The happiness study

While sitting in the hot tub the other morning, I was reading More. (Yes, it gets wet, but it's a magazine and I can recycle it when I'm done). More is a publication dedicated to women over 40. The December 2010/January 2011 issue contained an article about happiness.

So think about it. Are you happy? I am. Despite having cancer and a challenging kid with mental health issues, I am happy. Oh, there are days, situations, people and circumstances that infringe on my happiness, but overall, I'm pretty darn satisfied. I think that makes me extremely lucky.

Or maybe the cancer is what pushed me into evaluting my life, making some changes, coming to some realizations and focussing on the good stuff. I remember a time in my late 30s when I was miserable. I worked way too many hours, Michael was working shift work so I rarely saw him, my kids were little and life was difficult to coordinate, etc.

This article in More reported people in their 40s tend to be the least happy. "People all over the plant report that their happiness levels on average are quite high in early adulthood, slowly fall throughout their thirties and completely bottom out in their fourties." It goes on to report these happiness levels gradually start to rise when people are in their 50s, as long as health and domestic relationships stay relatively stable.

This slump in satisfaction in midlife seems to be caused by feeling "squeezed from all sides by growing kids, aging parents, demanding jobs and myriad financial pressure." The research shows "the happiness dip applies whether you're female or male, employed or unemployed, with children or childless, rich or otherwise."

The best theory of social scientists for this phenomenon is that young adulthood is a time of endless possibilities, while choices narrow as we age (we know what we probably won't accomplish by this time in our lives). Then we realign our expectations with reality, which makes us happier. Of course, in our 50s, more people realize life is short and we're happy to be alive.

Maybe I skipped a few of the middle steps because I've hit the life-is-short realization early. I've had to come to terms with many aspects of my new reality and found I'm content with most of it. Oh sure, I'd love to write a few books and become an acclaimed author, but it's not crucial to the core of my happiness.

My theory was reinforced at the blood clinic in Hamilton the other day. I chatted with the nurse as she drew my blood. I mentioned life is good and even if I only have a few years left, I'd rather be happy than waste them being miserable. She mentioned she noticed a big difference in the attitude of patients in the cancer lab compared to the regular lab. Unless they're really sick, she said the cancer patients are generally happier, more thankful and have a better spirit. It's because we know life is what you make of it.

The More article also listed some happiness factors and I thought I'd mention a few:

- Healthy people are happier, happier people are healthier. It's all interconnected. That's why I exercise and try to eat more fruits and veggies.

- Since humans prefer certainty, we're better at adapting to one-time health shocks like a permanent loss of mobility to unpredictable conditions such as epilepsy or pain. I'm not exactly sure where cancer fits in here.

- People who exercise are much happier than those who don't. (Back to the healthier comment above.)

- Smokers are generally less happy than non-smokers, although it's not clear whether smoking causes unhappiness or unhappy people are more likely to smoke.

- Social people tend to be happier. Humans are social creatures and we value relationships, support and interaction.

- Those who drink alcohol in moderation are happier. Maybe because they're the social people who get together and raise a glass in celebration every once in a while. Of course, those who drink excessively tend to be unhappier.

- Money doesn't buy happiness. Once the basics of life are covered, a greater income doesn't necessarily mean a better life. The article states, "There's a variety of evidence showing that we grossly overestimate the satisfaction we get from material things." It goes on to say that those who spend money on others, generally feel happier.

- You've probably heard this before, married folks report more happiness than singles.

So as a married, non-smoking, social drinking, exercising, social (thank you, my friends) woman who has a comfortable economic situation, I guess I conform to the study and have reasons to be happy, despite the cancer. Or is the realization of my happiness because of the disease?

Interesting.

Tina