Words from a Reader

The “Writing Life Stories” e-mails I receive are such treasures. As soon as I see there is one in my inbox, I read it immediately. I look forward to them and never know how they will touch me. They can be interesting, informative, humorous, and/or touching.

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Who Do You Think Are the Happiest Age Group?

Did you know that older women are the happiest group in our culture?

Why do you think this is so?

 I am an older woman and I want to be in that group, the happiest people in our society. I thought I was happy, and in fact, I have been happy most of the time for several years now.

 But, recently I find myself awakening in the morning and wanting to pull the covers up and just lie in bed awhile. I don't want to think about what is on my To Do List.

 I have always looked forward to my day and my list of things I planned to accomplish. I enjoyed marking off  those things I completed, no matter how large or how small.

 But after learning why older women are so happy, I began to take stock of my own life. Those women in the study who were happy said they liked being free to do whatever they wanted to do, have lunch with a friend, go shopping or just read a book. I have stacks of books I can't find time to read.

 A recent world wide survey found that so long as they are in fairly good health, women in their seventies throughout the world are on average as happy and mentally healthy as twenty-year-olds.  

They said they aren't concerned about what others think anymore. (I am with them there.) They are free from worrying about keeping up with their peers or pushing themselves to accomplish goals. In other words, they have arrived and have nothing to put pressure on them anymore. Stress Free!!

An Octogenarian says: I retired three years ago.... I think as we get older and we retire, we get happier because we’re free to do whatever we want, we don’t have the responsibility of all the domestic chores and we don’t have the responsibility of taking care of children. So we are free to do whatever we want.

 Well, I am close to being that older woman who is happier than when she was younger. I am planning to stop and smell the roses, sit on my deck and meditate or plant petunias, or learn how to take good photographs, or take two or three days just to work on genealogy again. I look forward to having time to go to the warm water pool and exercise instead of going to physical therapy twice a week.
Perhaps I will paint again. 

 I let myself get caught up in responsibility for more than myself. I plan to let that go. My friends tell me, all the time, that I need to stop doing so much for others and just relax and take care of me. I never wanted to stop helping others and I can't see me doing that, but I will take more time for me. When health issues get in the way of your work, it might just be time to stop working so much.

 With spring coming on, I have two writing classes planned, but I really enjoy teaching. We have two good instructors, Vicki Lane and Catherine Carter, lined up to teach at Writers Circle around the Table this summer, and that is not going to stress me out. 

 The family business responsibility I have had for a number of years will soon be turned over to others and that will be a huge relief. Just keeping up with home repairs, heating and cooling, yard work, tree trimming, driveway repair and many other everyday chores with no one to share the load is more than I need at this time.

Soooooon...I will be free of all but my own needs, mine and Lexie's, and those are big enough to keep me quite busy. 
Two links to articles on this subject:

 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/out-the-darkness/201112/happiness-in-old-age-why-are-those-over-70s-so-happy
https://www.recordonline.com/entertainment/20190305/book-notes-surprise-women-are-often-happiest-in-old-age
Posted by at
Labels: ,

3 comments:

  1. DJanMarch 23, 2019 at 8:36 AM

    I am a mid-seventies woman who is very happy. But I think how much I would miss my husband if he got sick and died. So it's because of my marriage that I can say I'm happy. I am grateful for every day. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glenda BeallMarch 23, 2019 at 12:43 PM

    DJan, I am so glad you have your husband. After Barry died, I was not happy at all for a long time. After almost a decade, I feel I can be happy again although I miss him every day. We were very happy together, retired, doing what we wanted, when we wanted. The first fifteen years we lived here in the mountains were the happiest times of my life. The studies about older women being happier than when they were younger did not say if they had a husband or not. Don't you think your independence and ability to hike, meet friends for coffee, and lack of stress makes you happy, too? I think stress is the most harmful thing for me and what can keep me feeling poorly. Also, older women who are caregivers have to find happiness in giving instead of doing for themselves, I think. My friend, Estelle, who cared for her husband with dementia for 12 years, was happy that she could keep him at home and she enjoyed talking to him even when he was confused. We all have to find our happiness where we can, I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Abbie TaylorMarch 24, 2019 at 9:46 AM

    I'm glad you're doing everything you can to make you happy. Although I never participated in this study, I feel like one of those women. I'm free to do what I want when I want, and I no longer have the responsibility of caring for my husband. Yes, he's gone, and yes, I miss him, but he wouldn't want me to just stay in bed unless, of course, I were snuggling under the covers with him.

    ReplyDelete

I really appreciate your comments, and I love reading what you say.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)