I have a theory that everyone is born with a set amount of happiness. The only thing that is variable is how that happiness is allocated over your life.
For example, if you are born a Kennedy, you have an incredible amount of happiness when you’re young, then someone shoots you. You could name a hundred celebrities who hit it big early and then hit a serious bad luck patch: Magic Johnson, James Dean, Jerry Lewis, Christopher Reeve, Pee Wee Herman. Likewise, I have noticed that people who had putrid childhoods often have deliriously happy adulthoods.
According to my theory, the best predictor of a long and happy adult life is a miserable childhood. Let’s test this theory with you readers. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is best, rate your childhood and your adulthood so far, like this:
Example:
Current Age: 40
Childhood = 3
Adulthood = 8
Your results may vary.