Getting older but happier because science says so

It was my birthday the other day and after a couple of decades of being pretty much the same level of awesomeness, I am noticing some changes as I get older. Not just physical ones such as I now occasionally need reading glasses or that I have a couple of grey nostril hairs for some reason, but also mental. Such as being more selfish and not caring so much about what other people think. And I was never really known for giving much of a shit as it was. I am putting it down to my growing more introspective and not down to me being more of a dick. I am turning from mild extrovert to introvert.

I was reading an article the other day about how kids under a certain age don’t believe you are getting older unless you have a birthday party. I wish that were true but a birthday, while meaningless, has increasingly become a time for some introspection. I read several separate articles that show that happiness over a lifetime is actually a U shape. You generally start off happy and then that declines until you hit bottom around you mid to late forties (around 46ish) and you then cheer up more and more as you get older.

You can read about this here but it is well established and discussed elsewhere – https://medium.economist.com/why-people-get-happier-as-they-get-older-b5e412e471ed

Here is a big clue – I am at the bottom of the U right now. It is a time when you suddenly notice shit stuff like a lone hair growing out of your ear or you realise you always make a noise when you get up from the couch. At the same time you haven’t quite achieved all you thought you would have by this point. I still don’t have a talking, self-warming Japanese toilet, for example. It is when most people have a mid-life crisis. I didn’t think I was necessarily going to have one. My life is pretty sweet and it would be churlish to lament my lot. But recently, when I thought about it, I have noticed some changes.

I have been really getting into philosophy and psychology and the idea of contentment and a life well lived. I have been drawing a lot more. And, most importantly, I have been writing a lot more fiction – about 750-1000 words a day. It is a shitload of fun, incredibly satisfying and something I have been doing on and off (like drawing) since I was about 10.

Maybe this new arty self is my mid-life crisis, maybe not. To point is that if this is the bottom, then it is not too bad and I don’t mind getting older. In fact, with advances in longevity it is possible that we Gen X types are on course to be the happiest 100 year-olds around. Maybe it is cyclical and you enter another life-crisis in your 120s. Who knows? Or, as I am at at life’s lowest happiness ebb (according to science) – who the fuck cares? Enjoy yourself.