The Thing That Will Make You Happy

This article summarizes a 75-year study on what brings happiness to people's lives. The definitive conclusion is that good relationships keep up happier and healthier. Not number of friends. Not a carefully crafted reputation. Certainly not money or prestige. And not even accomplishments. But deep, quality relationships with others with whom you can be vulnerable will add years to your life and make you happier than anything else. Love usually wins and that's the case here. This may seem like an obvious conclusion, but it's the closest thing to scientific proof and also I bet we don't appreciate it as much as we should. I don't. If I really internalized this idea, I wouldn't chase money as much as I do. I probably would work less. I would spend more time with fewer people instead of spreading myself thin. A lot of this is expounded upon in the amazing book How Will You Measure Your Life. So I'm going to start doing that since, seriously, you can't take it with you.