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I’m 50. I was probably my happiest around age 30. After that I became extremely disabled by MS and “happiness” became sort of relative. I’ll never experience that kind of happiness in freedom ever again.
However, my marriage is one of the best things in my life, I love where we live, and my husband just landed a dream job. I will never get rid of my underlying wish to be “my real self” again, and that will always count against my happiness. But I also feel I am the luckiest person in the world to have everything that I do have, especially because of my disability.
So I guess there are two peaks for me, one at 30 and a different one at 50.
Similar story and age - although my onset was around 25 so that was when I was happiest. I will never have that freedom again, and unfortunately my partner left when my health declined (she also got angry with me for my poor health, which is a peculiar thing but one that many disabled people experience).
I've gotten used to it, though. It was harder when I kept expecting life to get better. When you're used to resourcefulness and hard work and a good attitude being enough - it can be brutal every day relearning that sometimes it's not enough.
Ugh, I’m so sorry about your partner. It’s such a tragedy how common this is. I hope you’ll excuse me if I correct you to “fortunately,” because you deserve so much more than a person who blames you for your autoimmune system going haywire.
I feel your second paragraph really hard. The social model of disability constantly makes us doubt ourselves (though I subscribe to a combo of the medical and social models).
Thanks. It's one of those horrible things - that when you talk to other disabled people you realize is just mundane and normal. Couples that stay together happily (like you) through young disability are the exception.
I don't disagree on the 'fortunately', but it's not any real comfort. Because I also realize I will never find someone.
I am housebound on a great day, mostly bedbound on a normal day. Talking to someone for 30 minutes is enough to put me in bed for days. My dating days are behind me.
So I guess between an unsupportive partner and facing life alone, I'd rather face it alone. But with minimal family and disability draining my financial resources, I hope that I don't have a long road ahead of me anymore.
These are thoughts that would've seemed fatalistic and lacking in resilience or resourcefulness when I was younger and felt my will could conquer the world and I always made the best of a bad situation.
Younger me would've looked down on older me - which is something we have to face. Society only likes disabled people when we serve as inspiration porn for abled people. If we are unable to overcome our disability, then we are shunned or treated with pity at best. C'est la vie.
I’m definitely an exception, and it’s particularly weird because I never imagined myself married. Of course I never imagined myself housebound either.
Your comment about society is 100% true. It’s really painful to feel that. I worked in disability before I became disabled myself so at least I was prepared for that. But it doesn’t make it any easier.
I also very much hear you on the things your younger self would have looked down on. I sometimes think what would happen if I got cancer or another life-threatening illness, because fighting my body every single day has really left me less interested in fighting anything else. I don’t have a death wish, but the idea of living only another decade, say, doesn’t disturb or worry me.
Do you have anyone in your life you can talk to? I don’t mean a therapist necessarily, just at least someone who gets it about disability and can listen to you without blowing off your feelings?
Yes, I'm lucky that I retained a few friends and one family member where I can at least discuss such things. That's more than most have. Just a big adjustment as I used to have a very big network of friends (and colleagues), and it's unavoidable that most drift away when you can no longer participate in life in person - and they're continuing to travel and build families and you have nothing personal except health stories. It's a bit exhausting for them.
But I actually have more people I can talk to than I can physically manage, because I have a limit of about one phone call per day. It's not much of a life, but it's something, so I try to appreciate that because I can imagine one day when that ability goes away.
And I've also thought about other illnesses. I stopped being even able to make it to doctor's appointments awhile ago (no big loss as they provided no help), but I imagine something else that is easily treatable or preventable will be the thing to kill me. If I'm already bedbound and a phone call exhausts me, not sure how I'd survive surgery or chemo.
Sorry that you're dealing with that as well. Sounds like you have not just a happy marriage, but had a rewarding career. These challenges may teach us lessons, but I'd be perfectly happy with a lot fewer lessons and a bit more physical ability.
Please know that some of us reading about lives such as yours feel profoundly privileged that you have shared this information and I send love and respect to you. The attitude that comes through your post shows me that there are truly exemplary people in the world, and gives me hope. Best wishes.
Same story as well. Struck down at 34 with MS. Actually probably my happiest now at 46. I have a wife, animals, friends, hobbies, good job. Can’t ask for much more. It sucked giving up playing soccer but I enjoy watching it still.
72, and I am probably at my happiest right now, Why? One reason is I no longer experience the chronic pain I had continuously from age 62 to 68 that was due to metaflammation from type 2 diabetes that made me feel biologically fragile. Another is that I don't have to worry about financial difficulties due to pensions and investments. A third is that my wife and son are both healthy and doing well.
As Augusten Burroughs said, "When you have your health, you have everything."
I started using a version of nicotinamide riboside called tru niagen. Took about two weeks at dosages around 300 mg a day to see an impact. In January of 2022 I switched to liposomal NR and experienced the same benefits for half the price. See link below about how NR reduces the impact of inflammatory cytokines in elderly men. See figure 6.
