What Makes A Good Life?

What makes a person happy? The speaker of this week's video Robert Waldinger talks about one of the longest happiness studies on record. This study has been going on for 75 years. There are two groups. One is a group of men from Harvard and the other is from boys who were in the poverty-stricken parts of Boston.

Loneliness kills

Connections are important

The quality of the relationships these men have is even more important than the number of relationships. The men who had deeper connections at 50 had a better chance of living till they were 80. These relationships appear to buffer us from some of life's greatest challenges. The happier a person is the less pain they feel. While if a man or woman is in a less than satisfying relationship, they experience more pain in their body.

Then there is also the mind that benefits from a good and secure relationship.