Robert Waldinger: What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness | TED

• Good, close relationships keep us healthier and happier: 3 findings

1. social connections are really good for us and loneliness kills; ppl connected to friends, to family, to community are happier, physically healthier, and live longer
   1. every 1 in 5 americans report they are lonely
2. It is the quality of such relationships and not the quantity that matters
   1. high conflict marriage is terrible for your health; warm marriages are protective
   2. ppl who were the most satisfied with their relationships at 50 were the healthiest at 80
3. Good relationships don’t just help our bodies → they protect our brains
   1. ppl in their 80s in trusting relationships → have sharper memories
   2. fights and bickerings can happen in good relationships→ as long as relationships they believe they can count on

• Wisdom as old as the hills, Why is it so hard to get but so easy to ignore?
  • we always like a quick fix, relationships are life long + take time and effort + are complicated
  • REPLACING SCREEN TIME with people time
  • livening something up by doing something new together
  • “There isn't time, so brief is life, for bickerings, apologies, heartburnings, callings to account. There is only time for loving, and but an instant, so to speak, for that.” mark twain