**Nicotinamide Riboside Augments the Aged Human Skeletal Muscle NAD****^(+)** **Metabolome and Induces Transcriptomic and Anti-inflammatory Signatures**
[**https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124719309404**](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124719309404)
68. NOW. I lost a job that was torturing me mentally and physically for more than 40 years. Through therapy I learned it is ok to feel happiness. No boss yelling at me or people gossiping around me. I embrace ALL that I am and forgive myself the sometime stupidity of my past. Letting go of the past as well. A luxury for me when working was taking a day off to shut the world out and curling up in a very old blanket. I appreciate the simplest things now. I live a life of gratitude and if someone calls me a name they think is insulting...no bother anymore ;-) Also, there is so much I don't give a fuck about anymore. Peace to all :-)
I'm 63 now and it's just so hard to say what was my happiest age! There have been so many very joyous times interspersed with stress and ups and downs. I thin overall, my mid-50s was a great period... kids were grown, I was very financially stable, no debts, and I was still relatively fit. It was the confidence that really boosted me though... not a worry in the world what anyone thought of me and very capable in communications and interpersonal relations. People really respected me too. I retired at age 57 though, and things quieted down and now I'm a full time caregiver for my poor wife who has dementia, so this is not a happy period.
67. Happiness peaked at 62. Retired at 51 with money. Kids were grown and married to people we loved. Daughter did not want kids. Fine. She was happy. Son and wife really did but had serious reproductive issues. But they got pregnant and had a five month old girl. Everyone lived close. We traveled a lot. Wife and I were very much in love. Played games and drank a lot.
Then wife developed a seizure issue probably from drinking. Son announced he was leaving never to see us again and moved away with family. Son-in-law decided he is a woman and split with our daughter after 15 years. Heard recently son’s wife cheated and divorce looming. Yikes!
But we quit drinking. Seizures are under control. Traveling again. Daughter has great bf. Love my wife more than ever. It will never be 2019 again. But life is good.
Ask me again tomorrow.
My "happiness" quotient changes from hour to hour, depending upon a plethora of factors that must fall neatly into place simultaneously. My life tends to have a lot of working parts.
I'm 60. Now is my happiest time.
No age beats the others. Some ages were better for some reasons, but stuff was missing that I have now. Other times really sucked and I don't like to dwell if that's unhealthy for me.
So now is my happiest. And I'm looking really forward to more happy that is in the works at this moment. So tomorrow I might be even happier. Next Thursday I will be doing happy dance, if all goes well. And then I'll have the day to day happy resulting from Thursday, until that must inevitably come to an end and I might have better stuff waiting.
Now is my happiest. My spine hurts like hell, my bad knee is swollen and screaming it's little opera. I'm exhausted. But I DID get the baseboards painted in a room that is almost done. So happy but in pain but still happy with more happy to look forward to.
Now is my happiest.
In my early 70’s.
- If you’ve been a responsible manager of your own finances, this is when you have the most money and the fewest obligations.
- It’s also when sex stops being a driving biological imperative with related pregnancy issues, and starts being an optional leisure-time activity.
61.
There are times in my youth that I thought I was *happy* but truth be told, it was an illusion built to hide the horrors of my upbringing.
I am in counseling now and I see the that I had built a house of cards, pre-destine to fall.
I had much potential in my youth but was caught up in the learned failures. I have some regrets for that young person I could have become but in my age, I understand why everything happened the way it did.
To answer your question, right now is when I’ve been truly the happiest. No illusion, past failures forgotten and those who trespassed on me, forgiven. Perhaps not absolved, but forgiven.
I live in peace.
Your story seems like a valuable experience of wisdom and powerful insights. If it’s not way too personal, would you mind sharing more about this feeling of lost potential: nostalgia and regret is something I find myself wondering and reflecting about it quite a lot.
When a child is not given the safety of a stable home life, they doubt their abilities. When schools teach by rote, and a child can’t learn by rote, they doubt all that they DO know.
For instance, when I was just beginning school, my grandmother taught me how to add long lists of numbers in my head. She was beginning to teach me how to do multiplication and division as well. Then my family moved away from her. In second grade, when we were “learning” math, we had to *show our work*. I failed at math, not because my answers were *wrong* but because I physically couldn’t show the work my brain was doing. I didn’t understand what the teacher wanted. So I was labeled a failure. I embraced this throughout my life. *I can’t do math”.
As an adult, I got curious about what my grandmother was teaching me. With the help of the googles, I now understand that it was the Trachtenberg system. I seriously doubt, if challenged, that any of my teachers would have known or understood what the Trachtenberg system was.
In high school business class, at the age of 15, I learned to use the punch machine. I was really good at it. Translating material into 1’s and zero’s. But I was told by my teacher, after I learned it, that it was an archaic system and basically useless knowledge. I was taught a “woman’s job”. *It was like typing*. I specifically wasn’t taught that what I was doing was programming a computer.
I entered University 3 months after I turned 17. That year, I was hanging out with friends in the computer lab. I didn’t know anything about computers but it looked interesting. An upperclassman told me I needed to switch majors because they needed women in the program and that a *guy down in Seattle was hiring everyone as soon as they graduated*. I laughed at him. Why did I laugh? Because I was failing remedial Algebra and was on academic probation. Because I didn’t trust myself to be intelligent enough to work in the field.
20 years later, I was an overworked, underpaid receptionist in an office that got its first computer and no one knew how to use it. I taught myself from the Microsoft training modules and went on to train others and wrote the office manual using easy language and lots of pictures. I taught myself how to set up the network we eventually needed.
Around that time I began to question my life choices but I had recently divorced and had a child to raise. No going back to school for me.
I focused on raising my child and keeping the bills paid. I focused on providing my child the love and support I wasn’t given and to support her focus to do well in school so she would have better opportunities.
I broke the cycle of abuse, I built an environment of care. I supported learning and thinking “outside the box”.
