Most of us have spent years thinking about how long we’ll live. Then the doctors started talking about how many of those years we’ll stay healthy. Fair enough.
But here’s a question nobody asks you at your checkup: Are you still enjoying it?
Turns out there’s a word for that. It’s called joyspan, and I reckon it might be the number that matters most.
Where the word came from
Dr. Kerry Burnight came up with it. She’s a gerontologist, which is a doctor who studies aging, and she teaches at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. She spent 16 years working with older folks who’d been neglected and mistreated. After seeing the worst side of growing old, she went looking for the other side: what makes people thrive later in life.
That search turned into her 2025 book, Joyspan: The Art and Science of Thriving in Life’s Second Half. It became a New York Times bestseller. (If you buy it through my link, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.)
Her idea is simple. Joyspan is how much you actually enjoy your life as you get older. Not how many pills you take or how many steps your watch counts. Just whether you still wake up glad to be here.
Here’s the part I like best. You don’t have to be in perfect shape to have a long joyspan. Bad knees, stiff back and all, you can still have a good one.
The four things that build it
Dr. Burnight boils it down to four habits: grow, connect, give, and adapt. Harvard Health wrote about them too. Here’s how I look at each one.
1. Grow
Keep learning something. Doesn’t have to be big. A new recipe. A trail you’ve never walked. Finally figuring out what all those buttons on the TV remote do.
For me, it’s been this website. Some days I’ve wanted to toss the computer out in the yard. But every time I finally figure something out, I feel about ten years younger. That’s what growing does for you.
2. Connect
Stay close to people. This one has a lot of science behind it.
Yvette Francino is a retired coach who writes a blog called Living Life to the Fullest. After she read the book, she wrote about what keeps her own joy going. One of the biggest? She calls her mom every single night.
Now, you might think that’s her doing her mom a favor. But Yvette says she gets just as much out of those calls as her mom does. A few minutes on the phone, a few laughs, and they both go to bed a little happier.
That’s what connection looks like. It doesn’t have to be a big family reunion. It just has to happen.
And the experts back her up. In the 2026 U.S. News Healthy Aging Survey, 59% of the 63 health experts they asked named loneliness and isolation as the most overlooked thing that speeds up aging.
Easy start: call one person this week you haven’t talked to in a while. Just to see how they’re doing.
3. Give
Help somebody. Drive a neighbor to an appointment. Teach a grandkid to fish. Share what you’ve learned the hard way. Helping somebody you know does more for you than you’d think, and we’ve all got something worth passing on.
4. Adapt
Things change. Our bodies change, people we love pass on, plans fall through. Dr. Burnight treats those hard times as a normal part of life, not a sign that the good part is over.
Helen Williams writes about getting older on her Substack, and she shared a story about her grandparents that I can’t stop thinking about.
Her grandfather walked everywhere. Swam every day. Kept up with his friends. He stayed in the game right up until illness finally made him stop.
Her grandmother went the other way. One by one, she found reasons to quit the things she loved.
Same family. Same generation. Two very different later years. And a lot of that difference came down to little choices, made one day at a time. Like the old saying goes, you can’t change the wind, but you can adjust your sails.
Quick check: What’s your joyspan?
Grab a pencil or just keep count in your head. Give yourself a score from 1 to 5 on each one. A 1 means “not me at all.” A 5 means “that’s me all day long.”
- Grow: I’ve learned or tried something new in the last month.
- Connect: I talk with somebody I care about most days.
- Give: I’ve helped somebody this week, even in a small way.
- Adapt: When things don’t go my way, I find a way to keep going.
Now add them up:
- 16 to 20: You’re doing great. Keep it up, and maybe share what’s working with a friend.
- 10 to 15: Pretty good, with some room to grow. Look at your lowest score and start there.
- 4 to 9: No shame in that. It just means you’ve got the most to gain. Pick one area and do one small thing this week.
This is just for fun, not a medical test. It’s a way to see where you stand today.
A few small ways to start this week
Jane Woods is a blogger over in England. She’s closing in on 70, taking care of her husband, and still chasing her own goals. She gave Joyspan five stars on her blog Changing People, and she pointed out something I’d never really thought about.
Joy and happiness aren’t the same thing.
You can be going through a rough patch, not happy at all, and still catch a moment of joy. A grandbaby’s laugh. A good cup of coffee on a cool morning. Joy lives in the little moments, if you slow down long enough to notice them.
So here are a few easy ways to catch more of them. None of them cost a dime.
- Slow down for the good stuff. That first cup of coffee, a sunset, a song you love. Actually notice it.
- Take a “joy snapshot” every day. Before bed, think of one moment that made you smile.
- Volunteer. Church, food bank, library, wherever fits you.
- Tend your friendships. They’re like a garden. They need a little water now and then.
- Get moving outside. A walk in fresh air does more than you’d think.
How it fits with everything else
That same U.S. News survey found the experts put plain old exercise and good food at the top of the list, way ahead of trendy supplements and gadgets. (I looked at one of those trendy supplements in my post on NMN.)
Joyspan is the other half of that. Exercise and good food help you get more years. Joy is the reason you want them.
If you want to dig deeper, Dr. Burnight’s book Joyspan is a good place to start. It’s a good one to keep on the nightstand.
Common Questions
What is joyspan?
Joyspan is a word coined by gerontologist Dr. Kerry Burnight. It means how much joy and satisfaction you get out of life as you get older, not just how many years you have.
How is joyspan different from lifespan and healthspan?
Lifespan is how long you live. Healthspan is how many of those years you’re healthy. Joyspan is how much you enjoy them.
What are the four parts of joyspan?
Grow, connect, give, and adapt. Keep learning, stay close to people, help others, and roll with the changes life brings.
Can you raise your joyspan after 60?
Yes. Dr. Burnight treats joyspan as a habit, not luck, and says the best time to start is now. Small steps, like calling a friend or trying something new, count.
Do you have to be healthy to have a long joyspan?
No. Plenty of folks with aches, health problems or hard seasons still find real joy. It’s more about how you live your days than how perfect your body is.
One question to sit with
What did you enjoy this week?
If the answer comes quick, good for you. If it comes slow, pick one of the four, grow, connect, give, or adapt, and do one small thing with it before Sunday.
Y’all let me know in the comments which one you’re working on. I’d like to hear it.
— Tom
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About the Author
Tom Green writes Well After 50. He’s just a regular, laid-back 64-year-old who keeps things simple. He shares what he learns about skincare, fitness and getting older, and what’s working for him. He’s also the author of A Practical Guide to Getting Older Without Giving Up on Yourself.
Tom isn’t a doctor. He reads up on the research and passes along what’s useful, plain and simple.
