Oprah Winfrey Has Gotten ‘Stronger’ with Age, Admits She’s ‘at Peace’ Knowing There ‘Isn’t as Much Time Left’

“There’s a sense of urgency for me about living well,” the media mogul says of her health

Aging is nothing to be afraid of, Oprah Winfrey insists.

On August 20, the media mogul appeared on Today alongside Al Roker as he celebrated his 70th birthday. The longtime weatherman and Winfrey — who turned 70 in January — had a candid conversation about aging and life lessons learned.

During the segment, Roker asked if she has a deeper sense of gratitude than when she was 50 or 60.

“There is a sense of knowing that there isn’t as much time left and I am at peace with that knowing,” she explained. “There’s a sense of urgency for me about living well.”

Winfrey then noted that the shift in perspective was amplified when she underwent knee surgery back in 2021.

“I had been becoming more and more debilitated to the point where it was hard to walk down even two steps just to get into the car. You know that pain,” she told Roker, who’s also had two knee replacement surgeries. “When I finally went to the knee doctor and I said, ‘I don’t know, is it time?’ He goes, ‘It’s time if you want to continue walking. You like walking? It’s time.’”

“I’d never been through surgery, was intimidated by it. The best thing I’ve ever done,” she admitted. “I really felt like I’ve had a new opportunity to live inside my body in a way that I hadn’t been able to for years because being overweight, and being overweight causing the knees to be even worse.”

Winfrey said living in the present has been one of the greatest gifts, telling Roker, “Don’t be scared” about getting older.

Roker then shared that a therapist once told him that as people get older, the edges of people’s personality sands off. “But that in fact, it’s just the opposite,” he said. “That age brings whoever you are into sharper relief.”

“I think that is true,” Winfrey agreed. “I think I have just aged into a form of myself that is wiser, that is certainly stronger, that is more vibrant and aware and conscious than I’ve ever been. I don’t feel that my edges are softening.”