Money doesn't make us happy. Even though we sometimes think it will, it never does. Studies even prove it.
And the very fact that money can't be used to measure happiness and success has led some economists to move beyond money, to study happiness itself.
A recent large-scale study reveals a U-shaped pattern. We start out pretty happy and then apparently from age 16 to age 45, there is a steady decline in happiness.
How unhappy are we then? Well, relatively speaking, our age has a larger effect on our happiness than if our incomes were suddenly reduced by half.
Luckily, it gets better. After the age of 45 there is a remarkable 15-year upswing in happiness. How happy are we then? Well, we're happier than if someone suddenly doubled our income.
So, how do we climb out of that deep well of relative unhappiness? Economists can only speculate, but they believe it's got to come from all that wisdom gained in the trench.
I actually think the years between 16 and 45 are some of the best of our lives. The only problem? We're sometimes confused, often busy and as we get a bit older, exhausted.
But occasionally we get clear glimpses of our lives. In the midst of figuring out the world and our relationships, finishing college, raising babies, building careers, caring for family members...in all of that delicious, exhausting, maddening flurry, we have those transcendent moments and we know how lucky we are to be here. How good it is.
Hey, I'm 44 this year so that means I'm just emerging from the trench. So if this study is true, it's nothing but up from here! Am I smarter from having gone through those years? Absolutely. But still so much to learn. Onward.
Read the whole article at Slate.
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