It seems to me that to be of any use to me thriving has to include happiness. Growth without joy is more a prison sentence than life. But happiness can be even more elusive to capture than thriving. Resilience, at least, has a series of metaphors to help keep us on track. But happiness? 

Fortunately we are not without resources. The Harvard Study of Adult Development has been following one group of men for over 75 years and has some reassuring information to share about both happiness and thriving. And, also, about the role that relationships play in resilience and thriving. 

The Director of the study, Dr. Robert Waldinger  (Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Center for Psychodynamic Therapy and Research at Massachusetts General Hospital,) has this to say about relationships.

“We've learned three big lessons about relationships. The first is that social connections are really good for us, and that loneliness kills. It turns out that people who are more socially connected to family, to friends, to community, are happier, they're physically healthier, and they live longer than people who are less well connected. And the experience of loneliness turns out to be toxic. People who are more isolated than they want to be from others find that they are less happy, their health declines earlier in midlife, their brain functioning declines sooner and they live shorter lives than people who are not lonely.” 

What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness

Dr Robert Waldinger

http://robertwaldinger.com/about/