The actor Meryl Streep once said: “One day you wake up and realize that your youth is gone, but along with it, so go insecurity, haste, and the need to please. . . . You learn to walk more slowly, but with greater certainty. You say goodbye without fear, and you cherish those who stay. Aging means letting go, it means accepting, it means discovering that beauty was never in our skin . . . but in the story we carry inside us.”
That quote captures the two sides of getting older—and points to the formula for aging well: to grieve and reconcile yourself to what is being lost while learning to see and acknowledge what you have gained. There is a third component as well, which involves cultivating meaning, purpose, and optimism as your life evolves. That, at least, is the upshot of the science we’ve covered for decades now.
For this resource page, we’ve gathered the best and most enduring of our articles, podcasts, and videos about getting older. We’ve also included content about caregiving, which is so essential to spouses aging together or those who must care for elders through all their ups and downs. These are journeys most of us must make, sooner or later, if we live long enough. The good news is that we don’t need to take them alone.
Click to jump to a section:
How Getting Older Makes You Feel
- Do We Need a New Roadmap for Getting Older?: Old age can last half a century, says physician Louise Aronson, so it needs a better definition—and more praise.
- Do You Have a Negative Attitude About Aging?: According to a new study, our feelings about aging can influence our emotional reactions to everyday stress.
- How Feeling Old Could Make You Kinder: New research finds that people who feel old for their age are more willing to help strangers.
- How Our Relationship to Stress Changes Over a Lifetime: A new study suggests that we tend to feel less stressed as we get older.
- How Narcissism Changes With Age: We tend to get less narcissistic as we get older, which might explain why younger generations can seem entitled and self-absorbed.
- The Surprising Ways Your Mind Influences Your Health: A new book argues that we can harness the connection between our minds and our physiology for better health.
- How Purpose Changes Across Your Lifetime: Purpose is not a destination, suggests research, but a journey and a practice.
- What Are the Secrets to a Happy Life?: In following 268 men for their entire lives, the Harvard Grant Study has discovered why some of them turned out happier than others.
How Aging Shapes Relationships
- Why Relationships Are the Secret to Healthy Aging: A new book outlines why our brains and bodies need social connections to age well.
- How Relationship Satisfaction Changes Across Your Lifetime: Our romantic happiness goes through normal ups and downs as we get older—and we’re least happy around age 40, a new study finds.
- How Friends Help Us Grow Old: A new study suggests that we need a lot of social contact when we’re younger—but as we age, we need to focus on closeness.
- How Loneliness Changes Across Your Lifetime: Loneliness can strike at any age, although the cause might be different.
- How Polyamorous People Can Find Happiness in Later Life: Two new books explore what it looks like for people in multiple romantic partnerships to get older.
- What The Golden Bachelor Reveals About Searching for Love as We Age: The Golden Bachelor, while imperfect, brings up questions about desire and desirability and the ageist and sexist narratives we hold about them.
- Why Sex Gets Better in Old Age: According to a new study, our sexual priorities change as we age and that keeps our sex lives satisfying.
- Find Purpose by Connecting Across Generations: Relationships with people of different ages can bring meaning, joy, and a better world.
- What Happens When Old and Young Connect: When older and younger people form meaningful relationships, it improves both groups’ well-being.
- How Music Can Bridge Generational Differences: With so much driving us apart, music offers opportunities for solace and bridge-building.
Navigating Middle Age & Menopause
- Why We’re Unhappiest in Our Late 40s: People all around the world experience a midlife decline in happiness, a new study suggests.
- Why Midlife Is So Hard—Especially Now: The modern midlife crisis comes from the stresses of caregiving for both children and parents, while facing financial struggles.
- How to Overcome the Struggles of Midlife: Here are four lessons for changing your mindset about aging and finding a sense of meaning.
- How to Find Your Purpose in Midlife: New research shows that a sense of purpose in life is important for midlife and older adults, not just for kids.
- Here’s How to Find Meaning in Your Midlife Crisis: Middle age can be a time of renewal, if you’re willing to ask the right questions.
- How Does Menopause Affect Your Mental Health?: Women and health professionals need to be more aware of how this life stage can affect mood, anxiety, depression, and more.
- How Men Can Support Their Partners Through Menopause: A little education can help couples communicate better about this challenging life transition.
- Four Ways to Cope With Your Empty-Nest Grief: As her daughter leaves for college, Amy L. Eva is discovering it’s time for her to grow, as well.
