Research on happiest years of life

I can nail down individual events that made me sad and unhappy for short periods - the deaths of those dear to me, or individual events that had me worried - threats of redundancy (far worse than the redundancy itself), problems with children, I can also think of short periods of extreme happiness.

But overall my average level of contentment.(which I much prefer to happiness) has been pretty level all my life.

Am I the only one that has had a generally happy life with several unhappy periods. My childhood was Ok I didn't suffer any bullying, then I had a broken engagement but after meeting DH, I have mostly been happy. True there were periods of back pain and months of worrying about financial situation but overall I feel my life was a happy one
Just at 17 or 70 maybe right for some but not me.

Yet another statistics madness.

I'm 60 next month, and my happiest years have been the past 10 (in my 50s). The reasons:

The birth of 2 adorable grandchildren
my own children happy and in good jobs
Holidays abroad
My mortgage paid off
Far more "me" time
A well-paid job, which is part-time
Getting fitter

It's all been really good.

I've been interested to read all your posts.
Great for those on an even keel ?
Sorry that some of you are struggling
Research would have come to a different conclusion if gns had been polled.

Katyk
I enjoyed my 30's 40's.

I probably think of my thirties as my best decade, financially more stable, far more confident, I think I probably looked better then, incredibly busy, no idea how we managed it all, but lots of happy memories
Forties also quite good, fifties for various reasons, not a very happy decade, now in my sixties, determined to make the best of life.
As for 15! No Thankyou!

I’m still waiting for mine.

With the exception of the birth of my 4 gorgeous grandchildren (that keep me sane) I haven’t really had a lot to shout about in my 57 years.

Infact almost the opposite of SalsaQueens list.

Very little “me” time.
A rubbish paid job that I hate.
Still paying a mortgage
Quite a bit of debt but with nothing to show for it
No proper holidays (abroad or otherwise)
Becoming less fit (emotionally and physically)

In my 60’s has been the best for me. Divorced an awful husband. Children grown up, relocated to live near them, working part time and living by myself doing whatever I like

Of the teen years I would say 17 was better than 15 but I was a late bloomer. 22 was pretty good, I was a smug entitled know-it-@
all and it was BLISS. Then life knocked the smug out of me and made me wise and its hard to be carefree when you know how the world works.

27 was okay. Was playing at being a proper grown up but didnt really know what I was doing. Spent WAYYY too much money which I spent my 30s paying for

40 had its moments. I had stopped taking from people and there was huge freedom in that

30s were the worst. There were moments of light relief but I had lost myself in a way because the brash confident carefree person I was in my early 20s was gone and sort of nothing replaced her.

Health wasnt great as either having babies or working my butt off. No time for hobbies/exercise. No money. No confidence.

Went through to my 40s accepting that I couldnt get my old self "back". Too much water under the bridge, but I became comfortable with the new me, and gained confidence, bit more of a quiet inroverted confidence than the brash extroverted confidence of my 20s. Money situation improved a little. But with all that, 40s have been very boring: plodding along, making sensible decisions, avoiding drama and excitement.... never spending too much after being too flash in my 20s

I will need to have a very eccentric old age to compensate for my dull sensible middle age

I do really miss being a blissfully ignorant brash outspoken confident know it all though. I wish I could unlearn life's hard lessons and be carefree. And not always tired.

Oh dear I am definately not the norm.

I am 73 and yes lots of aches and pains with a life threatening illness in remission, but I am as happy as a lark.

I have so much to be grateful for. I love my hobbies, we have a good standard of living. Have a circle of friends, like the theatre, like reading, adore gardening, walking. Love my dog. Family is everything to me.

Yes getting old means my system is not functioning on all cylinders as it once did, but in an odd sort of way I find it quite interesting.

Aging is inevitable, so you might as well embrace it and enjoy every day that you are given. So many are not given the chance and die before they have hardly started on this road.

An eccentric old age sounds wonderful Notanan!

Whitewave you sound lovely & interesting. Were you always this way or did it come with age?

(Because I think I am dull compared to you and hope to grow into a more interesting life)

My deepest sympathies to everyone here who has lost their DH.

My heart goes out, also, to those of you who were feeling sad and depressed when you posted here. It has been a few months since you made those comments, so I hope you're feeling better. If not, I hope you've sought counseling or will do so soon. It may really help.

Some of you, on the other hand, have awesome upbeat attitudes. Love it! Hope you continue to enjoy!

"I read some research recently that concluded that the happiest years of our lives are age 15 and 70."

HUGE generalization, IMO! I wonder who did this "research," what were their criteria for "happiness" and how many people they questioned. IMO, it's different for everyone. For me, it depends on what's happening in my life at the time, and, judging by what I'm reading here, I'm not alone.

I think my late 30's to now (70's) are my happiest.

Certainly not teenage years, although many people say their younger days were wonderful. Mine were not.

I loved being a mother but my marriage had challenges with a very sick husband.

Only when I learned to ignore criticism and stopped trying to make myself into the kind (and shape) of person others said I should be, did I break free of the social handcuffs and expectations which ruin so many lives.

From then on it was upwards to contentment and joy by tailoring my life the way I wanted it.

I became much happier, easier to live with and with a physical and emotional zest for life I hadn't realised was possible.

But that's just me.
As they say in the USA, YMMV (which I once thought meant 'you make me vomit' so much for acronyms.

What does it mean?

I looked it up on Google, and this is what I found:

"written abbreviation for your mileage may vary: used, for example on social media and in text messages and emails, to mean that you understand people may have a different opinion or experience to yours."

Thankyou starlady, you learn something every day!

I loved being in my 30 and having two small children of my own plus foster babies I got at a week old . My DM said it must have been like hitting my head on a brick wall but I loed it and my children thrived. Later on in my 40 getting back to work and realising I was appreciated and was good at my job . Life was interesting and I loved being in contact with lots of people. In my 70s now good friends have died I get tired more easily and feel the grim reaper is looming .

You're welcome, Sara!

Flora, I'm sorry that some of your good friends are gone now. Hugs!

However, I don't think that's a reason to feel death is imminent. More and more people are living into their 90s these days and even beyond.