Good news, joy-seekers! Happiness grows as you do.
According to Heidi Grant Halvorson, a motivational psychologist and HuffPost blogger, how we experience happiness evolves as we age.
"Very often we look back at our younger selves and think, 'Oh, I don't feel happy like I used to,'" she explains to HuffPost Live host Alicia Menendez in the clip above. Those thoughts are valid, since as we grow up, we tend to think differently about our goals. As we mature, we become more prevention-focused, Grant says, and the kind of elation we experience is often more "tranquil" than its teenage corollary.
But that doesn't mean we're less happy. Instead, the kinds of activities we might have once defined as "lame" (like, say, staying in to read a really great book) tend to bring us a lot more pleasure as we age. And because of this, we might not have to spend as much time thrill-seeking to feel content. Find out more about the evolution of happiness in the segment above.
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