Millennials, a generation defined by their youth, are no longer young. That's causing many of them to reevaluate their lives.
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The Lede
As millennials approach the milestone, things look a bit different than they did when our baby-boomer parents reached it and declared themselves "over the hill." Whether you're prepared for it or not, 40 hits differently — culturally, physically, emotionally. Forty is an arbitrary number, and there's nothing particularly horrifying about it. Nevertheless, for a lot of people, it's terrifying.
Key Details
- Millennials were born from 1981 to 1996, so everyone in the '81-to-'84 range — millions of the "avocado toast" generation — has hit 40 or is about to.
- Academic literature on happiness generally suggests that our satisfaction with life as we age is U-shaped. When we're young, we're happy — and then that declines, bottoming out in middle age, about 40 to 50.
- Basically, your 40s have a "this is it?" vibe that can be upsetting but that fades as you get older and appreciate your relationships and experience.
