The stories you’ll tell at 40 are happening right now. Make them interesting.

The material for the rest of your life is being produced right now, mostly on days that do not feel significant. Nothing worth telling later announces itself in advance, and the ordinary decision to go or not go is usually the whole difference. Stories come from having been somewhere rather than from anything happening to you.

Say yes to the slightly inconvenient thing this month, the trip that is awkward to arrange or the plan with people you barely know. Discomfort is where most good material comes from. You are collecting, not only passing time.