The Atlantic has a story which claims three rules to increase happiness for those neither young nor old:
Gather friends and feed them, laugh in the face of calamity, and cut out all the things––people, jobs, body parts––that no longer serve you.
I would say these are okay. But I am sure Dopers can do better…
I “pit” “Laugh in the face of calamity” - I assume if you do the right things then that will happen as a byproduct, but it’s not the root solution. So we definitely need at least one replacement.
“Mom died - tee-hee!”
Yeah, needs work.
Cultivate your garden. It worked for Candide.
“Make time for fun.” It’s easy to get bogged down in responsibilities.
My nightmare.
Yeah, laughing in tragedy sounds like toxic positivity.
…to whom or what?
Yes, we can still do all the things we did when we were young, but now you must:
Schedule recovery time after any travel or exertion.
For certain. And, don’t let yourself be trapped into thinking that you’ve outgrown things that you found fun when you were younger.
Feel sorry for others, not yourself.
Ha!!!
Don’t worry about what other people think of you.
I’ll replace ‘laugh in the face of calamity’ with ‘recognise what’s important, and don’t get upset by stuff that doesn’t matter’.
Be kind
And take comfort in knowing, people aren’t thinking about you or talking about you.
THIS. So this. I have a friend who survives on fantasies that her friends are bitching behind her back, or have purposely slighted her by not sending her a birthday card, or deliberately excluded her from an outing for ‘reasons’. Geez Louise, they’ve just got their own lives going on. You’re not that important.
For the intended age group, what body parts would those be?
“Don’t be jealous of youth” would be a good one.
As George Carlin famously said
Don’t sweat the petty things and don’t pet the sweaty things.
Pay off your credit card and start saving!
thank you.
Part of me would love to be able to do that confidently. But as much as I love to eat well, I DO NOT enjoy cooking. I can cook for myself and my husband but I don’t get huge satisfaction from it.
I like spending time with friends, but not in my quiet home haven.
The thought of inviting people over to my odd little house, playing host and attempting to feed them … >shudder<