A U-shaped story about happiness

Middle age is depressing.

According to data collected from more than 200,000 people in 72 countries, happiness follows a U-shaped curve. That means people in their 20s and 60s are happy and people in their 40s are depressed.

The news makes me giddy.

Forget my achy back and minor Parkinson's tremor. Overlook my buddy's second bout with breast cancer. Ignore my cousin's surgical rendezvous for knee replacement.

Being 60-plus is the giggles.

Andrew Oswald of Warwick University in Britain told reporters, "It happens to men and women, to single and married people, to rich and poor, and to those with and without...