Considering ... Happiness study, T/W 10/25-26/16

From the LDS Church News:

Beginning in 1938, researchers at Harvard University and 268 undergraduate men began a project to determine what makes us happy. Conducted for more than 75 years, the Harvard Grant Study—the longest-running, most comprehensive study of human development—studied intelligence levels, alcohol intake, relationships, and income.

In 2012, the study’s findings were published in a book by Harvard psychiatrist George Vaillant, who led the study from 1972 to 2004.

He concludes, after following the lives of the men, there are two pillars of happiness. “One is love,” he wrote. “The other is finding a way of coping with life that does not push love away.”

In fact, Dr. Vaillant summarizes his findings in just five words: “Happiness is love. Full stop.”

More than a decade before Dr. Vaillant published his book, President James E. Faust shared the same conclusion in his October 2000 general conference address: “Love is the direct route to the happiness that would enrich and bless our lives and the lives of others,” said President Faust, then Second Counselor in the First Presidency (“Our Search for Happiness,” Oct. 2000 general conference).

The scriptures teach that finding love and happiness is important because “men are, that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25).

During his April 2014 conference address, President Thomas S. Monson said love is the essence of the gospel.
“Love is expressed in many recognizable ways: a smile, a wave, a kind comment, a compliment,” said President Monson. “Other expressions may be more subtle, such as showing interest in another’s activities, teaching a principle with kindness and patience, visiting one who is ill or homebound. These words and actions and many others can communicate love” (“Love—the Essence of the Gospel,” Apr. 2014 general conference).

Every day Latter-day Saints are given opportunities to show love and kindness to those around them, he said.

Today's q/q: Why would it take a 75 year scientific study to come to the same conclusion religious leaders of many faiths known for years? Is it really that simple? Can one find happiness simply by loving our neighbor?