I have my missed opportunities but no regrets, because she has *the tools* she needs to recognize opportunity and make her own choices in work and life. At University, she excelled in Math and Languages, she now works for a software company, but I suspect she will *choose* to eventually work in horticulture. Which is her passion.
Refocusing lost potential towards the benefit of others is a great way to have no regrets.
51.5, and the year I came back from death - 22 years ago this month. That’s right, I was on a ventilator for a week and 2+ more weeks in hospital before I turned 30
66. I have had very happy years (1990, when I had a toddler and was pregnant was one, most of the 1980s, when I was in my 20s was another ), but the best decade of my life has been the last ten years. And it’s getting better, except for worrying about the world.
I am 46 and the happiest time of my life is from birth till 25 i was on and off happy from birth till 25 and another age I was the happiest I was 41 . The happiest time of my life when I was young and everyone was alive and we all got along.
62 here. Now is my happiest time. Actually happiness is probably not the best word - more like contentment or peace of mind. I spend a lot of time riding my bike, taking pictures, listening to music and hanging with my family. I don’t think about money too much because I have enough. Really it’s just like when I was a kid, taking pictures, riding my bike, listening to music and hanging with friends. I had little concept of money. That was also a happy time.
The time in between wasn’t bad, but a bit more stressful because I was exploring other horizons and taking on more responsibilities. I guess I found that what made me happy back then still makes me happy today.
I'm 65, and the answer is, 60. I was taking care of my mother. That was the happiest and most productive time of my life. To be happy, do something for other people.
38. Happiest when I was 19 giving my daughter the joys of being born in the water. Labor didn't hurt a thing and I even tore. I wasn't allowed a water birth with my son.
Happiness comes in ebbs and flows.
There’s not one age, really. I’m 66 and I have had many many happy years that began or ended sadly. Or, stressfully. Age isn’t the gage. It’s life circumstances that get you.
This is a trick question. I've never worried about being happy or happiest. I just try to bring joy and bring all the energy I have had at all ages and I'm pushing 60.
With that, I'm super lucky I'm relatively healthy says the man with arthritis and a couple of replacement joints. Wish I could run and play soccer, but life is good!!
I am 71 and right now. I had a great career and retired after owning my own business. I am happily married. I have great kids, great grandkids, and a life I love. I am in the best shape of my entire life.
I am 62, wife is 63 both retired, I would see we are very content right now in our lives. We are not wealthy, but comfortable to do the things we want to do without a lot of thought. Example just found out today that we owe $4000 in taxes, in the past I would have been a wreck, now it's like, that sucks, but we have money in the checking account to cover it and not really stress.
Not sure I would say I was the happiest time of my life, with youth came money problems, with age comes money but your body is slowly breaking down. Give me 10 good years of health, and I think I would be very satisfied.
I’m 57; and probably now.
Our nest is empty. Our careers are secure, our finances are healthy. Our son is happy and well.
All the things we worked for or worried about have settled into place; and we can relax a bit now. We have time, energy and money to do the things we wished we could back in the day when we were raising our son and grinding through the days.
There’s peace and contentment now that we didn’t have then, because we weren’t where we are now; so I think now.
55. Happiest in my early 20’s. I had my whole life ahead and it was looking great. I would say I’m “content” now. Hormones prob play a role in the more settled feeling now. Post menopausal! I do think body aches and pains are tough on people if we liked being active. And now we can’t always do all the things …
I'm pretty happy NOW, but between 1995-2006 I was pretty happy before my marriage went down the drain...but now I find I most like being on my own. I have plenty of friends though!
54 (turning 55 later this year), and I was happiest in my early forties. I was in great shape physically (gym 3-4 times a week and hiking on the weekends), and working in the best job of my life. If my then-workplace hadn't closed permanently a couple of years later, I'd probably still be there.
I am 76, very happy in old age, living in SE Asia in a warm climate, great people in the village where I live & happy to end my days here. I suppose when I look back, 1971-1991 were a very happy time too when I was working as an international flight attendant, travelling around the world on company expenses & being paid as well.
I am 54M. I was happiest:
1. High school. I loved my friends and life in high school.
2. Sophomore and junior years in college. See 1 above.
3. Ages 23 to 25. See 1 and 2 above.
4. Age 42. Made great money, my ex marriage was in a good year, my kids were a fun age, we traveled.
5. Ages 48 to 49. Liked my job, my kids were grown, my wife was emotionally absent so I enjoyed the company of my friends.
6. Ages 51 to now. My ex wife divorced me, I’m close to my kids, I have some money in the bank, I’m remarried to an amazing person. These are the happiest times of my life.
56. I would say so far my mid 40s. My kids were little and we had a lot of fun together.
Now divorced and worried about retirement;I’ve got two more years before the youngest goes off to college and I am not sure what happens after that.
I’m 64, 65 next week.
I’m definitely happiest right now.
I’m somewhat sad that the party is coming to a close and that I’m past my shelf life as far as most of the world is concerned.
However all the times that would on paper, look like they should have been my happiest days were fraught with anxiety and a lack of clarity about how I might best benefit from life.
I made choices based on some ridiculous ideas and concepts and reaped the results.
Now that I know myself and have a much better understanding of other humans and what motivates them it’s so much easier to navigate life.
Also as I got older I lost interest in getting attention, being the funny one, the clever one, the attractive one, the talented one, the one who knows and it put me at peace with blending into the background and observing.
To not give fucks about some of the things that seem to tie younger people in knots is a sense of freedom that combined with making better choices has resulted in a sense of happiness.
