Tuesday evening

This week reminded me of something profound in the simplest way.

I had a few friends over on Tuesday night.

A dear friend was visiting town. Perfect excuse for a small gathering.

After an early start, morning training, and a long day in the office, I expected to be exhausted.

Instead, four hours vanished in a blur of stories and laughter.

It reminded me of Robert Waldinger’s fascinating research.

His team tracked hundreds of people for 80 years, measuring everything from blood work to bank accounts.

Their most striking finding?

The best predictor of happiness and health wasn’t career success or wealth.

It was the strength of their relationships.

Here’s another startling fact: the number of people having weekly dinner parties has dropped 90% since 1950.

Most of that decline happened by the 1990s. The strange part? There’s no barrier to hosting. No law against having friends over for dinner.

We’ve just… stopped.

We meticulously track our steps, our screen time, our investment returns.

We optimize our sleep and our productivity.

Yet sometimes the most valuable investment is as simple as clearing a Tuesday evening for friends.

Major reminder to myself to make more time for intimate moments like this.