You may think growing up is just for kids, but I’m here to tell you it’s for all of us.
I just celebrated my 52nd birthday, so Olivia and I decided to record a podcast on my birthday.
When I asked her what we should call it, she said, “Do you grow up or grow old?”
First of all, I thought that was a really great title. But then I realized it was also a really great question.
Adulting is not always easy.
When we talk about becoming an adult, I think it takes a really long time to truly get there.
The fact that 18 is considered adulthood is a little crazy to me because we’re not there, yet.
For those of you who have parented an 18-year-old, you know what I’m talking about. They are still very young and are still trying to figure themselves out.
It wasn’t until I was at least in my 40s that I felt like a full-fledged adult. It didn’t matter that I was married at 21 and that I had kids at 24. I was still trying to figure myself out.
To be honest, even now, I am still trying to figure myself out. Although I think I have a much better idea of who I am in my 50s than I ever did as a young mother.
When I was a young mom, the idea of being responsible for other humans, finances, everything that happens in the house, and how to get everybody to where they needed to be on time was challenging for me.
It took me a really long time to accept that that was my part. I had to be a responsible adult because other people were depending on me. That can be incredibly overwhelming at times.
We need to ask ourselves what we want.
Because I didn’t know what I wanted, I was just stuck in the mode of adulting, and it took me a long time to figure things out.
I think that too often as adults, we tend to go through our lives just trying to muddle through things without ever really finding our direction.
With the responsibilities of work, raising children, and taking care of a household, we get stuck in survival mode. Our motivation in life becomes just getting through the day without ever really living our best life.
Many times, we don’t even ask ourselves what we want, and that’s a big deal.
I’m very fortunate to have been married for almost 31 years now. I have six kids and a career that I love, and I wouldn’t want my life any other way.
But as I went through the different chapters of my life, I struggled with a lot of different things because I didn’t know what I wanted.
We need to build our lives from the inside out.
When I was younger, I struggled with self-doubt for so many years. I never felt like I was enough.
From the outside, people saw a confident woman, but confidence doesn’t come from what people see or the things that you do.
Confidence is a mindset.
It takes a willingness to reflect on where we are and where we want to go.
Confidence requires us to determine what it is that we want and believe in ourselves enough to make it happen.
When we can learn to be confident on the inside, it will show through on the outside without us even trying.
In other words, confidence comes from the inside out and is about self-respect, self-worth, self-acceptance, and self-love.
And whether we realize it or not, those things take a long time to build.
I’m still growing up.
When my daughter asked me if I was growing up or growing old, it really made me reflect.
The answer to that question is simple, really. I am still growing up.
There are things that I learn every day. And there are always new opportunities to see the world and the people in it differently.
I embrace my life with a growth mindset because there are still things I don’t know.
To be honest, there are so many things to learn that it’s not even possible to know all the things. But as long as I’m living, I’m going to do my best to try and learn all that I can while I’m here.
I truly believe this is what we need to embrace and how we need to live our lives.
When we see ourselves as still growing up, it means that we recognize there are still things left for us to learn.
Those who are growing old simply give up and stop trying.
These are still my best days.
Age is just a number, and I still have so many wonderful years ahead of me.
Yes, I have a few more wrinkles. I definitely have more aches and pains. But I am still growing up.
I may have a much different mindset than I did when I was younger, but there are still so many things left for me to learn.
The thing I love best about the idea of growing up is that I’m never going to stop looking at the world from that growth mindset.
So, as I continue to grow up, I will do my best to appreciate all the opportunities still in front of me and not think so much about the old part.
It’s not that I’m afraid. Having another birthday has never been a worry for me.
I have had many people tell me that once you hit 50, you’re in the last third part of your life, at best.
But I just don’t see it that way.
There are still so many things I want to do and that I’m capable of.
Instead of growing older, I’m going to focus on all the things I get to learn along the way as I continue to grow up.
