<p>According to a recent study, people tend to be much happier as they get older, particularly as they pass the age of 50. I haven't gotten to fifty quite yet, but I thought that sounded like something to be happy about, in and of itself. :)</p>
<p>I saw this yesterday and showed it to my 16 yr old who chuckled out loud....I think they left some stuff out of the study; like if you are over 50 and still have kids at home (applying to college, taking finals).....not the happiest time, um, no......</p>
<p>talk to me in two years; maybe I'll agree.....</p>
<p>Yes, it did occur to me that one of my kids will be graduated from undergrad by then and the other will be partway into college and that MAY have some impact on my stress level. They say stress levels decrease significantly at 50! I have to say I'm looking forward to that. ;)</p>
<p>Mine did NOT decrease at 50. My mom's illness hit a new low, then she died. My dad has kidney cancer. I am stressed about that, and the in laws are in their 80's. My D is having a crisis of "what am I going to do with my life?" - and no matter how hard I try NOT to take her angst on myself, I can't help but worry about her (since it's her life, and I have to let her figure it all out - and I am a control freak by nature). S just finished his last day of high school today (yea!), but I know that I will worry about the whole "did I get him ready to be on his own?" thing, and I will worry when he is away at school. Money for college is always an issue, and I have some irons in the fire for better jobs (they are getting pretty hot!), so there is that to stress about (will I get them??). The house is a mess, the cats need some attention (okay, S & H can do that - but they love to follow ME around!), I need to schedule some doctor's appointments for myself, etc., etc. </p>
<p>To be blunt, my time off work - late 20s to late 40s - was far more relaxing. But at least I can join H in looking forward to retirement SOMEDAY (and yeah, there's THAT to worry about - can we afford it??).</p>
<p>In my experience as a nurse working with a lot of older people, I have found that it's not necessarily that the older people have less problems or reasons they could feel stressed-it's how they react to those problems/stressors.</p>
<p>In other words, it's often all about attitude rather than actual circumstances. Perhaps with age, we begin to view our problems and challenges differently and can experience happiness in spite of them.</p>