Happiest time (also the hardest) was from about 30 to 40, maybe 45. I was doing the best work I ever would, had a wonderful wife and three (eventually) wonderful kids. Then my mathematical prowess declined, kids went off the college and their lives and I started declining physically. Still have my wonderful wife and the kids are all successful with spouses and kids of their own, but far away. Yes, life is easy and I am content, but those 10 or 15 years were the best.
Oh, so you lie all the time to people. Good to know.
I had an ok childhood until school started. I hated it. The teenage years were worse; I still had to go to school, and I was a loser when it came to girls. College and grad school were a necessary evil; I endured it because I didn’t want a life of menial labor. Started my career in my late twenties. I enjoyed my work, but still suffered from moderate to severe depression due mostly to still being a loser with the opposite sex. Met my wife at 30 and I was happy for an extended period for the first time since I was a preschooler. There have been challenges since then, both in my career and as a husband/father, but I’ve been mostly happy the last 20 years.
That isn’t what that means. When I was in my 20’s, I could know a great about something in say, a business meeting, but the louder and more aggressive people usually prevailed even if they were vastly less informed. Today, the situation is reversed.
I am usually careful about what I say in those situations for that reason. It took me a long time to accept that people started to see me as much more of an authority figure just because I got older. I am an expert in a number of things but certainly not everything even at work. I am careful to let people know the level of experience, knowledge and confidence that I am working with if it is something really important. We may need to pull in extra people for more opinions.
OTOH, I have some younger coworkers that almost always have more arrogance than real knowledge. I am happy to use my higher perceived status against them because my low level of base knowledge on some things would be their Mt. Everest.
I know what your talking about, I had brief period of success in my 30's about 8 years where my business had really taken off. As soon as I started talking everyone would just get silent and listen. Even if I was talking out my ass, I longer for the good old days where we all interrupted each other.
I’m with UltraVires’s mother. I’m 64 and never been happier. I have a freedom that I have never had before and I love it. I work from home because I want to, not because I need to, and can do whatever hours I want. I am satisfied with who I am and finally learning to accept that I will never be slim. Still got big dreams but no big pressure. Bliss.
There are the issues with muscles and joints not being what they were. But with regular exercise, that’s not too bad and, frankly, given the choice to get back a younger body but also take back all those old responsibilities - I’ll stick with the creaking joints.
I’m 47 - My happiest time was probably senior year of high school and then right after graduation from college when I had my first job in pharmaceutical research, which I loved, and when I met the women who would later become my wife of nearly 20 years today. The worst part of my life was definitely college (18-21) where I lacked direction and had a lot of girl problems. Another dip in my life was right after grad school when I had a lot of debt and a series of terrible jobs. Luckily we bought a house when prices were depressed and we don’t have kids so it’s been getting progressively better over time in terms of more income and getting the debt under control. At this point, the big downers seem to be health issues and the progressive death of all the grandparents, and now the start of our parents (as my wife lost her Mother early last year). Although so far, I would still say we are ever more happy and even those events are minor blips on the sadness radar since none of the death was what I would call “sudden” and all of them were happy and led pretty fulfilling lives so there was no a lot of unspoken weirdness with anyone.
Saddest - 15 to 17
Happiest - 65
For me, it was probably 19-24 when I was in college. I was still young enough to be at or near my physical peak, and yet independent and able to do what I wanted to do, along with have the imagination and/or ignorance to actually do it. Plus, no serious job or career to worry about, and I was in close proximity to thousands of unmarried college-aged women.
Now that I’m older (nearly 44), I may have considerably more money, but I feel considerably more constrained- wife, small kids, mortgage, job, household chores, household work, etc… Pretty much everything is constrained by those things, and I don’t much like it at all. Not that I don’t love my family, but I’m still having a hard time dealing with the feeling that I’m not totally my own master anymore.
Twenty years down the track from that, may I say that all your investment - time, money, emotions - is worth it. You will earn the freedom and pleasure of the 60s. I promise. Way way worth it! Kids eventually pay back many times over. Eventually. And the security of family, house paid off and then knowing what you want and the freedom to chase it is bliss. Good times ahead.
Happiest Age: Aquarius - sex, drugs and rock & roll!
Saddest Age: Lower Palaeolithic - no cable, superfast wifi (WIcked Fecal Incontinence)
Seriously, I can’t think of an age range that was happier or sadder, per se, only different. I tend to think of happy/sad more in terms of events as opposed to ages.
Forty years from now, if I’m still alive, I know I am going to look back at this time of my life and think, “wow, those were the years!”
Childhood and adolescence were “meh”. They weren’t horrible, but those years were spent under my parents’ thumb. I always did what I was told. My opinions and ideas were never solicited. I was always at the whims of some obligation or ritual that didn’t make any sense to me. Childhood and adolescence were spent trying to please adults and be “good”.
My 20s were better but kinda sucky too. I didn’t spend my 20s in youthful wild abandon. I spent it constantly worrying about failure and disappointment. I did have some adventures that I will always treasure. But it was a stressful time.
My 30s? I feel like I’ve got it made. Landing a stable job alleviated much of my anxiety. I did go through some depression, but many good things came out of the overcoming. I have the one thing I didn’t have as a kid–freedom. I feel free to be the person I’ve always wanted to be, without worrying about pissing someone off. And because my physical health is still good, I don’t feel like there’s anything stopping me from doing what I want to do at any given moment.
I imagine that my forties will be spent dealing with my aging parents–either emotionally or financially or both. I am preparing myself for the possibility that one or both of them might die in the next few years. So I’m not counting on the 40s being rainbows and lollipops. But I feel like since I’ve lucked out with my 30s, I can’t complain too much about the curve balls life will eventually throw my way.