Growing Older Isn’t About Your Life Span, It’s About Your Joy Quotient
In case you didn’t know, I’m about to turn 60 years old (isn’t that how I start every blog post lately) and for the past year, I’ve been getting way too caught up in my mortality and coming to terms with the fact that I now officially fall into the “old lady” category.
A funny side effect — other than crow’s feet, bingo wings, and creaky joints (which, for the record, are not funny) — is that I keep thinking about what really makes life meaningful.
Maybe it’s because the door to my youth has been slammed shut, or because I’m stepping into a whole new life chapter, or because death no longer feels like a distant idea. Whatever the reason, I’ve felt this urgent, almost physical pull to fully embrace the things that actually matter — the things that bring joy, spark laughter, and lift me and the people I love higher.
I keep asking myself: Years from now, what will I look back on and be grateful I did more of?
But before I can answer that, there’s something I need to do less of. I need to stop obsessing over how many years I have left. ecause you die when you die. It makes a lot more sense to focus less on my life span and more on my joy span, don’t you think?
Joy span. Don’t you just love that?
Maybe that’s what my body’s been whispering all along: Remember your joy span. Simplify. Let go. Keep only what brings happiness.
My 20s, 30s, and 40s were for chasing goals, raising a family, and keeping all the plates spinning. My 50s were a decade of change and adjustment. And now, standing on the edge of my 60s, I feel like it’s time to pause and soak it all in — to notice those tiny, perfect moments when I feel warm, content, silly, calm, or utterly at peace… and to do more of that.
Because maybe the secret to a good life isn’t about adding more years — it’s about adding more joy to the ones we’ve got.
So, what’s on your list? Here are a few simple pleasures I’ve written about in the past:
Your turn. What makes your joy last longer? What are your simple pleasures and the little things that make life feel good?
P.S. Honest question: Am I the only one who thinks about death more now that she’s older? Or am I a weirdo?