Experts Say The Happiest People After 70 Aren’t The Ones Who Chased Purpose — They Focused On These 3 Things Instead
FatCamera | Canva Living a meaningful life begins and ends with the individual, but the way someone lives tends to ripple outward. Some people spend their lives chasing money or status, others focus on spiritual growth, and many land somewhere in between, just trying to get through without causing too much damage to themselves or the people around them.
There are endless ways to define meaning, but certain life lessons tend to show up again and again in people who feel genuinely satisfied by the time they reach old age. Instead of chasing purpose, if you focus on a few things after 70, chances are you're living a more meaningful life than most people ever will — one rooted in self-knowledge and intention rather than comparison or outside approval.
Experts say the happiest people after 70 aren’t the ones who chased purpose — they focused on these things instead:
1. The happiest people after 70 have learned to live their own lives
You can't live someone else's life, as life coach Susan Allan knows so well. It is not society's, not your parents', and not your friends' life. The life choices you make must be your own.
Because, at the end, you have to feel satisfied with the life you lived. When you live life on your own terms, you’re less likely to look back with deep regret.
2. The happiest people after 70 have come to understand the arc of their life
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Therapist Dr. Gloria Brame, Ph.D, is aware that by 70, if you've lived meaningfully, you understand how your childhood shaped everything that came after. The patterns you've repeated, the wounds you've nursed, the defenses you built, and the healing you've done or still need to do.
Most people sleepwalk through life, never making these connections, never recognizing they married someone with their father's coldness or their mother's chaos. With self-understanding, you can control traits you dislike and choose ones you admire. You can stop overspending or seeking social media clout and feel more fulfilled through community service instead.
You become deliberate about where to put your energies by identifying your deepest emotional needs and working to fulfill them. Those people posting stunning sunsets on Instagram might be running from the inner work most people avoid.
A meaningful life isn’t about how many places you’ve been, but how well you actually know yourself. Some people forever remain strangers to themselves, never fully growing emotionally, because they never gained the self-knowledge to create true wisdom.
3. The happiest people after 70 have learned how to form truly trusting relationships
Actor and author Linda Purl, a recent guest on Getting Open with Andrea Miller, spoke about her experience performing live on stage and how it reflects the primary skills for aging with grace as someone over 70. Once the curtain goes up and the show has begun, it's just you and your trusted collaborators. You don't get to yell, "Cut," and have a chance to start over.
It's do or die together on stage as in life, so you have to carry each other, forgive each other, and urge each other along. When you mess up, you have to just keep going, no matter what happens. With trust, you can face almost anything.
Will Curtis is YourTango's expert editor. Will has over 14 years of experience as an editor covering relationships, spirituality, and human interest topics.
