Age Fifty-Seven

“Age is mostly a matter of mind. If you do not mind, it doesn’t matter.”

My grandparents Mark and Betty had this quote on a plaque in their guest bathroom. It is funny for me to think back on how as a kid, I would read this quote and have no idea what it meant. But at age fifty-seven, I get it!

I feel like I am just getting started at fifty-seven. Light bulbs are going off and I am intensely aware of time and how fast it goes. I am also super proud of my life résumé so far, and yet I have much more to do! I have been waiting to write a book, waiting to get married again, waiting to build this website, waiting to hire a trainer, waiting, waiting, waiting! It feels like that famous line from The Brady Bunch: “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha.”

I am now saying this to myself and to all of you: what are we waiting for? It is never a good time to make a change, start a business, get in shape, run a marathon, go on a wellness plan, and so on. You get it. There is no perfect time to start anything; we just need to make a decision and then begin.

Time To Innovate

At fifty-seven, what the hell else am I going to do but innovate, write, and start over, and if it doesn’t work, guess what? I start again. And if that doesn’t work, once again, I start over. That is the beauty of aging. If you are like me, you may have had a lot of failures in your past, but you also have come to realize that you didn’t die, the world did not stop, and you are still standing. Why not go for the big dream or run that marathon?

Writing a book has been like a marathon for me on the days I absolutely did not feel like writing and going deep. At those times, I would have to go deeper into silence and discomfort because that is what it takes sometimes. It can be uncomfortable starting over at any age, but it gets even harder as we get older.

Did you know that 80 percent of people age forty-five and older think about changing careers or starting a business, but only 6 percent of them actually follow through on it? It is the fear of change, failure, and sitting in discomfort that stops them.

Fifty-Seven – Just Getting Started

I can tell you from my own experience that I have had to reinvent myself many times. I have worn many hats and done jobs just to get by, working paycheck to paycheck: I have cleaned and organized homes as a side gig, worked on a boat, managed a spa, and done many other jobs aside from modeling and acting. The reality is I have had to start over. And it was scary. I cannot lie about that.

Change can bring you to your knees. As scary as it was, though, it helped me grow. It made me learn, and I am okay now with being uncomfortable because I know, at age fifty-seven, it doesn’t last. Change is just what it takes to start anything new; it takes resilience.

Travel The World

Two years ago, I was traveling the world with my two daughters, which was a total gift. I thought, “Wow, this is what I worked so hard for!” But what occurred to me during those travels was that I was living my life on a small scale, and I knew that when I came home I was going to embark on a new journey.

Here we are two years later, and I am now fifty-seven and just getting started!