps to gauge an individual’s tendency toward depression, researchers discovered that friends living in close proximity to you who experience happiness tend to increase the likelihood that you’ll be happy by 25%. Happy siblings can trigger a 14% increase to your well-being and, taking the lead, are next-door neighbors at 34%!

This means that happy neighbors are a significant predictor of your own happiness. Mr. Rogers was on to something!

And that’s not all. Studies show that not only does your chance of well-being go up by the happy moods of your close friends, a friend of that friend also gets a boost by nearly 10%. And, a friend of that friend also gets a boost – by approximately 5.6%.

That means that there is an incredible ripple effect of happiness by three degrees.

Think about how impactful this is. Your happiness doesn’t just affect those immediately around you. It has the potential to positively impact individuals who are three degrees separate from you. So complete strangers might experience an indirect benefit from your own well-being, and so on and so on!

So, if you ever feel like self-care and taking the time to cultivate joy and happiness in your own life is a selfish act, think again. Your flourishing means other people will be more likely to flourish as well.

And given how the news and other media can sometimes paint the state of the world today with a negative brush, it’s a powerful reminder to protect your energy. Not only could it make a difference in your own life, but any positive vibes that you can nuture within yourself could cascade down to, say, your sister AND your sister’s best friend AND your sister’s best friend’s neighbor.

And that, my friends, is great news. As Mr. Rogers would say, “It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood. A beautiful day for a neighbor.”