Is reaching the “half-century” mark a good thing?

A few days after my 50th birthday, I started reading The Happiness Curve. (If you are about to reach or just turned 50, I highly recommend you read it!) I found truths in that book but also a lot of confirmed realizations.

Here are some:

“people don’t always understand their own true desires and feelings, and, even if they do, they might not give a straight answer.”

“Everywhere that I have studied happiness some very simple patterns hold: a stable marriage, good health, and enough (but not too much) income are good for happiness. Unemployment, divorce, and economic instability are terrible for happiness — everywhere that happiness is studied.”

“The truest form of wealth is social, not material.”

“Happiness Around the World: The Paradox of Happy Peasants and Miserable Millionaires”