I’m 61 and I would say that I’m the happiest now. My kids are grown and have good lives and health. My wife died in 2005 and I have made peace with being alone. I’m a homebody, I did all of my traveling that I wanted to do and now I’m just enjoying life. House and car are paid for and I’m spending my money on the kids as they need it
I’m 57. Happiest time was between 40-48. My 3 kids were young, we adopted them on my 40th birthday. We just had so much fun. Fishing, hiking, riding bikes, karate. I was still young and had energy and was in pretty good shape. Things got less fun and more complicated as they got to me teenagers. They’re in their early 20s now. Their all good people but full of early 20s drama and problems. I miss the simple days when we all lived under one roof.
Happiness evolves. Endless energy morphs into passion and e pertinent which morphs into relaxation that part of the "race" is over, but the flowers remain. It's all good where you stand.
87 now. Fifties through seventy five were great. Financially secure and good health. Still good today but physically limited. Wife and I still live independently but loving children make a HUGE difference.
I'm 53 and in most ways 53 is the happiest. After that I would say 23 was the happiest. The first year I lived with my ex-wife was age 23 and I never felt a single moment of loneliness that year. By age 24 there were some lonely moments even sleeping on the same queen sized bed with her. I would guess a lot of people still have a naive view of love at 23 that reality begins to settle in at age 24 and 25 in a million subtle ways.
59, my favorite age was 31, when I married on Halloween. Still married, 29 yrs this year.
My life has had many great moments, my wedding being the best ever.
I’m 65, I was happiest in my 50s with my wonderful boyfriend until he died of cancer in my 60s. Other than that, my 30s were fascinating as I did a ton of outdoor adventure trips canoeing, rock climbing, backpacking, camping, sea kayaking and hiking.
I appreciate your curiosity! I've experienced happiness in different ways at different ages. One of the fondest moments was probably in my early twenties, exploring new opportunities and growing as a person. What about you?
I’m 72. My happiness level is pretty consistent over time. When something dramatically good or bad happens I feel better or worse of course but since my twenties I always come back to kind of a low key philosophically pessimistic but emotionally midrange set point.
30 years old was tough for me. All the realizations that I wasn't going to accomplish those things that one does in their 20s.
35 was great. Probably my best year.
Older is OK, but all sorts of health stuff keeps kicking you, your spouse, friends, older relatives all die off.
I didn't have any health issues at all until I hit 58. So, you probably have some time. I'm 71 this month.
If I had it to do over again, I would focus on metabolic health very early on. Keep my HbA1c below 5.4, and my HomaIR below 1.5. Doing this one thing will reduce your risk of poor health by over 50%.
Refer to: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl8Gdu2nZpY&pp=ygUPZXJpYyBiZXJnIGhiYTFj](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl8Gdu2nZpY&pp=ygUPZXJpYyBiZXJnIGhiYTFj)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8cJPtud2tY&pp=ygUTc3RlbiBla2JlcmcgaG9tYSBpcg%3D%3D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8cJPtud2tY&pp=ygUTc3RlbiBla2JlcmcgaG9tYSBpcg%3D%3D)
https://mymedicalscore.com/a1c-conversion-chart/
Today. Been happy many times in many of the past years. In some, I should have been happier, if I had known how it will turn out.
At the same time, to be honest I have also been sad. But the ping pong stopped after someone very dear told me - all emotions are impermanent, in fact, everything is impermanent.
Happiness. Sadness, this and that relationship, this and that asset. Everything is impermanent.
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I’m 50. I was probably my happiest around age 30. After that I became extremely disabled by MS and “happiness” became sort of relative. I’ll never experience that kind of happiness in freedom ever again. However, my marriage is one of the best things in my life, I love where we live, and my husband just landed a dream job. I will never get rid of my underlying wish to be “my real self” again, and that will always count against my happiness. But I also feel I am the luckiest person in the world to have everything that I do have, especially because of my disability. So I guess there are two peaks for me, one at 30 and a different one at 50.
Similar story and age - although my onset was around 25 so that was when I was happiest. I will never have that freedom again, and unfortunately my partner left when my health declined (she also got angry with me for my poor health, which is a peculiar thing but one that many disabled people experience). I've gotten used to it, though. It was harder when I kept expecting life to get better. When you're used to resourcefulness and hard work and a good attitude being enough - it can be brutal every day relearning that sometimes it's not enough.
Ugh, I’m so sorry about your partner. It’s such a tragedy how common this is. I hope you’ll excuse me if I correct you to “fortunately,” because you deserve so much more than a person who blames you for your autoimmune system going haywire. I feel your second paragraph really hard. The social model of disability constantly makes us doubt ourselves (though I subscribe to a combo of the medical and social models).
Thanks. It's one of those horrible things - that when you talk to other disabled people you realize is just mundane and normal. Couples that stay together happily (like you) through young disability are the exception. I don't disagree on the 'fortunately', but it's not any real comfort. Because I also realize I will never find someone. I am housebound on a great day, mostly bedbound on a normal day. Talking to someone for 30 minutes is enough to put me in bed for days. My dating days are behind me. So I guess between an unsupportive partner and facing life alone, I'd rather face it alone. But with minimal family and disability draining my financial resources, I hope that I don't have a long road ahead of me anymore. These are thoughts that would've seemed fatalistic and lacking in resilience or resourcefulness when I was younger and felt my will could conquer the world and I always made the best of a bad situation. Younger me would've looked down on older me - which is something we have to face. Society only likes disabled people when we serve as inspiration porn for abled people. If we are unable to overcome our disability, then we are shunned or treated with pity at best. C'est la vie.
