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Who’s Cryin’ Now?
Buck Up Britney, Taylor, and Miley
By Robyn Hall
I hate to laugh at the expense of the young whippersnappers out there – the Millennial Generation – those aged 18-29 who are getting all of the political and media attention, all of the technology apps, all of the fashionista rankings, and all of the entertainment industry dollars (video games, music, movies, and TV shows are solely focused on this target and completely ignore anyone who remembers life before YouTube).
But a new study makes me chuckle out loud, and I just can’t help snidely smiling at the bambinas at the mall who stroll by with their iPhones attached to their ears, crying about their latest boyfriend traumas. The study asked the simple question “At what age are we happiest?” And the magic number is . . . drumroll please . . . 74! You read that correctly, my friends. SEVENTY-FOUR. Right now, in the year 2010, that would be people who were born in the year 1936 – the same year that the Hoover Dam was finished, Gone With The Wind was published, and FDR won his second term as President by a landslide victory over Alf Landon. Hello?
According to a report by Social Indicators Research, U.S. and German researchers questioned 21,000 people and found that happiness typically declines from the teen years through age 40. Then miraculously, happiness picks up again at age 46. (WOO HOO!! I am turning 46 this year and can’t wait for that little pick me up. I’m due, let me tell you.)
The scientists found that people become more upbeat through their fifties and sixties, with satisfaction peaking at around 74. Experts attribute this positive state of being to improvements in healthcare, education and life expectancy and also to the fact that by the age of 40, most will have married, bought a home and chosen a career. Therefore, with those difficult decisions behind us, we are free to start enjoying life, learn from our mistakes, and seek out whatever makes us happy. We will also enjoy fewer responsibilities, financial worries and more time to ourselves once the nest has emptied.
If you don’t believe this study, there are several more that have the same damn good news, and most indicate that the second half of life is even happier for women vs. men.
– In the trend-setting book, “Sex and the Seasoned Woman,” author Gail Sheehy concluded that the 50s and 60s are the happiest decades of life. Sheehy found that today’s midlife women “are at the peak of their lives . . . they are happier and more productive than they have ever been before.” She reported that over and over again, with conviction, women who had crossed into their 50s told her “I would not go back to being young again.”
– Recent research conducted by AARP among women 45+ found that the majority (56 percent) are “happier now than they have ever been.”
– In 1998, the North American Menopause Society and The Gallup Organization conducted a phone survey of 752 postmenopausal women (ages 50-65). Fifty-one percent reported being happiest and most fulfilled between the ages of 50 and 65, compared to their 20s, 30s, and 40s.
– Dr. Margaret Mead coined the term “postmenopausal zest” to refer to the surge of energy and excitement accompanying this release from what could be termed the biological burden of womanhood. She found this elevated spirit manifested in midlife women across cultures.
– A remarkable 59 percent of women ages 50-70 years old agreed with the statement “My greatest achievements are still ahead of me,” according to research done by the DDB Life Style Study and Marti Barletta for her book, PrimeTime Women.
Here’s to our cups being blessedly full. Here’s to being happier tomorrow than we are today. Here’s to having an amazing ride in the second half of life. Here’s to being Aging But Dangerous!
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