When thinking about the future, some people think they will change, and others expect they might remain the same. But, how do these predictions relate to happiness later on in their lives? According to new research from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), expecting ourselves to remain mostly the same over the next ten years is strongly related to being happier later in life. The research is published in Social Psychological and Personality Science.

One would assume that if people make optimistic predictions about the future, such as “thinking they will become more compassionate and intelligent in the future,” as Joseph Reiff (UCLA) suggests, “they would end up becoming happier in the years that follow.” What Reiff and colleagues found however, surprised them.

“The more people initially predicted that they would remain the same — whether predicting less decline or less improvement across a number of core traits — the more satisfied they typically were with their lives ten years later,” says Reiff. (1)

We have idolized change.

But can anything change?

Whatever you do you will always be you.

Unless you choose not to.

But even then, this is you.

Trying to be someone else.

Life as a theater play. And we are all actors. Others perform well, others not so much. But only a handful of us remember that at the end of the play, we will retreat backstage and go back home again…

Only a handful or us remember that the play is not important…

Hello daughter! I’ve been waiting for you…

It was a terrible play dad.

I didn’t watch it. Come. Dinner is on the table…