The Experience of Being Early, Vitamin D and Slower Aging, and Life Expectancy Changes Affecting Retirement

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Arriving early isn’t just about punctuality—it changes how you experience what comes next. Instead of stepping into something already underway, you enter it gradually. That small difference can shift the entire tone of the experience.

Arriving 10–15 minutes early gives you time to take in the space before it fills. You can choose where to sit, get comfortable, and observe what’s happening around you. There’s no pressure to catch up—you’re already there ahead of it.

Early arrivals often create smaller, quieter moments of interaction. A short comment, a shared observation, or a simple exchange feels more natural before a group gathers. These interactions don’t require effort—they happen because there’s space for them.

When you arrive early, you’re not moving directly from one thing into another. There’s a buffer—a few minutes where nothing is required. That pause helps you settle, which changes how the entire activity feels.

Starting calmly often leads to ending calmly. You’re present from the beginning, which makes the experience feel more contained and less fragmented. It becomes something you fully attended, rather than something you rushed into.

Being early gives you control over how you enter an experience. It replaces urgency with ease, and that difference carries through the entire activity.

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Using the Nice Towels
From the life overview of Marjorie T., 76, Des Moines, Iowa. Shared with permission.

For many years, I kept a set of nice towels in the linen closet that were intended, in theory, for guests. They were thicker than the everyday ones, softer, and still held the original confidence of things not yet overused. I bought them during a sale and felt pleased by the practicality of acquiring quality at a discount.

Then, I protected them from life.

We used the ordinary towels for showers, spills, muddy dogs, grandchildren, and the thousand damp emergencies a household generates. The nice towels remained folded in reserve, emerging only when company stayed over or when I wanted the bathroom to suggest standards higher than our actual habits.

This arrangement persisted long after the volume of overnight guests had declined. I was laundering and wearing out the inferior towels while preserving the better experience for hypothetical visitors who seldom arrived.

One afternoon, while reaching for a towel after a shower, I asked myself a question that should have occurred to me years earlier: Who exactly was I saving the nice towels for?

So I put the everyday towels in the closet and hung the good ones in their place.

The result was not transformative. I did not become wiser, younger, or more organized. I simply enjoyed a nicer towel on an ordinary Tuesday. Still, there was something satisfying in that modest correction.

Many people postpone comfort in the name of prudence. Sometimes, prudence is just habit wearing respectable clothes.

***

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If your phone or computer is filled with thousands of photos, organizing them can make it much easier to find special memories later. A little sorting now can save a lot of frustration when you’re looking for vacation pictures, family holidays, or old snapshots years from now.

Most smartphones already sort photos by date automatically. On an iPhone, the built-in Apple Photos app groups pictures by days, months, and years. Android users can use Google Photos, which also organizes photos automatically.

One of the easiest methods is creating albums for major events or time periods. For example:

In Google Photos, tap the “+” button and choose “Album.” On Apple Photos, tap “Albums” and then the “+” sign.

If you store photos on a computer, create folders with clear names and dates, such as:

Starting folder names with the year helps keep everything in order automatically.

It’s also smart to keep an extra backup of your photos in case your phone or computer is lost, stolen, or damaged. Popular backup options include:

If you have decades of photos, it may help to set aside a little time each month to organize smaller batches instead of trying to tackle everything at once. Many people find it easier to sort one vacation, holiday, or family event at a time.

You can also favorite especially meaningful pictures so they’re easier to find later. Both Apple Photos and Google Photos include a heart or star feature for this.

Another helpful trick is scanning old printed photographs. PhotoScan by Google can turn physical pictures into digital copies without glare.

Finally, consider keeping your most important photos in two places — for example, on both your computer and a cloud storage service. Having a second backup can protect years of memories if a device is ever lost or damaged.

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