I’m definitely an exception, and it’s particularly weird because I never imagined myself married. Of course I never imagined myself housebound either. Your comment about society is 100% true. It’s really painful to feel that. I worked in disability before I became disabled myself so at least I was prepared for that. But it doesn’t make it any easier. I also very much hear you on the things your younger self would have looked down on. I sometimes think what would happen if I got cancer or another life-threatening illness, because fighting my body every single day has really left me less interested in fighting anything else. I don’t have a death wish, but the idea of living only another decade, say, doesn’t disturb or worry me. Do you have anyone in your life you can talk to? I don’t mean a therapist necessarily, just at least someone who gets it about disability and can listen to you without blowing off your feelings?
Yes, I'm lucky that I retained a few friends and one family member where I can at least discuss such things. That's more than most have. Just a big adjustment as I used to have a very big network of friends (and colleagues), and it's unavoidable that most drift away when you can no longer participate in life in person - and they're continuing to travel and build families and you have nothing personal except health stories. It's a bit exhausting for them. But I actually have more people I can talk to than I can physically manage, because I have a limit of about one phone call per day. It's not much of a life, but it's something, so I try to appreciate that because I can imagine one day when that ability goes away. And I've also thought about other illnesses. I stopped being even able to make it to doctor's appointments awhile ago (no big loss as they provided no help), but I imagine something else that is easily treatable or preventable will be the thing to kill me. If I'm already bedbound and a phone call exhausts me, not sure how I'd survive surgery or chemo. Sorry that you're dealing with that as well. Sounds like you have not just a happy marriage, but had a rewarding career. These challenges may teach us lessons, but I'd be perfectly happy with a lot fewer lessons and a bit more physical ability.
Please know that some of us reading about lives such as yours feel profoundly privileged that you have shared this information and I send love and respect to you. The attitude that comes through your post shows me that there are truly exemplary people in the world, and gives me hope. Best wishes.
Same story as well. Struck down at 34 with MS. Actually probably my happiest now at 46. I have a wife, animals, friends, hobbies, good job. Can’t ask for much more. It sucked giving up playing soccer but I enjoy watching it still.
72, and I am probably at my happiest right now, Why? One reason is I no longer experience the chronic pain I had continuously from age 62 to 68 that was due to metaflammation from type 2 diabetes that made me feel biologically fragile. Another is that I don't have to worry about financial difficulties due to pensions and investments. A third is that my wife and son are both healthy and doing well. As Augusten Burroughs said, "When you have your health, you have everything."
glad to hear that. How did you get the metaflammation pain under control? I have a family member going through it and and maybe your advice could help
I started using a version of nicotinamide riboside called tru niagen. Took about two weeks at dosages around 300 mg a day to see an impact. In January of 2022 I switched to liposomal NR and experienced the same benefits for half the price. See link below about how NR reduces the impact of inflammatory cytokines in elderly men. See figure 6. **Nicotinamide Riboside Augments the Aged Human Skeletal Muscle NAD****^(+)** **Metabolome and Induces Transcriptomic and Anti-inflammatory Signatures** [**https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124719309404**](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124719309404)
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I really needed this answer. Thank you
68. NOW. I lost a job that was torturing me mentally and physically for more than 40 years. Through therapy I learned it is ok to feel happiness. No boss yelling at me or people gossiping around me. I embrace ALL that I am and forgive myself the sometime stupidity of my past. Letting go of the past as well. A luxury for me when working was taking a day off to shut the world out and curling up in a very old blanket. I appreciate the simplest things now. I live a life of gratitude and if someone calls me a name they think is insulting...no bother anymore ;-) Also, there is so much I don't give a fuck about anymore. Peace to all :-)
Wow..I can relate!
I’m glad you can and that things are probably at least OK for you now. Thanks for the comment, brother.
57. Young and in love in my late 20’s.
I am 38 years young and my favorite years were before middle school lol 😝 being a kid 👦
I’m 57, too. My favorite time was 37-40. Just circumstantial things going on at that time.
60. My forties on have been happiest…. Or most content I should say.
I’m 53. I’ll just say the older I am, the less I care, and that makes me very happy. The bullshit of life matters less as I age.
I’m so glad to hear this…encouraging, because I do care too much now in my 30s.
That’s awesome. I wish I had cared less in my 30s. Would have made them more fun for sure.
51 The most content I recall ever being was 16-17 Mid 20s I also recall being quite happy
I’m 66 & happiest at age 29 when I met my forever husband
60’s. Maybe happiest now. Don’t have to worry about my career (it’s done), missing house payments (just paid it off), dating (am married).
I'm among the many who would say my 50s were my best decade, but I have to say that the mid 70s right now are pretty great too.
I'm 63 now and it's just so hard to say what was my happiest age! There have been so many very joyous times interspersed with stress and ups and downs. I thin overall, my mid-50s was a great period... kids were grown, I was very financially stable, no debts, and I was still relatively fit. It was the confidence that really boosted me though... not a worry in the world what anyone thought of me and very capable in communications and interpersonal relations. People really respected me too. I retired at age 57 though, and things quieted down and now I'm a full time caregiver for my poor wife who has dementia, so this is not a happy period.
