6 Perks of Growing Older
Here are some particular joys or perks of getting along in years:
1. Increased Confidence
As you get older, you have a much larger pool of experiences to pull from when making decisions. Most of us have had time to accumulate a few accomplishments that we’re proud of. Together, they mean a greater sense of self-confidence, which makes everyday life a little easier. You learn what you’re good at and what you’re not, and you begin to lean into your strengths, which was harder to do in your younger years.
2. Greater Emotional Control
The emotional lives of teenagers and young adults are pretty volatile. This likely has to do with their rapidly changing hormones and lives. But as you get older, things begin to stabilize in terms of your emotions and everyday life experiences. In my 30s, for example, things have been more predictable than in my 20s, and I feel that life is less of an emotional roller coaster than it used to be.
3. Growth in Wisdom
As we accrue experiences and knowledge as we age, we also develop an intuitive sense of better judgment. Of course, growing in wisdom isn’t a guarantee—you have to put in the effort to develop yourself by reading great works, surrounding yourself with the right people, and generally seeking what is true and good. Time is an important ingredient in that process, unfolding one day at a time.
4. More Gratitude and Less Comparison
Looking back on my life, I notice that I don’t compare myself to others nearly as often as I once did. When you’re young and trying to figure out your place in the world, you’re finely attuned to how you stack up to those around you. Now that my place is more settled and I’ve come to peace with it, I feel grateful for all the good things in my life. With maturity comes the realization that others have it worse than I do and an end to comparing myself only to those who have it better.
5. Deeper Relationships
The early adult years sometimes felt like a race to climb the ladder of career and networks in order to gain status and the approval of others. The younger you are, the more you feel you have to prove. A consistent observation I’ve had is that as people grow older, the shine of success, at least how it’s traditionally been defined, begins to fade. In its place, we begin to see more clearly the one source of lasting happiness: our relationships. For many of us, age also comes with a little more free time, which we can invest into time with family and friends.
6. A Sharper Sense of What Matters
Overall, the picture that emerges of healthy aging is one in which we gain more and more clarity of what actually matters. This alone is a tremendous gift and why we shouldn’t be sad to see our bodies grow older. It’s possible for a young person to cultivate this awareness, but such deep wisdom is usually reserved for those with a few more years under their belt. If this is true, and my experience suggests that it is, then we can all be hopeful that some of the most content days of our lives are still ahead.
