Redefining Aging with Meaning and Happiness

Dr. Carey Burnight was born when her mother was 40 and that age would follow her throughout her life. She was the only child in her kindergarten whose sister was already married.
At six, she began visiting her grandmother in a nursing home and the images of the elderly she saw there stayed with her.

I feel like I was born a gerontologist,” she says in a special interview from her home in California, following the release of her book Joyspan, which revolutionizes thinking about aging.
What is the point of living long and healthy if you are not enjoying life?
The desire to make a change inspired her I taught geriatric medicine and gerontology for 19 years at the University of California, Irvine.

I also founded the first legal center in the U.S. to prevent elder abuse.
For some, it was a frustrating, painful decline for others, they could see the good in those years.
After working with the first group, I wanted to focus on the second group and understand their secret.
I discovered a vast research literature on psychological well being that hadn’t been translated into everyday life.

My goal was to create a practical science based guide to maximize the quality of our long lives.”
Her mother, Betty, was not particularly positive in her younger years.
She had many complaints, daily headaches and other issues.
When her father passed away sixteen years ago, she went through a very difficult period and felt that the best part of her life was behind her.

She began speaking to the camera about widowhood after sixty years of marriage.
The video went viral and she loves it.
Now she even initiates ideas for increasing joy among older adults herself.
” Yet, practically, it is possible to make aging a meaningful and positive stage.
From extensive research, I identified four core principles to focus on: Grow, Connect, Adapt and Give.

They help preserve meaning in our lives.
Which principle is the most important?
The good news is that all the principles are interconnected and reinforce one another.
For example, when you give, you must connect more.
When you adapt, you grow and learn new skills.
Just like physical training, working on one area strengthens others, including emotional resilience in aging.

How do you personally apply this daily?
Like everyone, I face challenges.
One example is my daughter’s brain growth condition diagnosed a few years ago.
It is important to strengthen ourselves today for tomorrow.
By focusing on quality of life in later years, we create a valuable legacy for children and grandchildren, showing that human dignity matters at any age.

My mother demonstrates this daily, and the grandchildren remember her this way,
not as her younger self.”
Develop a daily habit of checking your emotional, physical, and mental state and identify a daily source of joy.
Even small moments count. Writing helps recognize patterns.