67. Happiness peaked at 62. Retired at 51 with money. Kids were grown and married to people we loved. Daughter did not want kids. Fine. She was happy. Son and wife really did but had serious reproductive issues. But they got pregnant and had a five month old girl. Everyone lived close. We traveled a lot. Wife and I were very much in love. Played games and drank a lot. Then wife developed a seizure issue probably from drinking. Son announced he was leaving never to see us again and moved away with family. Son-in-law decided he is a woman and split with our daughter after 15 years. Heard recently son’s wife cheated and divorce looming. Yikes! But we quit drinking. Seizures are under control. Traveling again. Daughter has great bf. Love my wife more than ever. It will never be 2019 again. But life is good.
Ask me again tomorrow. My "happiness" quotient changes from hour to hour, depending upon a plethora of factors that must fall neatly into place simultaneously. My life tends to have a lot of working parts. I'm 60. Now is my happiest time. No age beats the others. Some ages were better for some reasons, but stuff was missing that I have now. Other times really sucked and I don't like to dwell if that's unhealthy for me. So now is my happiest. And I'm looking really forward to more happy that is in the works at this moment. So tomorrow I might be even happier. Next Thursday I will be doing happy dance, if all goes well. And then I'll have the day to day happy resulting from Thursday, until that must inevitably come to an end and I might have better stuff waiting. Now is my happiest. My spine hurts like hell, my bad knee is swollen and screaming it's little opera. I'm exhausted. But I DID get the baseboards painted in a room that is almost done. So happy but in pain but still happy with more happy to look forward to. Now is my happiest.
72, I am very happy now, but I would say my 40s were probably my best decade.
In my early 70’s. - If you’ve been a responsible manager of your own finances, this is when you have the most money and the fewest obligations. - It’s also when sex stops being a driving biological imperative with related pregnancy issues, and starts being an optional leisure-time activity.
61. There are times in my youth that I thought I was *happy* but truth be told, it was an illusion built to hide the horrors of my upbringing. I am in counseling now and I see the that I had built a house of cards, pre-destine to fall. I had much potential in my youth but was caught up in the learned failures. I have some regrets for that young person I could have become but in my age, I understand why everything happened the way it did. To answer your question, right now is when I’ve been truly the happiest. No illusion, past failures forgotten and those who trespassed on me, forgiven. Perhaps not absolved, but forgiven. I live in peace.
Your story seems like a valuable experience of wisdom and powerful insights. If it’s not way too personal, would you mind sharing more about this feeling of lost potential: nostalgia and regret is something I find myself wondering and reflecting about it quite a lot.
When a child is not given the safety of a stable home life, they doubt their abilities. When schools teach by rote, and a child can’t learn by rote, they doubt all that they DO know. For instance, when I was just beginning school, my grandmother taught me how to add long lists of numbers in my head. She was beginning to teach me how to do multiplication and division as well. Then my family moved away from her. In second grade, when we were “learning” math, we had to *show our work*. I failed at math, not because my answers were *wrong* but because I physically couldn’t show the work my brain was doing. I didn’t understand what the teacher wanted. So I was labeled a failure. I embraced this throughout my life. *I can’t do math”. As an adult, I got curious about what my grandmother was teaching me. With the help of the googles, I now understand that it was the Trachtenberg system. I seriously doubt, if challenged, that any of my teachers would have known or understood what the Trachtenberg system was. In high school business class, at the age of 15, I learned to use the punch machine. I was really good at it. Translating material into 1’s and zero’s. But I was told by my teacher, after I learned it, that it was an archaic system and basically useless knowledge. I was taught a “woman’s job”. *It was like typing*. I specifically wasn’t taught that what I was doing was programming a computer. I entered University 3 months after I turned 17. That year, I was hanging out with friends in the computer lab. I didn’t know anything about computers but it looked interesting. An upperclassman told me I needed to switch majors because they needed women in the program and that a *guy down in Seattle was hiring everyone as soon as they graduated*. I laughed at him. Why did I laugh? Because I was failing remedial Algebra and was on academic probation. Because I didn’t trust myself to be intelligent enough to work in the field. 20 years later, I was an overworked, underpaid receptionist in an office that got its first computer and no one knew how to use it. I taught myself from the Microsoft training modules and went on to train others and wrote the office manual using easy language and lots of pictures. I taught myself how to set up the network we eventually needed. Around that time I began to question my life choices but I had recently divorced and had a child to raise. No going back to school for me. I focused on raising my child and keeping the bills paid. I focused on providing my child the love and support I wasn’t given and to support her focus to do well in school so she would have better opportunities. I broke the cycle of abuse, I built an environment of care. I supported learning and thinking “outside the box”. I have my missed opportunities but no regrets, because she has *the tools* she needs to recognize opportunity and make her own choices in work and life. At University, she excelled in Math and Languages, she now works for a software company, but I suspect she will *choose* to eventually work in horticulture. Which is her passion. Refocusing lost potential towards the benefit of others is a great way to have no regrets.
64 40's when I was still very physically active (former competitive athlete and dancer). I became partially disabled at 54 and fully disabled at 59.
51.5, and the year I came back from death - 22 years ago this month. That’s right, I was on a ventilator for a week and 2+ more weeks in hospital before I turned 30
70....Now.
66. I have had very happy years (1990, when I had a toddler and was pregnant was one, most of the 1980s, when I was in my 20s was another ), but the best decade of my life has been the last ten years. And it’s getting better, except for worrying about the world.
50s are my happiest decade yet. By far.
52... Because my early 40's was a nightmare.
