Today I'd like to share a personal story. Please see if it resonates with you...
I am marching to the beat of my own drum. Always have. Always will. And YET.....
I vividly remember the morning I woke up in my house in Washington, D.C., in our neighborhood on Capitol Hill, with the actual Capitol building only a few blocks away. I woke up and looked at my husband, who was still sound asleep next to me. My eyes scanned the room with its familiar furniture, the pictures on the walls, the clothes hanging over the back of the chair, the curtains I recently put up, the morning glow outside the window. It was quiet. Peaceful. The weekend.
Yet I felt total panic coming over me. Unexpected. Sharp. So poignant it drove tears to my eyes. And I thought "Dear God, let this not be all there is to my life. There MUST be more than this, right?!!"
I was 42 years old when I deeply panicked for the first time, that I had missed my chances to the life I had dreamt about two decades earlier.
For 20 years I had held a vision of a certain life that now seemed to be less and less within reach. All the thoughts I ever had of being a colossal failure - of not being good enough, of having given my best and still not succeeding - came rushing back that very morning. And with this came the realization, that I will have to bury my dreams soon because, at my age, the window of opportunity was closing fast.
Soon it would be too late.
I didn't say anything to my husband Joshua or anybody else, because I figured I would eventually get over this fear, that this would be my life until the very end. I hoped I could resign myself to it. My life wasn't that bad after all. And, really, who was I to desire more anyway?
But I didn't get over it. The dreadful mornings persisted and I felt my chances for a more fulfilled life diminish with every tick of the clock that showed me clearly that I was getting too old for my dreams and desires. Tick-tock-tick-tock.
You know what I am talking about, don't you?! The feeling of getting "too old by now"? Maybe not just too old for a baby, but for other desires as well.
It took me almost a whole year to get myself out of this place of feeling blue and get myself unstuck. Eventually, I went on to turn the following years into some of the most productive and satisfying of my whole life: Joshua and I went to therapy and ironed out the kinks in our relationship, we adopted our pooch Georgia (aka our firstborn), I started a new and exciting career.
Then I gave birth to our son Hunter at age 44, went on to write my first bestselling book (The Joy of Later Motherhood), overcame breast cancer and turned my body into the healthiest and most resilient it has ever been.
And I conceived the idea and then created the It's Never Too Late to Live Your Dreams virtual summit, to which I'd like to invite you today because it's true:
I've assembled 22 world-class female mavericks (and five bonus speakers) who all live life on their own terms. Every single speaker has her own version of my story and she, too, started something marvelous in her 40s, 50s, even 60s. So if YOU have a desire and dream burning inside you, then join us for this amazing virtual summit and let these role models inspire and guide you into your prosperous future --
The summit is free and fabulous and we'll start on March 1st, just a few days away!!
Let me show you what I did to transform my panic and how I did it:
With love,
Bettina
In this community, we value female mavericks age 40+ who are out-of-the-box thinkers and ready to become stronger, healthier, and, yes, even younger together. Join us with your best (the one you check the most) email and receive The Top Tests to Measure Your Biological Age and the next steps on our exciting journey together!
