The Secret to Staying Young: Always Have Something to Look Forward to

At 90, I have discovered something rather amusing about getting older: the calendar insists I am old, but most days I don’t feel particularly interested in cooperating with it.

I believe one reason is simple: I nearly always have something to look forward to.

It may be a book I am working on, a new idea I want to develop, something connected with longevity, a writing project, or simply a problem I have not yet figured out how to solve. There is almost always something waiting for me tomorrow.

And I think that matters more than we sometimes realize.

We hear a great deal about staying young through exercise, nutrition, sleep, supplements, and skin care. Those things have their place. But there is another kind of youthfulness that has nothing to do with how we look.

It is the feeling that life is still going somewhere.

Retirement Should Not Mean “Finished”

For many years, retirement was presented almost as a reward for surviving work. You put in your decades, retire, put your feet up, and finally do nothing. Doing nothing can be delightful – for about three days. After that, I think most of us need something more.

Human beings need a reason to get up in the morning. We need something that makes us curious about what happens next.

That does not mean we need to keep working at a job. It means we need to keep participating in life.

At 90, I am still writing. I still develop new projects. I still think about books, teaching, longevity, and ideas I would like to pursue.

Sometimes I suspect I have more projects now than I did when I was supposedly young enough to have the energy for them.

But that may be part of the point.

My projects give me energy.

Anticipation Is Half the Pleasure

Think about a vacation you once planned.

The trip itself may have lasted only a week, but you probably enjoyed thinking about it for months. You imagined where you would go, what you would see, and what you would do.

That same principle can operate throughout life.

A lunch with a friend next week gives Tuesday a little sparkle. A class starting next month gives us something to prepare for. A creative project gives tomorrow a purpose.

Having something ahead of us pulls us forward.

It Doesn’t Have to Be a Grand Project

I happen to enjoy large projects, but yours does not have to be large at all.

You might decide to learn five songs on the piano. Perhaps you want to organize your family photographs, grow roses, learn Spanish, take a trip, write down your childhood memories, trace your ancestry, volunteer, improve your balance, or learn how to use some piece of technology that appears to have been designed by a hostile civilization.

It really doesn’t matter.

The important question is: Does it make you curious about tomorrow?

If the answer is yes, it is probably worth doing.

Never Stop Being a Beginner

One of the pleasures of growing older is knowing a great deal. One of the dangers is beginning to believe we already know enough.

I hope I never reach that point.

There is something wonderfully youthful about being a beginner. A beginner asks questions. A beginner makes mistakes. A beginner says, “How does this thing work?”

And sometimes, after pressing the wrong button six times, the beginner learns something. Learning keeps us engaged with the world as it is now – not merely the world as we remember it.

That is especially important as we age.

Purpose Changes, but It Does Not Disappear

At 40, purpose might mean raising a family, building a career, paying the mortgage, or establishing a business. At 70, 80, or 90, it may mean something entirely different.

Perhaps your purpose is encouraging grandchildren, helping a neighbor, writing your story so your family will know where they came from, improving your health, or becoming more independent.

Or perhaps your purpose right now is simply enjoying life tremendously. I see nothing wrong with that purpose either.

Keep Something on the Horizon

Here is one habit I recommend: when one anticipated event or project ends, put another one on the horizon.

It can be small.

Lunch next Thursday. A concert next month. A new book to read. A weekend trip. A garden project. A class. A phone call with someone you love.

Something.

We cannot stop the years from accumulating. At 90, I can personally confirm that they are remarkably persistent.

But we can decide whether our attention is directed mainly backward toward what has already happened – or forward toward what might happen next.

I prefer forward.

I believe one of the finest ways to stay young is to remain interested, curious, involved, and excited about something that has not happened yet.

So whatever your age, ask yourself: What am I looking forward to?

And if you don’t have an answer, perhaps it is time to give yourself one.

Over to You:

What makes you get up each morning? Do you have something to look forward to? What is it and why is it important to you?