Ahh, the quest for happiness and what makes us happy. It's been in the forefront of man's conscious thought ever since the time man was able to form a conscious thought.  Despite the fact that we think about being happy a lot most of us don't feel like we are. Maybe that's where a study 80 years in the making can shed some light our emotional state of mind.

What's interesting to me is that the study has uncovered the one singular thing we need in our lives to put us in our "happy place". No, it's not money, it's not fame, it's not a winning football team or even beer. The one thing that helps us define our happiness can be summed up in one word. That word is relationships.

The study found that the more satisfied people were with the relationships in their lives the longer and happier existence they had. The study found that people that were the most satisfied in their relationships at age 50 were the healthiest people in the survey group at age 80.

The study also noted that all great relationships have one key element. That element is trust. When we trust others and others trust us that is when we feel the most satisfied with who we happen to be.

The Harvard Study of Adult Development began in 1938 and has continued ever since then. Only 19 of the original subjects of the study are still alive. Therefore researchers expanded the study to include the children of those who were first included in the study.

This study wasn't just a questionnaire every few months it included multiple interviews and even brain scans of the participants all in hopes of gaining a better understanding of what makes us humans happy.

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