Why Is It So Hard to Be Happy After Reaching Middle Age?

@AnotherMoonlight: You can observe those people who become happier as they grow older, starting from around the age of 30.

I know someone who, between the ages of 25 and 30, experienced the death of close relatives, couldn't afford to buy a house, was left by his girlfriend, faced an industry downturn, and suffered pay cuts and layoffs. During this time, he went from a promising young master's graduate to a hollow person, lonely and with no tomorrow.

But the wonder of fate lies in this: just when you think you can achieve everything through your own efforts, it can effortlessly shatter your dreams with a flick of its finger.

Yet, when you are beaten into submission and tell fate, "Alright, I don't want anything anymore," fate will suddenly point out a new path for you.

Starting at 30, he became obsessed with hiking and found a leisurely job paying 4,000 a month just to keep his social security. He chose not to buy a house or get married, spending every weekend and holiday traveling, climbing mountains, and making videos. I haven't kept count of how many mountains he's climbed, but his vitality is clearly renewed; he is no longer that depressed and dejected person.

I think he must have figured out a lot of things during that period from 25 to 30.

What is death? What is survival? What is work? What is love? What is marriage? What are the relationships between people?

What things in life are mere illusions? And what things truly have meaning?

If a person doesn't ponder these questions when they are young and simply enters a predetermined main quest, their life will be in a constant state of increasing entropy. All sorts of messy things will fill their life, squeezing out the space for happiness, and by the time they are old and want to escape, it will be too late.

Those who grow happier with age must have experienced a period of utter darkness, doubting everything, and having no direction in their youth. By constantly resisting emptiness, they kicked meaningless people and things out of their world one by one, leaving only their most authentic desires and pursuits. Using their mental strength to constantly resist this entropy, they ultimately attain lasting and genuine happiness.