This last weekend Thom and I drove to Carlsbad to visit with our friends John and Michelle.  It took some gas money to get there, but once we arrived, we hunkered down with a couple of bottles of wine, a great dinner that Michelle prepared, and talked for hours, and hours.  We eventually went to bed (lucky for us they have a guest room) and then got up and talked and laughed over breakfast before returning home to the desert.  Once the overnight bag was put away, it occurred to me that our brief trip was one of those priceless moments with friends that takes relatively little money but offers huge returns.   In fact, cultivating deep friendships may be one of the SMARTest things any of can do on a regular basis to live a great life. [Read more…]