Why it is Essential to Pursue Happiness as You Age

One of the most beautiful pieces of writing in the world is undoubtedly the US Constitution, which states:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

However it was not until last week that I actually understood what the American founding fathers meant by the pursuit of happiness. Please note that they didn’t say we had a right to be happy or capture happiness. We are instead entitled to pursue happiness. Do you know why you have to pursue happiness? It is because happiness keeps running away, especially as you age!

Last week I discovered this isn’t folklore it is fact: it is harder to be happy in middle-age than when you are young. When I was researching my blog about marriage last week, I found studies that proved that people suffer a dip in their happiness when they hit their 40s and 50s. Countless studies have found this to be the case and it is a global phenomenon. When we hit middle-age happiness runs away from us, and we need to put in extra effort to chase it down and bring it back. That is why the founding fathers advised us to pursue happiness. They realised that happiness is a slippery and elusive commodity!

Scientists prove a ‘psychological low in midlife’

Seven months ago the American National Bureau of Economic Research looked at data from across the globe to try to find out if people suffer a ‘psychological low in midlife’. Their findings proved that we absolutely do!

Researchers David Blanchflower and Andrew Oswald led the study and looked at seven data sets covering 51 countries and about 1.3 million people. Using two different methodologies, Blanchflower and Oswald came to the conclusion that people aged in their 40s and early 50s experience a fall in happiness.

The scientists identified a U-shaped graph for happiness. Most people are happy in their 20s and 30s, when life is full of promise, but come middle-age and personal happiness takes a nose-dive. It does however return once people are past the age of 60 years.

It is hard to say what causes this psychological midlife low, often referred to as a midlife crisis. Is it dissatisfaction with relationships, limited employment options, stress at work, an ageing body, the demands of raising children and caring for ageing parents?

Happiness starts to dip around 35 years

The researchers did not say that middle-aged people are totally miserable. Generally they report a seven out of 10 for life satisfaction but that is well down on how 20-somethings feel.

A British study has turned up similar results to the US one. It found that people aged over 90 even tend to be much happier than middle-aged people! The British Office for National Statistics discovered that the least happy and least satisfied people were aged between 40 to 59 years. Women in this age were generally more satisfied than men with their lives, but they were suffering from higher levels of anxiety. Note the British study analysed the health date of 300,000 people. The English study found that people’s happiness starts to wane when they hit 35. The absolute unhappiest years occur between 50 to 54 for most people.

Author of the study Paul Doolan explained it this way: “When you’re young you have all this false optimism about life; when you are in midlife most people haven’t achieved what they would like to, and then by the time you’re in your late 50s you start to get over yourself and start doing things you like, caring less about social comparisons.”

Happiness rises after 60 years

The English study also found the people’s happiness starts to rise again after the age of 60. Those with the highest levels of life satisfaction were aged 70-74, followed closely by 65-69-year-olds and 16-19-year-olds.

But do not be tempted to think that frustrations and disappointments are the true reason for this middle-aged gloom. Other researchers believe that a midlife low is natural phenomena. There's actually evidence that great apes are prone to mid-life blues. A study published in 2012 found a “U-shape” similar to humans in the wellbeing patterns of chimpanzees and orang-utans observed in zoos in Japan, the US, Canada, Australia and Singapore.

I am not sharing these results with you to depress you! Instead I say to you, if happiness runs away when you age, then you need to quicken your pace and catch up to happiness! Remember it is a ‘pursuit’! It is essential that you do things that make you happy – walk outside in nature often, listen to upbeat music, meet up with friends and start a hobby that appeals to you. Begin your own business if that is your passion!

It is up to you to recapture happiness

Perhaps if you have experienced hard times in recent years (a marriage break-up, a career disappointment, problems with children) you should be heartened to hear that you are not alone in your challenges. Many people suffer a slump in their life happiness in their 40s and 50s! Okay, so now that you know it’s normal, it is also time for you to rectify the situation.

If you have listened or read about my prosperity mindset outlook, you will know that I’ve always encouraged people to actively seek happiness and prosperity. You need to keep learning, keep reading, keep exercising, keep upskilling, keep improving your company or job prospects. In life no one can afford to be complacent, especially as we can all expect a natural dip in our happiness levels in middle age. Do you think it’s going to help you if you sit around saying to yourself, “if only I was slimmer, smarter, richer, more successful …. I would be happy!” I promise you, that is not going to help. We all need to get out there and actively pursue happiness, because there will be times in our lives when happiness is not easy to come by – and, yes my friends, that may be age related!