First off for today is a milestone because this newsletter has taken over as the most popular 500 out there (sorry, racing fans). We’ve hit 500 subscribers, which isn’t all that impressive until you consider how most of those five hundred people found their way here. It wasn't because I cracked the social media algorithm or ran a brilliant marketing campaign. I am, by most measurable standards, terrible at social media and often barely find the time to put the newsletter together each week. Some of you stumbled here accidentally while looking up the Banksy painting and I know this because you’d have to be some kind of weirdo to be Googling “Chill The Duck Out” for any other reason.

Others come from a rogue comment on Reddit, or you’re family and felt obligated to show up, or from some corner of the internet I'll never be able to fully trace. And yet here you are. Five hundred of you, from all over the world, reading a newsletter about stress management and happiness written by a guy who rarely leaves his house.

I've heard from people in France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and India, to name a few. That's not nothing, and yes, I love a good double negative.

To every single one of you who has read along, replied, shared, or just shown up every week, thank you. You have made this thing feel like it matters and I continue to just hope that something I say can help just one person each week feel a little better.

Five hundred subscribers deserves more than a thank you paragraph and a racing comparison, so I’m giving away a Chill the Duck Out t-shirt to one lucky reader.

If you’re reading this, you’ve done all that you need to do. I’ll pick someone that’s opened the newsletter this week at random and reach out to send you a snazzy t-shirt to add to your wardrobe.

But, if you have a minute, I’d love for you to hit reply and hear about how you stumbled upon the newsletter, and also be okay if you shared it with others to see if 1,000 could be a realistic milestone someday.

This week’s newsletter will be a little shorter because we’re leaving for a long weekend tomorrow and we’re yet to pack anything, and the house needs cleaned before we go and my in-laws come to take care of our critters.

Hi, Brian. Hi, Lisa. Don't let the alligator eat one of my dogs, and your daughter wanted me to remind you to not forget to feed the kitty.

Anyway, we’re heading to Memphis. Home of Elvis and, more importantly to me, Justin Timberlake.

It’s kind of a birthday celebration trip because my birthday is coming up next week, so I will get some famous Memphis-style BBQ. And, in case you’re curious, I’m now the age where my ankle randomly starts hurting while I’m sitting in a restaurant eating French fries.

The actual highlight of the trip though (and the real reason we're going) is that our son is finally going to meet one of his online gaming friends in person. Which is one of those things that would have sounded completely alien to me at his age and is now just a completely normal part of how kids build friendships.

But this time of year, as I get older, I think about the birthday. And the ankle and other random aches. All of it’s evidence of something I've genuinely come to feel grateful for, which is the simple privilege of getting older.

Not everyone gets to. And I think about that more than I used to.

Getting older means the ankles have temper tantrums for no reason. It means recovery takes longer and the body keeps receipts in ways it didn't used to. But it also means more birthdays. More trips. More moments of watching your kid meet a friend for the first time in a parking lot in Memphis because they've been gaming together for a few years and this weekend it gets to be real.

The skinny is that research on gratitude and aging consistently shows that people who reframe the challenges of getting older as evidence of a life being lived report significantly higher wellbeing than those who resist it. You don't have to love the ankle. You just have to be grateful you're still walking on it.

So, here’s your one thing for this week.

Think of something about getting older that you've been treating as a complaint and see if you can find the gratitude underneath it. The grey hair. The slower recovery. The random ankle pain. Whatever yours is. Somewhere underneath the annoyance is evidence that you're still here. And still here is worth something.

That's Volume 075. Here's to 500 people who found their way here by accident and stayed on purpose, ankles with things to say, kids who get to meet their friends in Memphis, and the privilege of getting another birthday whether you're ready for it or not.

Until next time: breathe deep, find the gratitude in the ache, and chill the duck out.

Jason

Research on gratitude and aging shows that people who reframe the physical and emotional challenges of getting older as evidence of a life being lived report significantly higher wellbeing and life satisfaction than those who resist the aging process. Studies on perspective taking and gratitude consistently show that shifting from complaint to appreciation for the same experience produces measurable improvements in mood and stress levels. Research on mortality awareness shows that people who regularly acknowledge the privilege of getting older report greater presence, stronger relationships, and deeper satisfaction with daily life. Studies on online friendships and in-person connection show that relationships formed online produce the same quality of social bond as those formed in person, with the first face to face meeting often described as one of the most meaningful social experiences participants reported.