# Rules for middle aged happiness **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 26, 2021, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-for-middle-aged-happiness/947287 "2021-07-26T00:55:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2021, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-for-middle-aged-happiness/947287/41 "2021-08-01T12:09:25Z")
Identifying those things is step one. This is the hard part–once you’ve identified them as not serving you, cutting them out is easy, though often not simple nor fast. I’ve cut out a lot of my life that was not serving me: I was working three jobs (same employer), which I cut down to two and then to one and finally to none, and I had a few friendships on life support for a long time, which I gradually cut out of my life, and I wasn’t happy living in the part of the country I lived in (and was born and raised in) so I moved 1000 miles away, and several other major things in the past five years. Once I had identified them as toxic, I knew what to do, but I’d been so used to having them that it me a while to realize I needed to get rid of them. Much happier now. Much. Poorer but much happier. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2021, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-for-middle-aged-happiness/947287/42 "2021-08-01T16:42:35Z")
The older you get, the more important it is to not let your ass be higher than your head. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2021, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-for-middle-aged-happiness/947287/43 "2021-08-01T18:38:11Z")
It’s more of a maxim than a rule, but it’s something I always try to keep in mind: _nothing is ever as good, or as bad, as it initially appears to be,_ j ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-for-middle-aged-happiness/947287/44 "2021-08-02T11:53:11Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > cut out all the things––people, jobs, body parts––that no longer serve you. The late, great, Bob Pease had a column about messy desks (he was for them) where he told about a colleague who was meticulously throwing out stuff on his desk because he liked to minimize. Pease: “Your wife must be nervous.” Colleague: “It’s my third wife.” Some people thrive on nothing. I revel in stuff. I may never read some of my books again, but I’m happy to have them, and you never know. If this was Nora Ephron, I bet I had a happier middle age than she did. Not as rich or famous, but I didn’t have to write a book about my cheating spouse. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-for-middle-aged-happiness/947287/45 "2021-08-07T16:36:30Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > “Do not cheat on your spouse !” And is there a story behind that exclamation point…? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-for-middle-aged-happiness/947287/46 "2021-08-07T16:45:56Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > And, don’t let yourself be trapped into thinking that you’ve outgrown things that you found fun when you were younger. I bought a comic book the other day, and the clerk grimaced when I rolled it up. I said “Oh, I’m not a collector. But I was happiest as a kid when I bought a comic book… for 12_¢,…_ rolled it up and stuck it in the back pocket of my cutoffs, got on my bike, rode past the 7-11 for a Coke Slurpee, then down to the lake to sip and read.” He said “I notice you’re on your bike, and there _is_ a 7-11 right on the way to the lake…” “My next stop!” ---
**Author:** ![Enjoy\_Slurm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enjoy_slurm/32/3937_2.png) [@Enjoy\_Slurm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enjoy_Slurm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-for-middle-aged-happiness/947287/47 "2021-08-07T18:31:03Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I bought a comic book the other day, and the clerk grimaced when I rolled it up. I said “Oh, I’m not a collector. As a collector, this is why I buy two copies. Preferably with two different covers. One for reading and spilling things on and one that goes in the vault. Though I don’t really collect anymore. The only thing currently is Keanu Reeves comic BRZRKR. Which after looking that up I see issue 4 is out now. Off to the store. > **[BRZRKR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRZRKR)** > > BRZRKR is a comic book series created and written by Keanu Reeves and Matt Kindt and drawn by Ron Garney. The comic follows an immortal warrior, known as Berzerker, as he fights his way through the ages. The first issue of the 12-issue limited series was published on March 3, 2021, by Boom! Studios. It raised more than $1.4 million USD in its funding campaign on Kickstarter. > Issue #1 sold over 615,000 copies., making it the top-selling single issue since Star Wars #1 in 2015. It received good r... ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-for-middle-aged-happiness/947287/48 "2021-08-07T20:25:13Z")
Only that I see guys, and Gals, too stupid or too horny to notice that they are wrecking their lives. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-for-middle-aged-happiness/947287.md?page=2)