The Happiness Curve

Why does happiness get harder in your 40s? Why do you feel in a slump even when you're successful? Where does this malaise come from? And, most importantly, will it ever end? Drawing on cutting-edge research, award-winning journalist Jonathan Rauch answers all these questions. He shows that from our 20s into our 40s, happiness follows a well-documented U-shaped trajectory, a "happiness curve", declining from the optimism of youth into what's often a long, low trough in middle age, before starting to rise again in our 50s. This isn't a midlife crisis, though. Rauch reveals that this downturn is instead a natural stage of life - and an essential one. By shifting priorities away from competition and toward compassion, you can equip yourself with new tools of wisdom and gratitude to head positively into your later years. And Rauch can testify to this personally - it was his own slump, despite acclaim as a journalist and commentator that compelled him to investigate the happiness curve. His own story and the stories of many others from all walks of life - from a steelworker and a limo driver to a telecoms executive and a philanthropist - show how the ordeal of midlife malaise can reboot our values and even our brains for a rebirth of gratitude. Full of insights and eye-opening data, and featuring practical ways to endure the dip and avoid its perils and traps, The Happiness Curve doesn't just show you the dark forest of midlife, it helps you find a path through the trees.

Jonathan Rauch is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington and a contributing editor of The Atlantic. He has also written for The New Republic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, among many other publications. He lives with his husband in Washington, DC.

1. The Voyage of Life Thomas Cole's journey-and mine 2. What Makes Us Happy (and Doesn't) The strange illogic of life satisfaction 3. A Timely Discovery How unsuspecting economists (and apes) found the happiness curve 4. The Shape of the River Time, happiness, and the curve of the U 5. The Expectations Trap Midlife malaise is often about nothing 6. The Paradox of Aging Why getting old makes you happier 7. Crossing Toward Wisdom The happiness curve has a purpose, and it's social 8. Helping Ourselves How to get through the U 9. Helping Each Other Bringing midlife out of the closet 10. Epilogue: Gratitude Acknowledgments Sources and Methods Index