You know what feels great? Getting a high five.

Who doesn’t love a high five? The exhilaration of slapping one’s palm against someone else’s in a celebratory or congratulatory fashion is an absolute treat for anyone and everyone. It creates a moment of human connection, where two people agree that, “Yes, what just happened is awesome,” and commemorate that fact by striking their hands together, often with enough force to make an audible sound and create some slight lingering pain. You might think that a fancy-pants, politically correct, anti-war liberal would be opposed to such an all-American gesture on the basis of it being too “aggressive,” but you’d be wrong. The high five transcends political disputes, geographical boundaries, and economic differences. You might go so far as to call the high five the great equalizer of humankind.

Look, even babies know how to high five. Do you know how little babies are capable of? They can do virtually nothing by themselves and require constant supervision, yet they can still high five. But when was the last time you saw a baby shake someone’s hand? I’ll answer that for you: never. The evidence clearly demonstrates that the high five is an instinctive human greeting and that the handshake is merely a man-made construct, as unnatural as it is unsanitary.

Despite this, high fives have been largely relegated to casual relationships. It’s not hard to imagine two sports fans high fiving in a bar when their favorite team scores. Giving a friend a high five for some personal or professional success is common enough, but when is the last time you gave your boss a high five? Never? What’s stopping you, exactly? You’re reading this at work, obviously, so take a moment to go high five your boss. She will surely appreciate it.

Or what if the tables were reversed? Imagine, if you will, that you’re in a job interview that is just coming to a conclusion. As you thank the interviewer for his time, you reach forward to shake his hand. But instead of reciprocating this common gesture, he shakes his head and says, “We don’t do that here.” You’re a bit confused, until he continues: “We high five instead,” and then the two of you slam your grips together so hard that your ears are left ringing. Short of being offered the job on the spot, could you imagine a better ending to an interview? No, you could not.

The facts are clear: high fiving makes both parties feel awesome, and moreover, each instance of two people high fiving directly improves the lives of everyone in the immediate vicinity. The high five should not be minimized to merely a celebratory gesture. Such a useful practice should be used as often as possible—in greetings, farewells, business transactions, expressions of gratitude or contrition… the list goes on.

So try incorporating the high five into your daily lifestyle. I think you’ll be pleased with the results.

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