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A writer colleague, Victoria Clayton Alexander, sent me this picture. The tote bag was given to her friend on the occasion of the recent opening of a new Yoga studio in her neighborhood.

Serendipitously, an intriguing new study, forthcoming in the Journal of Socio-Economics, provides evidence that friends ARE more important than money when it comes to achieving happiness...

Using “micro-economic life satisfaction equations” and the “shadow pricing method” (methodologies more commonly used in economics), Dr. Nattavudh Powdthavee of the University of London's Institute of Education found that increased interactions with friends and relatives result in an added value of £85,000 (or about $127,000) a year in life satisfaction. Ironically, increases in actual income bought very little added happiness.

Since nurturing relationships and careers both take time and effort, the research suggests that career-driven individuals who work at the expense of their relationships may be putting their eggs in the wrong basket if they are searching for true happiness.