You Are Never Too Old to Transform Your Life
I’m 55, I’ve reinvented myself numerous times, and I’m not about to stop
I’ve reinvented myself numerous times, and so can you.
The first time I reinvented myself I was thirty-six years old. I did it by leaving a marriage that spanned almost two decades.
While each reinvention was planned, the exact concept of reinvention was not my target.
At thirty-six I left a marriage because it was abusive. I had to get out in order to survive, heal, and move on. The first couple of years on my own were confusing, to say the least.
My ex and I were joined at the hip. We had a business together. We had not spent one night apart in all our years of marriage. It took me at least a year to figure out who I was without this person.
Redefining myself is what I thought I was doing, but the truth was — I was finding myself.
I am a completely different person now.
The only thing that remains from that time is my good nature, kindness, and optimism. Plus, some of my interests. But everything else has changed. My friendships, my career, my wants, and desires, my financial situation, even most of my food preferences.
After I left the long-term marriage, I discovered who I truly am. My core beliefs and values; even my likes and dislikes morphed. I had been with my husband from a young age and spent close to twenty years mirroring him without realizing. For example: he liked to dress in all black, so I did too; except I don’t. Not when left to my own devices.
From small things to major life decisions, without understanding what I was doing or why, I molded myself into who I thought he wanted me to be.
It was a painful lesson and one that would take me close to twenty more years to unpack with the help of a therapist.
And yet, if I didn’t experience those years, I wouldn’t be the person I am today and I love who I am today.
At thirty-nine I reinvented myself again.
I went back to school and got a master’s degree. I wanted a new career. I wasn’t happy with the one I had chosen after my divorce and I couldn’t go back to the one I had prior.
When deciding on my next career, I made a list of what I did and did not want.
- Work for myself and no-one else
- Not sit in a cubicle
- Not have a 9–5
- Help people, which to me meant working in some form of healthcare
On my list, that fit these criteria were:
- Acupuncturist
- Chiropractor
- Naturopath
- Osteopath
- Therapist
I had reasons for some of these choices. An acupuncturist had cured my back problem. My Grandfather was a chiropractor back when they were considered witch-doctors. My therapist, who I had been seeing for four years, changed my life for the better. The other two sounded cool, and I had some knowledge about them. I did a little research, but the way I ultimately chose was slightly unconventional.
I graduated from acupuncture school at age forty-three and started my practice at age forty-four, another reinvention.
Throughout the eleven years in this business, I reinvented myself business-wise several times. I went from private practice to opening a community clinic, back to private practice.
I moved the location of my business five times.
My dream, the community acupuncture clinic, was a costly but educational fiasco. I did everything wrong and ended up losing $25,000. Instead of quitting though, I reinvented myself in business again and went back into private practice, but this time I was very successful. I took everything I had learned and I got lucky. I found solutions to every problem until COVID hit.
And now here I am, at fifty-five years old, reinventing myself yet again. And I’m sure it will not be the last time I do so.
The fact is, we can reinvent ourselves every single day if we want to. I think what stops most of us is doubt and fear.
But what if we just go for it instead? Try, even though…
Yoda says, “Do or do not. There is no try.”
What’s the worst thing that can happen?
Even now, I live in an extremely affordable apartment (in my area but not compared to the rest of the world). When I leave, I’ll never find anything in my area close to this price. But so what?
If you never take the chance, you’ll never know what could have been.
I lived the first twenty-five adult years of my life in regret.
I’m not willing to do that anymore. Yes, I went back to school to get a master’s degree in my forties. Yes, I took out student loans and I have massive debt. But does that mean that I should keep working in a career that no longer makes me happy? No!
My new/used van wasn’t cheap. What if I hate living in it? Should I continue because I spent so much money and time? Why would I?
I plan to move to Europe in eighteen months. If I hate living there, will I stay? No way. I am no longer willing to waste any more of my life doing anything that I don’t absolutely love doing. This results in constant reinvention. Do I love change? No, I do not.
But there are so many things that are worse than change.
- No sense of purpose.
- Stagnation (personally or professionally)
- Lacking growth (whether intellectually, spiritually, or emotionally)
- Lack of connection (with people, animals, and nature)
- Absence of purpose (moving through the rat race like a zombie)
Is it time to reinvent yourself?
Thank you for reading! I’d love to inspire you even more through my Instagram and/or bi-monthly newsletter.