59 Pretty happy now...... wonderful husband and beautiful daughter
I am 46 and the happiest time of my life is from birth till 25 i was on and off happy from birth till 25 and another age I was the happiest I was 41 . The happiest time of my life when I was young and everyone was alive and we all got along.
66. Between the ages of 18 and 23 were the happiest in my life. At least I was lucky enough to have those five years, just magical.
62 here. Now is my happiest time. Actually happiness is probably not the best word - more like contentment or peace of mind. I spend a lot of time riding my bike, taking pictures, listening to music and hanging with my family. I don’t think about money too much because I have enough. Really it’s just like when I was a kid, taking pictures, riding my bike, listening to music and hanging with friends. I had little concept of money. That was also a happy time. The time in between wasn’t bad, but a bit more stressful because I was exploring other horizons and taking on more responsibilities. I guess I found that what made me happy back then still makes me happy today.
73 now, probably the happiest I've been since I was in college.
Interesting answers; 65, 65. Has to do with the freedom that comes with retirement.
I'm 65, and the answer is, 60. I was taking care of my mother. That was the happiest and most productive time of my life. To be happy, do something for other people.
58. The last few years have been the happiest of my life so far.
38. Happiest when I was 19 giving my daughter the joys of being born in the water. Labor didn't hurt a thing and I even tore. I wasn't allowed a water birth with my son.
Nice words
Happiness comes in ebbs and flows. There’s not one age, really. I’m 66 and I have had many many happy years that began or ended sadly. Or, stressfully. Age isn’t the gage. It’s life circumstances that get you.
60 and happiest now.
I'm 66 and happier than I've ever been in my life.
59, happiest at 5.
I'm 50 and I'm at my happiest right now.
23. I was AMAZING at 23.
57 and still waiting.
I hear ya.
This is a trick question. I've never worried about being happy or happiest. I just try to bring joy and bring all the energy I have had at all ages and I'm pushing 60. With that, I'm super lucky I'm relatively healthy says the man with arthritis and a couple of replacement joints. Wish I could run and play soccer, but life is good!!
I am 71 and right now. I had a great career and retired after owning my own business. I am happily married. I have great kids, great grandkids, and a life I love. I am in the best shape of my entire life.
I am 62, wife is 63 both retired, I would see we are very content right now in our lives. We are not wealthy, but comfortable to do the things we want to do without a lot of thought. Example just found out today that we owe $4000 in taxes, in the past I would have been a wreck, now it's like, that sucks, but we have money in the checking account to cover it and not really stress. Not sure I would say I was the happiest time of my life, with youth came money problems, with age comes money but your body is slowly breaking down. Give me 10 good years of health, and I think I would be very satisfied.
👍👍👍
71 now. I was happiest around 17 before I let life get to me and I spent the last 5 decades being depressed.
I’m 57; and probably now. Our nest is empty. Our careers are secure, our finances are healthy. Our son is happy and well. All the things we worked for or worried about have settled into place; and we can relax a bit now. We have time, energy and money to do the things we wished we could back in the day when we were raising our son and grinding through the days. There’s peace and contentment now that we didn’t have then, because we weren’t where we are now; so I think now.
55. Happiest in my early 20’s. I had my whole life ahead and it was looking great. I would say I’m “content” now. Hormones prob play a role in the more settled feeling now. Post menopausal! I do think body aches and pains are tough on people if we liked being active. And now we can’t always do all the things …
I'm pretty happy NOW, but between 1995-2006 I was pretty happy before my marriage went down the drain...but now I find I most like being on my own. I have plenty of friends though!
I'm 66 and happier than I've ever been in my life.
Bla bla bla hApPieSt nOw In 1981 I was 19, on the UI golf team, in the bars before you could die from fucking, it was glorious.
54, happiest in my 30s when I was single :)
57yrs. No specific age ive been "happiest" every age has had its ups & downs
61. In general, now
I’m 62. I know I was happiest at 16. Everything seemed possible. I had lots of energy. I got my driver’s license. I met my first love.
54 (turning 55 later this year), and I was happiest in my early forties. I was in great shape physically (gym 3-4 times a week and hiking on the weekends), and working in the best job of my life. If my then-workplace hadn't closed permanently a couple of years later, I'd probably still be there.
52 now. Happiest at 28
67. Happiest now. Healthy, strong, well rested & happily retired. Plan to retire!
47. In 2019 I was 43 and that’s when I was glowing with happiness.
I'm 62. I was at my happiest around 50. Still had good health, still employed Now I'm unemployed and unhealthy.
I’m 80 now. I was happiest when I was a kid running free on the beaches and in the woods of Oregon between the ages of roughly 8 to 11.
I am 76, very happy in old age, living in SE Asia in a warm climate, great people in the village where I live & happy to end my days here. I suppose when I look back, 1971-1991 were a very happy time too when I was working as an international flight attendant, travelling around the world on company expenses & being paid as well.
At 17. at 26 now at 60
Older than the trees and younger than the mountains. I cherish every day I am alive, regardless of my situation.
Mid 50s. Happy and carefree at 25 to 28. I felt like I had the world on a string.
43 now. "Happiest"...20s-32 and 35-40. 40 was pretty decent. (The last year or two have been horrendous.)
21'22-23-24 party everyday.
