Ezra Klein endorses this sentiment from a Fast Company article on happiness:
Younger people feel happiest when they are excited, while older people equate happiness with peacefulness.
This only struck me because of how strongly I disagree with it. I’m quite a bit older than Ezra — though, admittedly, maybe not yet antiquated enough to qualify as “older” in the context of the article — but I have no interest in peacefulness at all. In fact, I feel like I’d kill for some genuine excitement in my life these days. Not the constant faux tension inspired by modern media and our kindergarten-level politics, but real excitement, the kind generated by believing that there’s a real chance of something new and rewarding and galvanizing taking shape.
I haven’t felt that in a while. But I’d sure like to.