Why is it so hard to feel happy once we reach middle age?

I spent two weeks caring for someone in the hospital.

From what I saw and heard—and from listening to the nurses chat—I learned about many older patients, as well as young people nearing the end of their lives.

Their greatest regrets were surprisingly similar—and simple.

There were no grand narratives. They did not lament that they had failed to study harder or work harder, nor did they dwell on a romance or marriage they had missed.

More often, they regretted the places they had never traveled to, the delicious food they had never tasted, the fact that they had not treated themselves better or allowed themselves to be a little happier.

Their most common wish was that, once they recovered, they would go out and explore more, enjoy more good food, and stop living a life constrained by expectations.

Sadly, in the end, they never even made it out of the ICU.

Perhaps the greatest illusion in life is believing too confidently in a future that may never come—and, in doing so, repeatedly missing the happiness right in front of us.

Stop before you reach the edge. It is never too late to turn back.

The first thing people should learn in middle age is how to make themselves happy.