How does this research resonate with you? Harvard spent 85 years to generate these results!
Connection and community are so important to our happiness and well being. Think of what the pandemic did for that, isolating us for months if not years, creating a remote work situation which further removed us from daily interactions, increasing fear of being in crowds, masking us for protection but also masking our ability to read and express others’ emotions.
It’s never too late to change; we can at any time work on our connections to others, either people we knew or totally new.
Look around you at your current situation. Are you able to build, foster, and maintain connections? Are you still sitting home working or have you gone back to work?
And how do you feel about your situation and your connections to others?
If you aren’t feeling great and feel lonely, may I invite you to reach out and connect with someone? An old friend? A colleague? A relative? A Zoom or Facetime call is fine, as is a phone call. But how about coffee? Or lunch? Or a walk around town?
And once you do, how do you feel after?
And if you feel up to it, reach out to someone unfamiliar and see if they will connect. Building connections is a two way street; what if everyone in the world were to reach out to someone and new just to connect and say hi?
Could we increase happiness of the world overall if we all participate?
Read about this study at The Atlantic: What the Longest Study on Human Happiness Found is the Key to a Good Life.
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