Some minutes ago I turned 35 years old. I still remember that on my second or third blog entry I wrote, I narrated my 31st birthday celebration in Nicaragua and how I spent it with dozens of children in the morning - and then I went to eat Mexican food with Erika (whose boyfriend threatened me weeks after that).
Well, here I am in front of my computer at two in the morning, searching for statistical data that would make me feel better about being 35 years old. During my search, google suggested me a website I knew from before: the better life index.
In 2011, the OECD (organisation for economic cooperation and development) launched together with the French government and Amartya Sen (the guy on whose theory my PhD thesis is based on (by the way, I haven´t finished it yet)) a multidimensional indicator which measures wellbeing. They called it the “better life index”. On their website one can retrieve different kind of wellbeing data of the 34 OECD members; this data varies from income, health or education to life expectancy...and this is where my present situation plays an essential role.
According to the information I got from the better life website, the life expectancy of men in Mexico is 71 years, and 78 in Austria. And that just triggered an identity problem in me...
Just seven weeks ago I celebrated my 17th year in Austria, that was a special date because since that day I have spend half of my life in Innsbruck. That would make me half-Austrian...BUT, which expectancy rate should I take as valid when calculating my age?
If I take the Mexican life expectancy, it would mean I just started to live my half life (statistically seen; I have lived already 49,3% of my life), but if take the life-expectancy data from Austria, I have just lived 44,9% of my life. That is a difference of 5%, but believe me, I want to be on the younger side of that calculation. I have the feeling that the “better life” is on the first half. Being on the first half of life gives me the feeling of going upwards, having lived already 50% of my statistical life expectancy would mean nothing but heading downwards.
My Mexican friends may hate me, but I will stick to the Austrian life expectancy data, that makes me statistically younger.
About the term “better life”, well, I can only say I am unemployed, I go to university twice a week and since last April, I haven´t woke up before 10:00 a.m. I think in that sense, I may have been living the better life this year...oh yeah!
