Joyspan - or I won’t tell you about my aches and pains if you won’t tell me about yours.

Did you catch the recent New York Times article about something called Joyspan?

The idea is simple but powerful: as we get older, we can take one of two paths. We can either see ourselves as growing in age or as declining in age.

That distinction may not sound revolutionary, but it’s a reminder that every morning, when we get out of bed, we have a choice. A decision about how we want to live the rest of our lives.

Personally, I try to stay away from people who spend all their energy talking about aches, pains, and ailments. Why? Because it’s contagious. If we focus only on deterioration, we get sucked into a narrative of decline, humiliation, and limitation. But if we shift toward growth, we start to see opportunities, joy, and potential—even as the years pass.

Joyspan, like health span, is about more than just living longer. It’s about living better. It’s about finding the small and simple things that don’t just make us happy in the moment but bring us lasting joy.

According to the scientist who coined the concept, there are four practices that help us age with joy:

1. Grow

Keep learning. Keep bringing new things into your life. Growth doesn’t stop at any age, unless we decide it does.

2. Connect

Stay in touch with old friends and family, but also make space for new people. Fresh energy, ideas, and stories can shift how we see the world and ourselves.

3. Adapt

To me, this is the hardest—and most critical—step. Times change, daily. If we refuse to adapt, we risk getting stuck in the past, longing for a version of life that probably wasn’t as perfect as we remember.

4. Give

Offer yourself—your time, your wisdom, your presence. Giving isn’t always easy, especially when we carry old wounds or fears. But when we share what we still have inside, life becomes richer not only for others but for ourselves.

Here at Aging Disgracefully, I want to focus on choosing joy instead of pain, growth instead of decline.

So if you’re ready to walk the Joyspan path with me, stick around. Let’s do this together.