WHAT IS YOUR MAGIC NUMBER?

                                                                   

Ever stop and think when you were the happiest? Or what was the best year of your life? We tend to think of childhood years as being golden or the time we first fell in love. Not so, with British females, who tend to regard that magic time as thirty-three. Friends United took a poll of women forty and over residing in the UK. The majority picked thirty-three. Why you might wonder?

Different reasons, some felt they’d grown up enough that they didn’t have the naiveté of a teenager or their grandiose expectations. Still others found themselves more settled with an appropriate husband and children. Both spouse and offspring were still young enough that there weren’t major power struggles. Some found great joy in their professional careers, while others remarked on having a strong social network.  A few women commented that by their thirties, they finally had enough money to do what they want.

  Was thirty-three a magical age for me? I pretty much slept walk through it. I worked full time, had a long commute, and three children under nine. I also spent four nights a week at college finishing my master’s degree. My meteorology professor commented that I napped through most of his class. What do you expect at nine-thirty at night? Can’t say it was the highlight of my life. It did make me wonder what makes life better, more special, even magical.

Dr. Simon Clark, the founder of eHarmony, believes that the right person has a beneficial aspect to all facets of your life. With the right guy, you tolerate nonsense at work with only a wry eyebrow lift and grocery shopping with a smile. Dr. Clark also believes if everyone found their perfect match the world would be a happier, more peaceful place. Of course, he adds that people currently seeking a mate almost seventy percent will not select their best match; which, of course, explains our divorce rate of 52%. The other eighteen percent are unaware they’ll ill-matched.

With that in mind, not all the British women who responded where married when they were thirty-three. Perhaps many had just escaped a bad pairing and were glad of it. The married ones were content in their marriages. They had what they always wanted a home, husband, family, and a career.  Or maybe it was just their age. A new study by economists David Blanchflower of Dartmouth and Andrew Oswald of Warwick show European happiness starts rising around the mid-thirties, but not so with an Americans. We must wait until mid-forties to find our happiness meter moving upward once again. They also added we are not as happy as our grandparents despite having more wealth and technology.

Many American women commented that they came alive at fifty when they decided to not care what other people think. That’s what the Red Hat Ladies are all about. Just doing things you want to do because well, you want to. No long drawn out explanations why you’re eating ice cream for breakfast. Women are usually the ones who stick to social rules never realizing that most things they adhere to matter little.

What is the best year of my life? I’d have to say right now. At 51, I am living the life I want. Because my children are grown I am able to indulge my passion for travel. Sometimes I do eat ice cream for breakfast.  Other times I say exactly what I think, and no one seems too shocked. Best of all, I am marrying my soul mate. Given another year or so, and I might think 52 is the best year of my life.