‘In our go-go-go world, it’s easy to forget to nurture the things that nurture us the most: our relationships with others. But it’s worth making the effort, as the longest in-depth happiness study has revealed that this is the essential ingredient for living a fulfilled life’

“Happier Relationships, Healthier You’, Good Housekeeping magazine p74: March 2023 edition”.

The Harvard Study of Adult Development, the longest in-depth happiness study, began in 1938. They closely recorded every aspect of 724 participants’ lives, as well as their children’s lives and asked thousands of questions about what makes people thrive.

The finding that overwhelmingly stood out to the researchers, in terms of their participants’ happiness, was the importance of the quality of their relationships. They found that those who were well connected to their family, friends and wider community were happier and healthier than those who weren’t. The study also found that ‘those who expressed affectionate emotions with their partner were more likely to be together five years later.’

At Family Matters York we’re all about putting into practice the little things that make a big difference to the quality of our relationships. As this long-term study has shown, being interested in and understanding towards each other go a long way in our relationships.

With this in mind, we are hosting a free ‘Time Out for Couples’ evening titled ‘Cherish’ on Saturday 11th May  at Cornerstone on Millfield Lane, York. In this session we will use material from a national charity called Care for the Family to help us look at the ways we can cherish our partners intentionally, and show our interest in and understanding towards each other, in order to strengthen and enrich our couple relationships.

We will look at:

  • how we can best express our feelings for each other and show our partners that they matter to us.
  • how to discover what makes our partner feel really valued and what it takes to keep our love alive over the long haul.

More information about this event can be found here…and free tickets can be booked here.

We hope to see you there!