For over 85 years, a longitudinal study from Harvard University has consistently shown that positive relationships keep us happier and healthier and help us live longer.

This study started in 1938 and has been very consistent in its findings. When subjects or those interviewed were asked about what it took to be happy, they initially mentioned money, wealth, and material things. In later years, they changed their initial thoughts on this based on their life experiences.

In our world, there is a fine line between you owning money and money owning you. Once money owns you, you hopelessly cross the last line of defence in your life, which is your conscience.

When this happens, you lose relationships, decency, respect, empathy, humanity, and compassion. Your relationships become strictly transactional!

Social neuroscience, a branch of neuroscience, has also repeatedly shown that as social creatures, we are hard-wired to be social. This dates back over thousands of years. It is no surprise to understand why social isolation is a major factor in mental illness.

The human brain is not just an organ that functions one way, it is an organism that keeps changing and adapting based on how it is used. It operates on a ‘use or lose it’ principle.

Because of its limited processing capacity, it always tries to use less energy by focusing on what is important based on use.

So, by chasing money and materialistic things, you become unnecessarily competitive and mean, which leads to a person crossing the last line of defence.

Thank God I have not crossed the last line of defence!

Working on strong relationships requires you to be a bigger person. This means learning to swallow your pride from time to time. This is important because it fuels happiness and health.