It's New Year's Eve, the clock is ticking to midnight, 2018 and the dreams, hopes and aspirations of a lifetime of happiness, riches and endless enjoyment.
That's why you've decided to head out with your friends and smash the night to pieces in celebration with partying, booze and the party out that will be the best in your lifetime.
But as the clock strikes 12 and you find yourself in a shit bar, queueing for an overpriced beer and generally wondering why you're listening to Despacito for the one millionth time, you're wondering where it all went wrong.
You thought you were meant to be ringing in the New Year in a style that would make Jordan Belfort blush but instead you've felt more atmosphere at a wake.
Where's the epic night? Where's the total turnaround to success in your life? How come those massive plans you made with your pals have fallen a little flat?
Well, as with so many things in life, science has an answer. The reason is that people who tend to try to feel happy find that it backfires big time.
A study by a bunch of bods called Schooler, Ariely and Loewenstein involved measuring the reaction of students to a piece of music. A handful of the students were told to try and feel happy while listening to the music.
However, that group of happy-go-lucky students were then the ones who reported feeling the lowest levels of happiness as they monitored their mood at different times through the music.
Ultimately, this means that those who didn't go with the flow had the worst experiences and we can apply this to New Year's Eve.
Another group of experts in a study called 'The pursuit and assessment of happiness can be self-defeating' in 1999 investigated the reactions of people around the turn of the year.
They surveyed 475 people in the build up to New Year's Eve and, to cut a long story short, those who had big plans turned out to have the worst reactions when asked in the days following NYE.
As anyone who has ever been on a spur-of-the-moment afternoon drinking session with mates will know, spontaneous fun is always the best. Planned fun can do one.
So, as it gets closer to 12am, try and forget about all those big plans, let your hair down and just enjoy yourself. The year of 2017 has been a tough one so have a night to enjoy yourself.
Happy New Year.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: 2018, Interesting, New Year