What would happen to us as women over 50 if we stopped thinking and talking about "anti-aging"? If we quit working on, reshaping, modifying and enhancing our outer shell and altering our inner dialogue to fit some preconceived idea of the perfect "mature woman"? What if we stopped trying to outsmart nature, stopped trying to prove that we are just as good, if not better than we were 20 years ago? Where might we put all that energy and creativity instead?
If you are living, breathing and female, chances are you know there is a war going on in the hearts, minds and souls of women of all ages. We are doing battle with what we perceive to be society's demands, external expectations and opinions of who we are and how we should look.
This has been a battle of a lifetime for the boomer generation of women. We learned at a very early age to compare ourselves to others, and for decades we set our personal standards to those we witnessed on TV and in movies, in beauty magazines and fashion ads -- all the while driven by the women-can-do-it-all mentality.
We've spent years facing a daunting array of expectations that taught us to look outside ourselves for the answers. In our desire to achieve, we allowed ourselves, knowingly and unknowingly, to be pulled and prodded by these subtle cultural directives. We could only "have it all" if we valued certain things, behaved in certain ways; if we had the "right" haircut, the appropriate dress, the right degrees, the perfect career, children that reflected the acceptable norms, etc.
It's no wonder many of us have woken up later in life to discover we don't have a clue who we are or what we're supposed to be doing. Why would we? We have not learned to listen to ourselves. We have not recognized or listened to the voice of the unique and creative spirit that lives within each of us, the voice that is our only true guide.
Who would you be if you gave up this battle with the process of life and instead moved to the center of you? What if, instead of using up your valuable time searching the cultural landscape for the next distraction to prove that you're the "perfect woman over 50," you chose to look inward, to listen to your inner directives and follow your truly creative spirit?
I personally, think you would be glorious....magical....radiant....a force with which to be contended. I also believe that once the "hook up" is made, life gets a whole lot simpler! Take a chance. Break through the barrier of fear and discover the amazing you that needs no external instructions to create a profound and important impact on the world. It needs you. You need you.