In You’re Not Too Old, and It’s Not Too Late, you provide readers with research-informed methods for reshaping the way they look at aging. Why was this an important book for you to write?

This is a book I’ve wanted to write for a long time. Inevitably, we’re all getting older each day, whether we pause to think about it or not. The seasons of our lives, midlife into elderhood, are filled with joys and challenges, offering ongoing opportunities to navigate our full potential for happiness, resilience, meaning, learning, and new possibilities.

As I write in the book, “Navigating midlife and beyond in the 21st century is not the same story as for our parents’ generations. New understandings in ways people live are inviting us to reimagine our ideas about getting older.” Our thoughts about possibilities and perceived limitations can influence whether we’re aging with greater well-being or not. Even subtle shifts in how we understand our health and performance can empower us toward greater flourishing, vibrancy, and fulfillment.

It’s always seemed to me that navigating the second half of life can feel like walking through unknown territory without a map. My hope is that You’re Not Too Old, and It’s Not Too Late offers readers an empowering, research-inspired companion –- with easy-to-navigate stories, invigorating ideas, and practices — that can help readers discover transformative new possibilities to make the most of their lives.

You write candidly about feeling unsettled by aging. How did you navigate the vulnerability of sharing those moments?

This question nudged me to think deeply about what I’ve learned and continue to learn about life. Frankly, when I started writing the book, I probably didn’t fully realize that I was writing it for me too — that indeed, I too was among the people getting older every day.  

I’ve come to understand, via recent research and my own life’s journey, along with what I’ve learned from others, that life’s path calls on us repeatedly to get back up when we fall down, to face our vulnerabilities and to learn to go forward, even though we might find ourselves kicking and screaming along the way.

Ready or not, the many seasons of my life have been filled with opportunities to notice my vulnerabilities. So, when I started writing I knew I needed to include this tenuous part of my own journey in the book.  And yet, I continue to learn with each year that, as I write in the book, we do not have to be superheroes to re-envision how we engage with the process of getting older. While not ignoring the challenges of getting older, we can learn to embrace broader opportunities and possibilities to redefine the second half of life and how we engage with it in the face of whatever life serves up.

One of the most moving sections is the gratitude letter to your high school music teacher. What was it like to revisit that relationship?

Writing this chapter truly filled my heart with an abundance of love and gratitude. My high school music teacher was one of the most important people in my life from the time I met her as a striving high school student until well into my adulthood as she became a lifelong friend.

In part, some of the strengths I’ve been able to develop in my life were among the gifts of my relationship with her. She was a kind, supportive person that truly saw the heart of who I was and my potential. She helped me cultivate a sense of meaning in my life and encouraged me to explore my strengths, including perseverance and a deep love of learning. When I think of her, I continue to be filled with thankfulness and gratitude –- she believed in me and took the time and energies to inspire me to learn and believe in myself.

In fact, I still vividly remember the moments I describe in the book, especially “letting me hang around you [her] – especially as a senior – when you certainly could have been doing other things.” One teacher and one student generated a springboard which inspired my capacity to grow into a thriving adult. I feel so fortunate to have a story like this to share.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from You’re Not Too Old, and It’s Not Too Late? 

While there are no magic formulas, resilience, renewal and flourishing are nourished with inspiration, information, resources and action. In each season of our lives, we can be active participants in choosing how to respond to the joys & challenges we face. I hope readers will add some new practices to their life skill toolboxes. I hope that readers will feel invited to re-examine their assumptions about the process of growing older and to tap into their inner strengths, embrace greater meaning, and discover transformative “aha” moments that spark renewal and joy. I hope this book invites readers to consider the idea that some of the best chapters of their lives may still lie ahead.

Every day is precious and each moment offers new possibilities. Ultimately, our lives are filled with choices, whether intentional or unintentional. This reader-friendly book offers lots of transformational concepts to explore and experiment with in the process of shifting from a mindset of inevitable decline toward greater empowerment, meaning, mindful well-being, and a fuller life at any age.

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