This morning on the walk to school, we discuss the 75 year Harvard Grant Study that attempted to answer the question of what makes a meaningful and happy life. Researchers concluded that happiness and satisfaction are never about money, power, fame, or any of the things we might assume.
It was, by far, the quality of relationships.
The study talks about connections between people, especially as they age.
So in our lives, we talk about what the Walk-to-School campaign has accomplished for us personally as we have connected for a mile or two with neighbors on school mornings for the past 8 years. It built friendship and connection. My friend comments that it was never the walking that he loved; it was the connections.
So we then wonder what it takes to build the kinds of connections that help foster happiness. It takes time. It takes conversation. It takes commitment.
And so we keep walking even though it’s not the walking we love.