Stop hankering after eternal youth – growing old might actually be the key to happiness…
It’s official – youth is not wasted on the young, your school years are not ‘the best days of your life’ and life does not begin at 40.
It begins at 70, apparently. At least, a truly happy life does.
New research by the friendship organisation, Oddfellows, has revealed that how people rate their happiness seems to increase with age; while only one sixth of those in their sixties said they feel ‘very happy’, for those lucky enough to have passed the 70 milestone, a third boasted the same.
Why? Well one of the reasons is that they’ve learnt to appreciate the simple things in life.
So perhaps the rest of us should do the same.
Perhaps we should all tear ourselves away from our Twitter feeds/therapy sessions/whatever fancy new-fangled thing we think we need to feel happy, and embrace the basics instead.
CHERISH FRIENDSHIPS
Nearly two-thirds of people in their seventies said spending time with friends was what they most enjoyed about being retired. It’s hardly surprising. If you need science, people with good friends have been proven to recover from heart attacks quicker, to catch fewer colds, and to suffer less depression. But you probably don’t need science, do you? Because everyone with a friend will already know how spending time with them is a life-improving, life-affirming and often life-changing joy (most of the time).
LOOK AFTER YOUR HEALTH
Of course, there are some elements of ill-health that can’t be avoided, that will strike you no matter how healthily you eat or how much you avoid that second glass of wine, or how often you do a press-up. But still, do all these things; eat a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, don’t drink more than the recommended daily units (2-3 for women, 3-4 for men), stay physically active. Not only will your risk of heart disease/cancer/diabetes be lower, your happiness levels will too (on the very simple argument that feeling well will make you smile more than feeling unwell).
SAVE YOURSELF SOME TIME
The pensioners in the survey noted that another thing keeping them smiling was the fact they could shop whenever they liked, and didn’t have to leave the household chores until the weekend. Easy for the retired to say, of course; but a little harder when you’re working five days a week, 10 hours a day. You can still enjoy some freedom though; do your supermarket shop online and get it delivered, share the chores out with everyone else in your house, then use the time saved to do something you actually want to do. Even if it’s just one additional spare hour, that’s a few chapters read/a run ran/a bath soaked in, and a happiness level ramped up.
HELP OTHERS
Being part of a community is something that’s increasingly being lost, as people move countries or cities more and/or house prices soar and shove older residents away from their neighbourhoods. Yet, community is crucial for our contentment levels – a huge number of the over-70s questioned said feeling part of their local community was yet another spur for their good spirits, and volunteering is repeatedly shown to be a huge boost to happiness. A survey from the Citizens Advice Bureau a few months ago revealed that volunteering can help make you less stressed, increase your self-esteem and even enhance your job prospects.
STAY SHARP
Wisdom really does come with age; the Oddfellows report showed that older people are now more clever than ever before. It’s a chicken and egg question, of whether they’re more clever because they’re happier, or they’re happier because they’re more clever – but either way, being smart is clearly a good thing. So do a puzzle, go to a gallery, take a course, read the longer feature behind the news story; a busy brain is a happy brain.
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