Happiness Comes with Age
August 17, 2009 by Michelle Smith
Filed under Relationships
I like my life. Maybe it’s not everything that it could be, but it’s a good life. I’ve realized that it’s fluid and ever-changing. When I get stressed, I try to take a deep breath and a step back. I examine the situation and figure out how to make it work. I flip it somehow. With age I’ve learned the importance of being flexible.
I read today that older people are happier than younger people. This comes from the American Psychologoical Association of Toronto, Canada and a Pew Research Study.
I accept this idea completely. I have a teen. She is a beautiful girl with all sorts of possibilities ahead of her. You’d think she’d be happy, but everything – and I mean everything – is annoying. You know what annoys me? Crowds. How do I deal with them? I avoid them. Problem solved.
Here are a few of the ways in which older people find greater happiness:
*They are better able to recognize what triggers stress and avoid it
*They don’t sweat the small stuff and have greater control over their emotions
*They nurture close relationships with family and friends
*They have a more “positive mindset” and prefer to look at things from a positive point of view – both present and past events
*The have more time for hobbies, friends, or religion because they are retired
*They pick and chose their battles, having learned long ago that to let the little stuff slide
An interesting point made in the article is that a younger person’s more high-strung nature may actually contribute to better success in the workplace.
“Sometimes, happiness is something that you might not be able to achieve in the same way when you’re young and you have these things to accomplish,” she said. “Your time will come.”
Image credit: SXC.HU
I remember so clearly being young… when everything was new and emotions seemed magnified. I find that fascinating. I watch young people now and it amuses me–going through “stuff”–and, to us oldsters who have been through these things a few times (social situations, heartbreaks, disappointments, failures), it’s old hat. To them it’s unknown territory and they go through those situations with those emotions for the first time. I do and don’t miss those “first time” feelings.
With age we realize that everything is not HUGE and that even the big things will eventually hurt less. When you are a kid, it’s hard because you don’t have the same experience with getting through something. No glimpse of that hope on the other side. They’ll get it eventually. Some day Bay is going to laugh when looking back at how “annoyed” she was.