Relationship between age and happiness

[Someone here]

Is there any scientific research that studies the relationship between age and happiness level?  I feel like the more I grow up, life becomes dull and boring and melancholic. Whereas my childhood was filled with joy and bliss and excitement. Up to teenage age I was happy almost for no apparent reason. But now in my late twenties I feel a little bit depressed for no apparent reason.  I don't know how to describe it. But the older I get the more I feel like reality is getting on a low resolution acceleration. Literally the sun is less bright and the days are just boring and repetitive. 

Why is that? 

Also I expect that when I get to my 30s that this will get worse. 

Anyone can relate to what I'm saying? 

[Someone here]

10 minutes ago, Squeekytoy said:

Yes, that's exactly the arc of ego development.

More ego = Less happiness.

At the start of life, you build it up. Toward the end of life, you let it go.

So in childhood there is less ego and more spontaneity.. And at old age you just grow tired of chasing your selfish desire.. So again less ego and a bittersweet type of happiness. But what about 20s to 40s? The ego fully matures at this range.. But having lived so much you start having experience fatigue and you just want to lay in bed all day doing nothing. 

[universe]

As you grow older you begin to understand the mechanisms behind what makes you happy and what makes you unhappy.

For me, every day it gets better and better.

Feeling more like I can express my true Self and embodying my values.

Connecting with my feelings, learning to relax my body but also enjoy the play between tension and relaxation.

You are in heaven right now, you don't need to create it. It is a reception.

Going inside.

 

If you want to be happy you are at the right place.

Leo has many videos on this topic. I suggest you to start with this one.

 

There is also a good free course, called the "Science of Well-Being" by Yale University.

 

You have to take 100% responsibility for your own happiness.

[Someone here]

12 minutes ago, universe said:

As you grow older you begin to understand the mechanisms behind what makes you happy and what makes you unhappy.

That's true. I can confirm that. Unfortunately most of the time we have to learn by making mistakes. We understand what truly matters by fucking up many many times and doing the wrong things expecting that It will give us happiness. 

14 minutes ago, universe said:

For me, every day it gets better and better. 

I envy you lol. 

14 minutes ago, universe said:

You are in heaven right now, you don't need to create it. It is a reception

 I don't resonate with this. I don't feel like I am in heaven. There is so much stress, struggle, and suffering in my life. I need to transcend the duality between good and bad to realize Absolute Good with no opposite. But I still have a long way to go. 

17 minutes ago, universe said:

If you want to be happy you are at the right place.

Leo has many videos on this topic. I suggest you to start with this one 

 

There is also a good free course, called the "Science of Well-Being" by Yale University.

 

You have to take 100% responsibility for your own happiness.

Thank you for the suggestions. 

[Clabber Girl]

Late 20s are a difficult time, I am much happier in my early 30s than that time... I felt a lot of pressure from others and compared myself to others at that age.

[Rigel]

It's the exact opposite for me. I can’t wait to be old and wise. So to speak ahah I wouldnt skip over the experience of being young. 

Edited March 21, 2023 by Rigel

[Carl-Richard]

Being young is like being on psychedelics. It's amazing, intense and terrifying, but it's short-lasting. It's possible to return to that state though. You just have to do the right work. But do you dare?

[Devin]

9 hours ago, Someone here said:

 

Why is that? 

 

Because you've been lied to all your life; "you can do or be anything if you just put your mind to it!!", "Good guys always win!!", "Be good and life will be good to you!!", "I'm a billionaire with a super model wife and I'm the happiest man in the world", "man look at that billionaire he must be the happiest man in the world!!", ....

[Snader]

To me the power of affecting the level of my own happiness keeps increasing year after year, not the level of happiness per se. So the older I get, the easier it seems for me to turn my life into either bliss or shit.

[gettoefl]

external happiness is ever more realised to be sham; do we

Quote

Figuratively, "chasing the dragon" can refer to the pursuit of a fleeting or unsustainable high, pleasure, or feeling, often at the cost of one's health or well-being. It can also refer to an obsessive or compulsive behavior or activity that one continues to engage in despite its negative consequences.

 replace it with internal happiness or just keep chasing the dragon

[Someone here]

I guess that most people get sadder as they move out of childhood and realize what the world is like and how  Brutal it is. They can occasionally feel better but the general level of happiness is lower than in childhood. Even though I was bullied all the way through my school years.. I was still happy more often because I had a couple of friends. We would buy candy and cookies, write stories, build huts out of branches and come up with plays. Whereas when you are an adult, you have to constantly worry how are you going to take care of yourself financially, when are you going to get a job, what if you get a job and then it turns out you suck at it and they don’t give you enough time to learn? Adult life is full of worries like that. Also once you reach 60, everything starts to dissolve physically and you just wish to die to finally rest in fucking peace. 

[Someone here]

2 minutes ago, Squeekytoy said:

@Someone here You don't really have to worry about anything, except when you navigate life as an ego.

When ego gets out of the way, it turns out that you're well taken care of and always have been. Same as when you were a happy child.

 

What is the argument for that? 

Transcending the ego is itself a constant struggle. Because you have to go against your personal desires  and comfort zone. And also you can't erase the ego completely. To function as a human being you have to have a sense of self. 

[Carl-Richard]

17 minutes ago, Someone here said:

Transcending the ego is itself a constant struggle. Because you have to go against your personal desires  and comfort zone.

Only if you're not ready for it.

 

18 minutes ago, Someone here said:

And also you can't erase the ego completely. To function as a human being you have to have a sense of self. 

Transcending the ego does not mean removing the ego.

[Someone here]

2 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

Transcending the ego does not mean removing the ego.

Well, “you” cannot transcend "the ego" because the ego is the you asking the question And one’s ego will never destroy itself. And yet ego transcendence can & does happen. But it's not for my ego. 

[Carl-Richard]

15 minutes ago, Someone here said:

Well, “you” cannot transcend "the ego" because the ego is the you asking the question And one’s ego will never destroy itself. And yet ego transcendence can & does happen. But it's not for my ego. 

True. So many people think enlightenment is about them. They couldn't be more wrong.