Decoding Happiness in Midlife

Like most people, I get tired of winter — the short days, the low light, the lack of warmth.

 

So I decided to write a blog about happiness and midlife/menopause!

 

✅ WINTER BLUES
While “Blue Monday” is a myth—with no scientific basis—supposedly the most depressing day of the year, the winter blues are very real.

 

➡️ TIPS TO HELP COMBAT THE WINTER BLUES, from Dr. Amin Muhammad, a Niagara Health Psychiatrist:

• GET ACTIVE: Embrace the winter and find activities to do outdoors, like walking, hiking, snowshoeing, or skiing.
• BE SOCIAL: Try to make a point of getting together with others.
• TURN ON THE TUNES: Listen to music you enjoy to boost your spirits.
• LAUGH: Do things that make you smile or laugh. Laughter truly is good medicine.
• LET THERE BE LIGHT: While there is less daylight in the winter, take advantage of what sunshine we do experience. When you’re inside, try to be exposed to as much natural light as possible.

 

✅ HAPPINESS

 

In Decoding Women’s Health with Dr. Elizabeth Poynor Podcast, episode Decoding Happiness in Midlife, Dr. Laurie Santos, Teacher of the most popular class in Yale’s history and host of The Happiness Lab Podcast, shares insights on how midlife women can thrive.

“She breaks down the components of happiness, explains why we’re often mistaken about what makes us happy, and provides practical tools and habits to boost wellbeing, manage negative emotions, and navigate burnout”.

 

➡️ TIPS TO INCREASE YOUR HAPPINESS
The keys to happiness are rooted in evidence-based behaviors and mindsets, including:

• EXERCISE
• SLEEP
• NUTRITION
• TIME FOR ONESELF (time affluence). Not having time for oneself is as stressful as being unemployed. Write time for yourself in your calendar because time affluence, feeling wealthy in time, can affect your happiness in a meaningful way. If you have the means, buy time.  For example, hire a teenager on your street to shovel your snow or cut your grass, buy cut vegetables, hire a cleaning lady.
• A SENSE OF PURPOSE. But this sense of purpose does not have to be a with a big P; a sense of purpose could mean “moment making”, tiny things that build up and fit with your broader values and your strengths.

If you sit for a while with your emotions you will see they are like waves:  they come, they crest, and then they go away.

 

➡️ A FOUR- STEP PRACTICE TO DEAL WITH NEGATIVE EMOTIONS:
One good way to deal with negative emotions is to use a meditation technique developed by Dr. Tara Brach that applies mindfulness and self-compassion to challenging emotions. This meditation is based on the acronym RAIN.

• R is for Recognize. when you feel a negative emotion, give yourself some space to notice it mindfully, space to figure it out, and then space and time to take care of this emotion. Be kind to yourself and be very specific when addressing your negative emotions. Saying, “I feel bad” is not specific enough but maybe what you’re feeling is frustration or overwhelm or loneliness.
• A is for Allow. Allow yourself to notice the emotion.
• I is for investigate. Watch how you feel in your body – is there tension? Is there a craving?
• N is for nurture.  Ask yourself “what do I know about this emotion and what do I need right now?” For example, ask your husband for help or stop meeting with a specific colleague at work who creates a toxic environment.

 

✅ BURNOUT

 

Burnout is classified, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), as a legitimate occupational phenomenon.  IT IS NOT A DISEASE, but it’s something that can lead to other kinds of health issues.

Burnout is real and it’s defined as a response to chronic stresses in a workplace which have not been managed successfully.

Burnout is characterized by three dimensions:

• Exhaustion; the individual stress response: “I can’t take it anymore.”
• Cynicism; a negative or detached response to work: “socially toxic workplace”
• Profession inefficacy; a sense of reduced accomplishment or negative self-evaluation: an “erosion of my soul” or the feeling that there is “no future.”

Think of burnout as a relationship problem between you and your job, rather than a personal failing.

If the relationship is no longer working for you, it’s worth analyzing why.

Start by tracking what is and isn’t working. Notice your good days. What happened that you enjoyed? What happened that felt particularly stressful? Track this for a while so you can clearly see what you need more of — and what you need less of.

 

✅ THEN THERE WAS…MENOPAUSE

 

Women in midlife are masters of managing a lot at once. Work, kids, aging parents, home life — somehow it all gets balanced, even if the load is heavy. But when midlife hormone changes start they can upset the balance. What used to feel manageable suddenly feels like too much.

You might also ask yourself whether work has become harder since you entered (peri)menopause.

What has shifted?

• Perhaps your work schedule no longer aligns with your sleep or energy patterns.
• Maybe hot flashes make in‑person meetings uncomfortable and you’d benefit from a desk fan, a seat by a window, or more flexibility at work.
• Perhaps your workload is simply too heavy right now and you need to delegate or share more.

 

➡️ If you believe that improving your work environment includes educating your employer, leaders, managers, and colleagues about menopause in the workplace, I’m here to support you.

I deliver Lunch & Learns focused on menopause education in the workplace — why it matters, how it affects performance and retention, and what organizations can do to ensure menopause doesn’t become the glass ceiling no one talks about.

 

RESOURCES

WATCH:
Dr Christine Maslach, a social psychologist and the pioneering researcher on job burnout, YouTube video Understanding Job Burnout.

LISTEN:
CBC podcast from December 31, 2025, The Dose- What Do We Need To Know About Burnout with Michael Leiter, professor emeritus of psychology at Acadia university in Nova Scotia and co-author of the Burnout Challenge book.

READ:
The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50, book by Jonathan Rauch.

Midlife can be a period of immense change and, sometimes, challenging emotions. But it’s also an opportunity to cultivate deeper, more lasting happiness.

Happiness takes intention, the right mindset, and the right habits.