As I’ve entered my fifties, I notice I’m worrying less and appreciating things quite a bit more. Concern about aging, however, has become a new anxiety, as the stereotypes and social conventions of being “over the hill” creep in.  Will I be lonely, grumpy, or even bitter? Will I feel like a burden and long for my younger days? So I was quite relieved to find a book called The Happiness Curve, which gives me a scholarly foundation of hope that my increasing contentment will most likely be a continuing trajectory, in contrast to my fears of decline.

Author Jonathan Rauch, a Brookings Institute senior fellow and Atlantic contributing editor, reviews a large number of multi-country, big data studies on happiness conducted over the course of the last few decades.  The results, coming from authors in a range of disciplines, including economics, psychology, biology and epidemiology, consistently shows that life satisfaction when graphed across the age span is a U-shape, with contentment high in the 20’s, plunging at mid-life, and rising again after 50.  Most coincidentally, the graph of this phenomena looks like a rye smile. In our youth oriented culture, this comes as a bit of a surprise, and I must admit, a bit of a relief! The notion of a mid-life crisis leading to a slowly diminishing sense of vitality and value is just a myth. Rather than a crisis, most people experience a natural shift away from competitiveness and achievement (which creates the stress of comparing ourselves negatively to others) to more of a relational and compassionate mentality that enables us to feel more connected with the world.  We simply feel happier with who we are and what we have accomplished.

Interestingly, there seems to be a biological component to it.  The same curve appears to be true for apes, according to a fairly large (or what I think is large for an obscure topic of rating the moods of apes as they age) number of biologists and comparative psychologists.  One theory is that while individuals are capable of procreating, it is best for the survival of the species if they are driven and competitive to achieve more status. Once past the age of procreation, it benefits society if older individuals of a group are interested in caretaking and supporting others.

The most interesting part of the book for me is Rauch’s proposal that on a societal level our outdated social conventions need to be updated to reflect the insights and realities of our new understanding of aging.  As people are living longer, there appears to be a new stage of life emerging. Much like when young people began to need longer schooling and more support in becoming an adult in a complex industrial society, the concept of adolescence emerged (with all of the accompanying social supports, such as college, internships, and mentoring), a new stage is also developing that needs attending to.  In fact, it is already becoming noticed, and referred to as Encore Adulthood. Rauch posits that society is starting to respond to the needs and potential of the people in this life stage and develop structures to support them. The AARP in fact has shifted its services to offering “life re-imagined” and career services rather than just renting RVs. And a organization called Encore.org was founded as “an innovative hub tapping the talent of people 50+ as a force of good.”  Check out their site if you have a minute. It is full of great opportunities and even fellowships!

With the notion of the second half of life being a long, slow, downhill slide, we create a fear and disrespect for aging.  We unnecessarily create a script that as we age, our best years are farther and farther behind us. In this way, we are setting a trap in mid-life of feeling gloomy about the future.  While we can’t be sure this will happen for everyone, because it’s based on statistical averages. for the most part, profiles of everyday people around the world chart a return to enjoyment, wisdom and an increase in overall fulfillment once past midlife.  So, rather than imagining our life as a hill we descend after we peak, we can re-imagine it as a smile we get to climb!