When you embark upon a mission of self awareness, you have to get really selfish (in a good way). That was not easy for me. I give to people. I overextend myself to make other people happy. I worry and lose sleep to ensure what I’m doing for others is top-notch. I feel other people’s pains and tend to want to help carry their burdens. I do things FOR people, even though I’m supposed to just be doing it because it needs to be done (Y’all ever washed laundry FOR someone? Cleaned up your own house FOR someone?. I know that about myself, and I’m not feeling sorry. I don’t want a parade or a medal. I say all that to make the point that evolving ain’t easy for people like me who ordinarily spend all their time trying to do for and please others.

Actually…for people like US.

Since this journey of evolution has begun to take off, I started poking around and searching for others who have completely upended themselves and recreated their lives. I found a woman who sold all her possessions and moved to Italy at 57. I found women who started companies in their late 40’s and are now multi-millionaires. Martha Stewart herself (who I love!) published her first issue of “Martha Stewart Living” magazine when she was 49. I was struggling, though, to find many women like me…48 and ready to reinvent themselves.

Sure, YouTube was full of “reinvent yourself” advice videos. Scads of women pushing beauty products and encouraging feminist independence were ready to influence and ignite my evolution desires simply by my touching the PLAY button. But I was looking for US.

I was looking for those of us “normal” gals who felt a little stuck and turned it all around by getting selfish (in a good way). I was looking for small town chicks who had stopped what they were “supposed to be doing” and created something magical. I was looking for women like me who had lived a cool life or two, who had already checked off an inordinate number of things from their bucket lists, and who had changed everything just to scratch an itch before life ran out. Surely we exist. Surely I am not alone.

US. We are the women who don’t want to be quarantined to an office cube forever, remanded to the custody of a homeowner’s association, or destined to live out our days taking the same route through town, doing the same job, and crashing into the same bed at night only to get up and do it all again the next day. We are big dreamers and world changers. We are the ones who, every decade or so, we yell, “STOP!” and reinvent ourselves for the good of, clearly, OURSELVES, and for the good of our families, our kids, and civilization.

Sound dramatic? Why, because you’re afraid? Because it sounds far-reaching and impossible? That’s EXACTLY why we want to do it. Us older gals looking to write the next awesome chapter of life don’t think about fear and impossibilities. We start thinking about it (it might take us a minute or months or a year), and we go after it with great faith. And yes, CIVILIZATION. Civilization itself needs creativity, new energy, and don’t-look-back characters who unapologetically live. The world needs beauty, grace, love, and joy, and who better to spread all that everywhere than US?

Sound ungrateful? Why, because YOU are stuck? Because you don’t feel like you’re in a position to take a leap? Us same older gals looking to evolve are more than grateful. We keep creating new ways to thrive, and we couldn’t be happier. Our journeys have been many, and we have enjoyed every step. Our gratitude fuels our desire for more, to continue to live fully in new ways, and have the confidence to go for it. Some of us seek change in an effort to shed old, yucky habits, hang-ups, and dead weight people who are holding us back. The rest of us get excited about evolving to enrich our already pretty cool lives. In either case, gratitude for survival, gratitude for the chance to live bigger, gratitude for the gift of choice…faith and gratitude rules!

So here’s to hoping I find my people, and my people find me. Here’s hoping that women over 30, 40, 50, and beyond can inspire each other, share ideas, and chase dreams. Here’s to hoping that other women can support us, cheer for us, and believe in us…maybe even enough to have the courage to reinvent themselves, too. Here’s to finding faithful ladies who are teachers, administrative assistants, lawyers, hair dressers, and store clerks in small towns who LOVE their lives but are ready to evolve (perhaps again!) into someone new and magical.

It’s evolution time, Ladies. Get selfish (in a good way), and let’s go. You are not alone!

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