Happiness is a choice you make : lessons from a year among the oldest old Cover Image

Book

Happiness is a choice you make : lessons from a year among the oldest old / John Leland.

Leland, John, 1959- (author.).

Summary:

In 2015, journalist John Leland set out to meet members of America's fastest-growing age group: 85 and up. He anticipated learning of challenges, of loneliness, and of the deterioration of body, mind, and quality of life. But the elders he met took him in an entirely different direction. Despite disparate backgrounds and circumstances, they each lived with a surprising lightness and contentment. The reality Leland encountered upended contemporary notions of aging, revealing the late stages of life as unexpectedly rich and the elderly as incomparably wise. This collection of their lessons emphasizes, above all, the extraordinary influence we wield over the quality of our lives.

Record details

ISBN: 0374168180
ISBN: 9780374168186
Physical Description: 242 pages ; 22 cm
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, [2018]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Meet the elders -- Surprise of a lifetime -- The paradox of old age -- Why older means wiser -- Love in the time of Lipitor -- On the other hand ... -- More years, less life? -- The lessons -- The lessons of Fred -- The lessons of Ping -- The lessons of John -- The lessons of Helen -- The lessons of Ruth -- The lessons of Jonas.