I saw this great article by  Margaret Carlson on Bloomberg entitled “Sex, Fame bring no joy to Masters of the Universe“. I just came off teaching my Bazi for Relationships class, wherein I harped on the subject matter of why relationships matter for probably far longer than my students wanted to hear (I am sure they just wanted me to get to the point and give them the salient points). In any case, I found this article interesting because it obviously affirmed my argument about why relationships matter.

Side note: whilst very few people will ever say relationships don’t matter, you will be surprised at how many of them actually know WHY.

Anyway, in the article, Carlson talks about attending something called The Ideas Festival, where she heard a speech about the subject matter of ‘The Happy Life’.(all emphasis in quotes is mine)

“The Masters of the Universe, political and financial, don’t have time for such reflection, which is too bad. What drives them to live so close to the edge that having to say they’re sorry is a foreseeable event? They have no idea what will lead to a happy life, the prize we are all after.“

Carlson sites a study done by Harvard University, studying students from the classes of the 1930s through their lives, and looked to find what made those who were happy and healthy (“happy well”), well, happy and healthy.

“The most reliable predictor turned out to be having warm relationships by at least age 47. A good marriage is important (even if some didn’t get it right until their second or third), but strong relationships based on trust and respect and continuity can also be with relatives, friends or mentors.

Good sibling relationships seem especially powerful: 93 percent of the men who were thriving at age 65 were close to a brother or sister. Also predictive were starting a sport or physical activity while young, and adaptability. Resilience and optimism saw the happy-well through the loss of jobs, fortunes, spouses, children and health.”

Anyone wonder why relationships still matter and why having good relationships matters in this lifetime?