Today Is the Youngest You Will Ever Be

June holds a special place in my heart because it’s Cancer Survivorship Month. It’s a time when I like to celebrate my mom, other family members, and millions of people living with and beyond cancer. It’s also a reminder of a powerful question I have heard often over the years:

Is it too late?

Too late to eat healthier? Too late to start exercising? Too late to lower my risk of cancer recurrence, heart disease, or losing my independence?

Today Is the Youngest You’ll Ever Be

I lead a local Maryland chapter of Walk with a Doc, a free physician-led community walking program where participants learn about different health topics, and then enjoy a community walk together. This month we talked about heart emergencies and warning signs everyone should know about with an emergency medicine physician.

After the talk, one of the walkers said: “So basically, we're all just ticking time bombs.” She wasn’t entirely wrong. As a palliative care physician, I have sat beside countless patients and their families facing the reality that their time on earth will soon come to an end. One lesson those experiences taught me is that acknowledging our limited time can help us live more intentional, meaningful lives.

I chatted with this woman as we walked, and I shared a simple refrain: Today is the youngest you will ever be. Even though she is in her seventies, that remains true. Her life is finite, and today is the youngest she will ever be — both things are true at the same time.

So, in her seventies, will the morning Pilates, daily walks, prioritizing fiber, and all the daily choices she makes still matter for her lifespan?

It’s Never Too Late to Start a Healthy Lifestyle

This is especially important for cancer survivors to remember. Many survivors, my mom included, question whether lifestyle changes still matter after a diagnosis, or if they’ve already missed the boat.

The short answer is: Your body doesn’t stop responding to the benefits of the healthy choices you make, whether you have cancer or are a certain age.

As a physician, a BRCA1 previvor, and a daughter of a two-time breast cancer survivor, I find research findings like this incredibly hopeful. They are a reminder that our health story is not written in a single moment by a genetic mutation, a diagnosis, or the choices we made yesterday. Instead, every day is a new chance to shape our future with the choices we make today.

The truth is that none of us can stop the clock. We can’t change our age. We can’t change a diagnosis. We can’t change the decisions we made in the past. And we certainly cannot be guaranteed what tomorrow will bring.

What we do have is today, regardless of our current life circumstances. And today is the youngest you will ever be.

So, this is an invitation to start where you are. Take a moment today to imagine yourself 10 to 20 years older than you are now. What do you hope your life looks like? How do you want to feel? And most importantly, what is one small habit you can start today that your future self might thank you for?