I've the believed that Happiness and Misery in life are products of both human brain and its conception of reality - the way we look at things around us and how we think about them.

Researchers have discovered happiness and miseries levels followed a U-shaped curve, with happiness higher towards the beginning and end of our lives and leaving us most miserable in middle years between 45 - 55. The U-shaped effect stems from something inside human beings. Some people suffer more than others but scientifically the average effect is immense.

From people' sample taken in US, researchers discovered a significant difference between men and women with misery reaching a peak at around 40 years of age for women and 50 years of age for men. In UK, they found out that for both men and women the probability of depression acmes around 44 years of age.

An economist Professor Andrew Oswald, from the University of Warwick said:

"What causes this apparently U-shaped curve, and its similar shape in different parts of the world, is unknown. One possibility is that individuals learn to adapt to their strengths and weaknesses, and in mid-life quell their infeasible aspirations. Another possibility is that cheerful people live systematically longer. A third possibility is that a kind of comparison process is at work in which people have seen similar-aged peers die and value more their own remaining years. Perhaps people somehow learn to count their blessings."

He went on to say: "It looks from the data like something happens deep inside humans. For the average person in the modern world, the dip in mental health and happiness comes on slowly, not suddenly in a single year."

"Only in their 50s do most people emerge from the low period. But encouragingly, by the time you are 70, if you are still physically fit then on average you are as happy and mentally healthy as a 20-year-old. Perhaps realising that such feelings are completely normal in mid-life might even help individuals survive this phase better."

It might be because when we reach the age of 40's, we start to fret much about the future; what we have achieved and what we expect to achieve in the years to come. It's great to have a great ambition and look into the future, but we shouldn't get too obsessed about it and forget the present. While keeping our eyes on the future, we should also keep our feet on the ground and enjoy the present.

Charles Amoli