The Art of Deciding What to Care About

Happiness often comes from figuring out what’s worth your energy.

This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning.

Something about getting older makes it easier to say “No, thank you.” On average, older Americans score higher on well-being than younger adults, and much of this is thanks to developing a clearer sense of what’s worth time and attention. At 61 years old, Arthur C. Brooks writes in his recent column, “I will go to considerable personal effort to serve causes that I care about, and I will discuss matters of spiritual depth or scientific importance for hours on end. But small talk in a noisy bar? No chance.”

The idea of saving your energy for what really matters seems obvious, even cliché. But as life’s pressures mount, it can be hard to sift through and make those decisions. Today’s newsletter offers some tips for making the tough choices that will ultimately help life feel more joyful.

On Aging Happily

What I Wish I’d Known When I Was Younger

By Arthur C. Brooks

The three reasons old people are happier that work for any age

Read the article.

What the Longest Study on Human Happiness Found Is the Key to a Good Life

By Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz

The Harvard Study of Adult Development has established a strong correlation between deep relationships and well-being. The question is, how does a person nurture those deep relationships?

Read the article.

The Seven Habits That Lead to Happiness in Old Age

By Arthur C. Brooks

Your well-being is like a retirement account: The sooner you invest, the greater your returns will be.

Read the article.

Still Curious?

The real roots of midlife crisis: What a growing body of research reveals about the biology of human happiness—and how to navigate the (temporary) slump in middle age (from 2014)

Three rules for middle-age happiness: “Nora Ephron taught me that couches should be white; tables, round; emails, short; lunches, long,” Deborah Copaken wrote in 2021.

Other Diversions

The truth physics can no longer ignore

Americans refuse to go bald.

Avatar is no longer trying to get anyone on board.

PS

I recently asked readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. Linda C., 68,  sent this photo of “the view from First People’s Buffalo Jump near Great Falls, Montana. I hike here most seasons to enjoy the expansive views and reflect on the people and animals who trod here before me.”

I’ll continue to feature your responses in the coming weeks.

— Isabel