We are told, more or less constantly, that happiness is something you get. Buy the thing, win the prize, land the promotion, treat yourself. Queen Elizabeth II spent more than ninety years watching people from one of the most unusual vantage points on earth, and she came to almost the opposite conclusion. The happiest people she had ever met were not the ones grabbing the most for themselves. They were the ones giving the most away. Not money, necessarily, but time, attention and care. It is a gentle line, easy to nod at and forget. It also happens to match what researchers keep discovering about what actually makes a life feel full.
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