Touching lives: A means to Happiness?

As we were walking along the beach this morning, I noticed a young girl sitting on the rocks and examining some sea shells. Our conversation went something like this:
Me: You look happy, have you found what you are looking for?
She: I like looking at shells, they make me happy. I particularly like the ones that shine on the inside. 
Me: I used to collect a fair few in my younger days but then someone told me one day that every-time we remove shells from the beach a living organism loses its home. 
She: Aaah, that sounds depressing....but maybe some little crab went into the shell and then decided that he/she had 'outgrown' that shell and as a result has discarded that shell and decided to move on. Everytime they move on though, they leave their little 'shell armors' behind, as a result of this, the shells fuse into each other and become thicker and stronger and tougher, with more character!
Me:  Where did you learn this? 
She: I just made it up as we were chatting (smiles sheepishly).
Me: (As I point excitedly towards two shells fused together)I love it! I am going to write about it this morning!

So riddle me this, just like the shells that help each other grow stronger and stronger and more beautiful, how many of you have been touched by different people you have come across? How many of you have been enriched by their touch? How many of you have tried to enrich their lives as well? Have you honored your relationships with those special people? As the wise Stephanie Dowrick once said: "It's impossible to think deeply about yourself without also thinking deeply about your impact on other people - and understanding them better". 


How can we honor our relationships with people? 
We could attempt to spend more quality time with the people around us. What activities can you think of that would bring the touch of quality into your time? Activities like Hiking, roller blading, Indoor (or outdoor) rock climbing, running, walking down the beach, or a relaxed picnic somewhere nice are some of the quality activities I do with my family and friends.


We could learn to love as children do. To love without self-consciousness, without restraint.


Gaining self-knowledge in relation to other people, remember this, other people are never out of the picture, so lets observe our effect on other people and then reflect on the situation and our actions.

Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.  

  - Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics (384 BC - 322 BC).