The evidence is overwhelming that relationships are the most important aspect of your life. They are life’s greatest laboratory for self-improvement. Relationships are how you know yourself and have the potential to create the greatest joy and the greatest sorrow. Compatibility is how we add maximum joy and eliminate the most sorrow. Here, we will discuss the essence of relationship compatibility and sustainability, but first let’s briefly explore the overwhelming evidence that relationships are the most important aspect of your life.
The Importance of Relationships
The longest study in medical history is the Grant Study better known as the Harvard Longitudinal Study. This study began in 1940 and continues to this day. It followed the lives of 724 men: 268 from Harvard University and 456 disadvantaged inner-city youths from Boston. The evidence is overwhelming that it is not wealth or fame that makes people happy, but rather it is the quality of their relationships. Loneliness kills while healthy relationships gives us a reason to live. For unequivocal evidence of this please follow this TED Talk link.
Bronnie Ware is a hospice nurse caring for terminally ill patients. In her book Five Regrets of the Dying, she lists the second most common regret as people wishing they had not worked so hard. They felt like they had neglected and missed the most important aspect of life: time with their partner, kids and friends. No one on their deathbed ever wished the worked more or had more stuff.
