The always interesting Jonathan Rauch writes about the science of middle-age disappointment (sometimes the precursor of the classic “midlife crisis.”). According to Gallup data, life satisfaction in the U.S. peaks at age 15 and declines steadily, reaching a nadir between 45 and 50, when it begins an earnest slow-and-steady rise upward, such that old people are typically happier than young adolescents.
Data from many countries suggest a u-curve in happiness, with middle age being the low-point on average.
Looking at the Gallup-data graph, I myself began to wonder what would happen if we could extend it backwards through childhood. When my son was seven years old or so, in the midst of some childish anxiety that I cannot honestly recall, he burst out with this statement which I thought showed an astonishing concept of a life story for a seven-year-old: “When I was three, my life was good; when I was four, it was less good; when I was five, my life was less good; when I was six, it got a little worse; and now I am seven,” he told me, his eyes poised on what the future held.
Now I can tell him: It gets better.