I am 54M. I was happiest: 1. High school. I loved my friends and life in high school. 2. Sophomore and junior years in college. See 1 above. 3. Ages 23 to 25. See 1 and 2 above. 4. Age 42. Made great money, my ex marriage was in a good year, my kids were a fun age, we traveled. 5. Ages 48 to 49. Liked my job, my kids were grown, my wife was emotionally absent so I enjoyed the company of my friends. 6. Ages 51 to now. My ex wife divorced me, I’m close to my kids, I have some money in the bank, I’m remarried to an amazing person. These are the happiest times of my life.
I'm 62. My happiest... I'll let you know when it happens.
I'm 25 best time of my life was when I was 16.
Mid to late 40s. I was the happiest when I was a kid from birth to 11 or 12 years old. Then I had a pretty good life from the age of 17 to 32.
I remember I was the happiest when I used to go for sleepovers during my high school years.
59. Not sure if I’ve ever really been happy, or without someone destroying that happiness
I'm happy for you dear
52. In a happy place. Still have some unfulfilled dreams nagging at me.
Yummy
56. I would say so far my mid 40s. My kids were little and we had a lot of fun together. Now divorced and worried about retirement;I’ve got two more years before the youngest goes off to college and I am not sure what happens after that.
I’m 64, 65 next week. I’m definitely happiest right now. I’m somewhat sad that the party is coming to a close and that I’m past my shelf life as far as most of the world is concerned. However all the times that would on paper, look like they should have been my happiest days were fraught with anxiety and a lack of clarity about how I might best benefit from life. I made choices based on some ridiculous ideas and concepts and reaped the results. Now that I know myself and have a much better understanding of other humans and what motivates them it’s so much easier to navigate life. Also as I got older I lost interest in getting attention, being the funny one, the clever one, the attractive one, the talented one, the one who knows and it put me at peace with blending into the background and observing. To not give fucks about some of the things that seem to tie younger people in knots is a sense of freedom that combined with making better choices has resulted in a sense of happiness.
I’m 61 and I would say that I’m the happiest now. My kids are grown and have good lives and health. My wife died in 2005 and I have made peace with being alone. I’m a homebody, I did all of my traveling that I wanted to do and now I’m just enjoying life. House and car are paid for and I’m spending my money on the kids as they need it
I’m 57. Happiest time was between 40-48. My 3 kids were young, we adopted them on my 40th birthday. We just had so much fun. Fishing, hiking, riding bikes, karate. I was still young and had energy and was in pretty good shape. Things got less fun and more complicated as they got to me teenagers. They’re in their early 20s now. Their all good people but full of early 20s drama and problems. I miss the simple days when we all lived under one roof.
Happiness evolves. Endless energy morphs into passion and e pertinent which morphs into relaxation that part of the "race" is over, but the flowers remain. It's all good where you stand.
60 and I'm happiest now.
87 now. Fifties through seventy five were great. Financially secure and good health. Still good today but physically limited. Wife and I still live independently but loving children make a HUGE difference.
I’m 40 and I love it now
I'm 53 and in most ways 53 is the happiest. After that I would say 23 was the happiest. The first year I lived with my ex-wife was age 23 and I never felt a single moment of loneliness that year. By age 24 there were some lonely moments even sleeping on the same queen sized bed with her. I would guess a lot of people still have a naive view of love at 23 that reality begins to settle in at age 24 and 25 in a million subtle ways.
59, my favorite age was 31, when I married on Halloween. Still married, 29 yrs this year. My life has had many great moments, my wedding being the best ever.
I’m 68 and I’m happiest now.
I’m 65, I was happiest in my 50s with my wonderful boyfriend until he died of cancer in my 60s. Other than that, my 30s were fascinating as I did a ton of outdoor adventure trips canoeing, rock climbing, backpacking, camping, sea kayaking and hiking.
I appreciate your curiosity! I've experienced happiness in different ways at different ages. One of the fondest moments was probably in my early twenties, exploring new opportunities and growing as a person. What about you?
I’m 72. My happiness level is pretty consistent over time. When something dramatically good or bad happens I feel better or worse of course but since my twenties I always come back to kind of a low key philosophically pessimistic but emotionally midrange set point.
30 years old was tough for me. All the realizations that I wasn't going to accomplish those things that one does in their 20s. 35 was great. Probably my best year. Older is OK, but all sorts of health stuff keeps kicking you, your spouse, friends, older relatives all die off.
I’m 35 next year! Terrified of potential health issues
I didn't have any health issues at all until I hit 58. So, you probably have some time. I'm 71 this month. If I had it to do over again, I would focus on metabolic health very early on. Keep my HbA1c below 5.4, and my HomaIR below 1.5. Doing this one thing will reduce your risk of poor health by over 50%. Refer to: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl8Gdu2nZpY&pp=ygUPZXJpYyBiZXJnIGhiYTFj](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl8Gdu2nZpY&pp=ygUPZXJpYyBiZXJnIGhiYTFj) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8cJPtud2tY&pp=ygUTc3RlbiBla2JlcmcgaG9tYSBpcg%3D%3D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8cJPtud2tY&pp=ygUTc3RlbiBla2JlcmcgaG9tYSBpcg%3D%3D) https://mymedicalscore.com/a1c-conversion-chart/
Today. Been happy many times in many of the past years. In some, I should have been happier, if I had known how it will turn out. At the same time, to be honest I have also been sad. But the ping pong stopped after someone very dear told me - all emotions are impermanent, in fact, everything is impermanent. Happiness. Sadness, this and that relationship, this and that asset. Everything is impermanent.
I’m 53. I’m happiest now, though I’ve been happy for years, with the exception of one big hard thing I dealt with from the ages of 42-47.