The Happiness Lab Delegate's Guide Chapter 4 — Friends & Family | Page 2

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Two is better
than one
F
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riends are good for you. The happiest people
in the world are normally those with lots of
good friends. It was once said that “two are
better than one” and all the evidence supports the
fact that a life lived in community with others is a
happier life than one lived in isolation. Research
conducted on three different continents among
communities with elderly members revealed that,
more than anything else, what these people had
in common was that they were socially engaged:
they had friends. Old age was not about keeping
themselves to themselves but rather about getting
out and connecting with others. There are many
reasons why belonging is good for you: we can
receive the support we require during life’s difficult
times; we have someone to share joyful experiences
with which will deepen those experiences for us;
other people are a mechanism for expressing and
receiving love; and other people can create a safe
place in which we can explore who we are and what
we bring to the world. The challenge in all this
is how do we make the right choices and manage
our time accordingly so as to fully invest in the
relationships we have with friends and family.