What's Wrong with Being Happy?

Who doesn’t want to be happy? So why are we vaguely embarrassed to admit that it’s a life goal?

If you're ever going to be happy, it may be when you're 58 years old.

That's the finding of a study conducted last year by Happify, a website and app that develops games and activities based on scientific research into happiness.

So if you're younger than 58, it's something to look forward to. But if you're older than 58, it doesn't mean you've missed the "happy year." That's because, according to the research, happiness tends to increase as you age beyond 58.

The study found that most people are pretty happy at 18, but that happiness dips in the middle years, bottoming out at about 53. At this point, things start looking up again, and happiness gains even more traction from 58 onward.

Not surprisingly, there are lots of qualifiers on such conclusions.

First, the research is talking about an average age when happiness seems to really take hold, and, second, personal troubles can override happiness at any age.

Beyond that, there's also the matter that happy people seem to live longer --...