I was reading a study on happiness the other day and it confirmed things I’ve read before. But I thought I would share it anyway because some of you might be unaware of the results. And if you’re in your younger years you might find it uplifting.
About 28,000 people aged 18 to 88 took part. The first time I read this a few years ago it kind of surprised me. Because I thought the happiest segment of our society would be those in their 20's. But not so.
"The good news is that with age comes happiness," said study author Yang Yang, a University of Chicago sociologist. "Life gets better in one's perception as one ages."
Yang's findings are based on periodic face-to-face interviews with a nationally representative sample of Americans from 1972 to 2004. About 28,000 people aged 18 to 88 took part.
This subject interests me because many of our TLC clients are in their twenties and thirties. Yet many of them are dissatisfied with their lives. On the surface it would appear they have everything to live for. Many have supportive families. They're healthy. Some have some schooling behind them already. Yet life is so depressing to many that they need drugs or alcohol to get through the day.
But maybe the realization that as life goes on they'll gain happiness will encourage some to try to live without chemicals. Although the viewpoint of many of our younger clients is that they want what they want when they want it. And that might keep them from looking very far into the future.
