David Oaks

For years, I kept parts of my story hidden—the struggles, the shame, the uncertainty. But research shows that sharing our full story, including the hard parts, creates resilience not just for us, but for the people we love. Discover why the oscillating family narrative—the one that tells the truth about both struggles and comebacks—produces the strongest legacy.

Bruce Feiler's research reveals that the average person experiences three to five lifequakes in their adult lives, each lasting about five years. That means nearly half our lives are spent responding to these destabilizing episodes. Learning to navigate the messy middle—rather than joking it away—may be the real work of living well.

For 85 years, Harvard researchers tracked the same group of people to answer one question: What makes people happy and healthy as they age? The result identified seven predictors of well-being, with one standing out above all others—quality relationships.