# At 65, I'm choosing what comes next

> Sheryl Nance-Nash turns 65 and realizes she has more years behind her than ahead. The reckoning is reshaping how she lives.
- Title: At 65, I'm choosing what comes next · Business Insider
- Summary: Sheryl Nance-Nash turns 65 and realizes she has more years behind her than ahead. The reckoning is reshaping how she lives.
- Keywords: sheryl nance-nash, aging, life reflection, mortality, personal growth, travel writing, creative writing, Business Insider
- Source: Business Insider — https://businessinsider.com/turning-65-rethink-past-what-comes-next-self-reflection-2026-11
- Author: Sheryl Nance-Nash
- Published: 2026-11-06T10:38:01.276+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: sheryl nance-nash, aging, life reflection, mortality, personal growth, travel writing, creative writing, business, technology
## The shock of turning 65
Sheryl Nance-Nash is sixty five and grappling with the reality. She remembers chunks of her life vividly, but other stretches feel like sleepwalking, with memories vague or simply gone.

> I'm freaking out. I am trying to grasp the reality, the ramifications, the ridiculousness that somehow, I am 65.
## The decades blur together
Her early years are easily recalled, but her thirties were a blur of marriage, a baby, and work. At forty she felt a wake-up call but still youngish. Fifty came as a shock.

> When did a decade start feeling like five years?
## Big changes from 50 to 60
Nance-Nash and her husband sold their home on Long Island and built a house in Jamaica. She lost her beloved big sister during this stretch, one of the lowest points in her life.
## Travel became a lifelong dream realized
As a young girl, Nance-Nash imagined a club called The World Travelers.That dream became real when she added travel writing to her work.
## Moving to Houston in her early 60s
Nance-Nash moved to Houston, Texas to help care for her aging mother after her sister died. Texas had never been on her radar, but it was affordable and another sister lived there too.
## Time accelerates and mortality hits
The last five years became a blur.A week feels like three days, a month comes and goes with a batting of an eye.

> At 65, I now feel that there are more days behind me than in front of me.
## Redirecting energy toward what's possible
Nance-Nash realizes some things won't happen in her lifetime. She probably won't be a millionaire. But she's asking what is still possible and putting her energy into making the most of her remaining time.

> What is still possible? What do I want to do with my remaining time on the planet?
## Starting to write the novel
Fearing she might never write her novel, Nance-Nash started creative writing a few months ago and is determined to make it happen.

> If not now, when?
## Key takeaway

At sixty five, Sheryl Nance-Nash confronts mortality and is redirecting her energy toward unfulfilled dreams like writing a novel rather than dwelling on the past.