“Statistically speaking, the two most important personality correlates that predict successful aging are conscientiousness and openness to experience. ”
Tips & Insights for Retirement & Better Aging
- What Neuroscience Can Teach Us About Aging Better: A neuroscientist explains how our brains age and provides tips for aging with more vitality and happiness.
- How Does Retirement Affect Our Health and Happiness?: A review of research investigated how mental health and physical activity change in retirees around the world.
- How to Find Fulfillment in Retirement: Rich and varied leisure activities are important for having fun later in life. So try something new!
- How Happy Will You Be in Old Age? It Might Depend Where You Live: A new study calls into question the idea that happiness increases after midlife.
- Five Ways Mindfulness Helps You Age Better: Research suggests that being more mindful in our everyday lives can protect our health as we age—and even help us live longer.
- Four Keys to Well-Being That May Help You Live Longer: A new study suggests that optimism, happiness, social support, and purpose in life could increase longevity in older adults.
- How Your Social Life Might Help You Live Longer: According to a new book, the secret to longevity isn’t just diet and exercise—being connected and kind matters, as well.
- How to Keep Your Brain Fit as You Get Older: A new book outlines many ways to keep our cognitive skills strong and reduce the risk of dementia as we age.
- 100 is the New 65: Why do some people live to 100? Researchers are trying to find out, reports Meera Lee Sethi, and they’re discovering how we might live better lives, not just longer ones.
- How Optimism May Keep You Alive Longer: A new study suggests that optimism might be a secret to longevity.
- How Thinking About the Future Makes Life More Meaningful: Research suggests that thinking about the future—a process known as prospection—can help us lead more generous and fulfilled lives.
- How Exploring My Father’s Life Helped Me Understand My Own: William Damon was a purpose researcher focused on the future. But doing a life review helped him heal from a difficult past.
Caring for Elders & Each Other
- What Happened When I Wrote My Mom a Thank-You Letter: When she turned 50, Nancy Davis Kho wrote 50 gratitude letters—and the first one was to her mom.
- Can Music Help Keep Memory Alive?: A conversation with the makers of Alive Inside, a new documentary about how music is helping people with dementia.
- Happy Caregivers May Help Dementia Patients Stay Alive: A new study finds that supporting the mental health of family caregivers could lead to longer, happier life for dementia patients.
- How to Give to Others Without Burning Out: Research suggests that self-care can reduce stress and exhaustion—if we know how to practice it.
- Can Altruism Help Us Through Hard Times?: Caring for others can improve our well-being, build resilience, and foster lasting community—during moments of collective crisis, and beyond.
- How Awe Helps You Navigate Life’s Challenges: We explore how embracing awe can uplift caregivers, providing tools to nurture themselves while nurturing others.
- How Caregivers Can Cultivate Moments of Positivity: Judith Moskowitz explains how positive emotion skills can help us cope with stress.
- How to Stay Empathic Without Suffering So Much: Four steps to a healthier, more helpful, and more sustainable form of empathy.
- Can Mindfulness Help Caregivers Care for Themselves?: A new study explores if moment-to-moment, nonjudgemental awareness can help people caring for profoundly disabled children.
“There are two main ways that people on their deathbeds find meaning: in the recognition of all of the people they have loved and who have loved them, and in the work that they’ve done that has contributed to the greater good.”
How to Die Well
- How to Make Your Death Kinder to Those You Love: Losing loved ones inspired Cianna Stewart to get her own life in order, and to help others do the same—the ultimate act of kindness to those left behind.
- Six Steps to Prepare for End-of-Life Care: Ellen Rand shares the lessons she’s learned about preparing for the death of a loved one.
- Seven Keys to a Good Death: Charles Garfield draws on decades of experience to explore how to create the conditions for a good death.
- What Makes a Good Death?: Award-winning New York Times columnist Jane Brody offers lessons for navigating the practical and emotional challenges of end-of-life.
- How to Bring More Meaning to Dying: Palliative care specialist BJ Miller and Shoshana Berger explain how to bring more meaning and less suffering to the end of life.
- Why Are Some People Happy Even as They’re Dying?: Research suggests that people nearing death talk about their experience as more positive than we imagine it would be.
- How Love Can Survive Death: According to a new study, the link between two partners’ well-being isn’t weakened when one passes away.
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