Let’s get one thing straight: aging is not for the weak. And if you’re still young enough to sneeze without peeing a little, I don’t want to hear it. 🙂

The other morning, I stretched while getting out of bed. You know, just one of those casual “I’m awake, let’s get our day started” kind of moves, and pop, something in my lower back said, “Absolutely not.” It wasn’t a big movement. No cartwheels. No dancing on countertops. Just a little morning stretch and yawn. And suddenly I’m walking around like a wounded flamingo, clutching my coffee like it’s filled with 800 mg of liquid Ibuprofen.

And don’t even get me started on doctor visits. Every weird ache, random pain, or mysterious increase (or decrease) in lab work that used to be normal seems to come with the same explanation: “Well, you know…that’s just what happens at your age.” And listen, I get it. They’re not wrong. But after the third time hearing that in a single appointment, I am starting to wonder if I should just walk in, say my age, and let them hand me a sympathy card and a heating pad. Like, can we get a second opinion from someone who hasn’t given up on my joints? Don’t misunderstand, I’m not mad at the doctors, but dang, I’m just not ready to be filed under “well, that’s life now.” Welcome to your 50s! We offer complimentary knee cracks, memory lapses, and a punch card for every time you wake up at 3 AM to use the bathroom.

Wisdom Hits Different At 50

Nobody tells you that one day, sneezing will require both a pre-game strategy and a post-game recovery. Or that you’ll sit down “for just a minute” and wake up two hours later with drool down the side of your face and Netflix asking, “Are you still watching?” Yes, Netflix. Yes, I am. But also, no, I have no idea what episode we’re on anymore.

But there’s a plot twist that comes with all the aches and pains: aging also gives you a kind of wisdom you didn’t know you needed.

It humbles you. It shows you what really matters. And if you let it, it’ll teach you how to finally, let me say it again, finally stop giving a shit about what people think.

You stop over-apologizing for things that don’t deserve an apology. You stop shrinking to make other people comfortable. You start saying things like, “No, that actually doesn’t work for me,” and you say it with your whole heart and with no explanation. And let me tell you, that kind of freedom? It only comes up with years of experience.

In your 50s, you start seeing through the noise. You stop chasing after approval and start chasing what actually feeds your soul. You give yourself permission to want things. More rest, more joy, more boundaries, more adventure. And you stop waiting for the right time to go after them.

There’s a quiet wisdom that shows up in this season of life. It’s not loud or flashy, it’s calm, grounded, and fed up with the nonsense. It’s the kind of wisdom that whispers, “You’ve survived too much to keep living with bullshit.”

And so you don’t.

You Start Speaking Up

There was a time when I kept quiet. Smiled politely. Bit my tongue when I knew I should’ve stood up for myself. I worried about being “too much,” too loud, too sensitive, too anything that might rock the boat. I played small in rooms where I should’ve taken up space. I was a wallflower. Not because I didn’t have something to say, but because I was afraid of how it would be responded to.

Now? I’m okay with the boat rocking if it means I stay true to myself.

If I see or feel nonsense, I name it. If something doesn’t sit right with my gut, I trust it. Through many years of experience, I’ve learned that silence can be expensive, especially when it costs you your peace, your boundaries, or your dignity.

I’m not here to tiptoe through life so someone else can stay comfortable while I stay quiet. I’ve spent enough years trying to be accepted and looked at as “the nice one.” These days, I’m more interested in being happy for me, in my own skin, on my own terms.

And the wildest part? I truly believe people respect it more when you stand your ground. Who knew? Turns out, the more I honor myself, the more I attract people who do the same. And the ones who don’t? Don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya!

There’s a whole different level of confidence that shows up when you finally realize your voice isn’t something to be hidden, It’s something to be heard. And once you find it? It’s a game changer.

You Become Bolder and Braver

I’ve started saying yes to more adventures, big and small. The kind that requires courage, not convenience.

My husband and I are in the process of talking to builders with hopes to eventually build a house and fulfill a dream of moving away from city life (if you can call Florence “city life”), because I’m tired of staring at my brown wooden fence. My soul craves nature, stillness, and stars. I want to wake up hearing birds, not people driving to work, and fall asleep to crickets, not my neighbor’s loud music. I want more meaning in my life and to be able to appreciate the amazing and beautiful world that God has given to us.

I’m learning gardening in a major way, how to can and preserve food, learning new tech, working towards additional streams of income to build more wealth and independence (hello, scary job market), and asking big questions. I’m doing things that make me feel alive instead of just “productive.”

But here’s the real truth of what my age is teaching me: getting older has helped me unlearn the lie that I have believed my whole life. That I must earn joy, or wait until everything’s perfect to allow myself to want more. For years, I have been stuck in the loop of “just get through this week,” or “when the kids are older,” or “when things calm down.” But when never comes. And while I was waiting for life to slow down…it sped right past me.

I’ve already spent a lifetime living for others. Serving. Showing up. Sacrificing. And while I’d do it again for the people I love, I’ve also learned that my story matters, too. That my dreams are not some optional footnote in everyone else’s chapter. I wish I had discovered that 30 years ago.

So now, I say yes to me.

Yes to pleasure without guilt.
Yes to joy without justification.
Yes to dreaming, daring, and doing.

Because enough time has been spent waiting.

Which brings me to this…

Dear Younger Me…

If I could go back in time and sit with you, Misty, just for a minute, I wouldn’t start with a lecture. I wouldn’t rattle off advice like some motivational Facebook post (not that you’d know what that is). I’d just sit there, take your hand, and say:

Stop waiting.

Stop waiting for the perfect moment. Stop waiting to be ready. Stop waiting until the stars align and the fear disappears, and the timing is ideal. Because spoiler alert: it never will be.

That dream in your gut? The one you keep pushing off until “someday”? Chase it now. That voice in your head saying, “You’re not good enough yet”? Fire her. That person who you let convince you that nobody else will love you because you haven’t lost all the weight yet. Stop listening.

Live now.
Speak up now.
Fall in love with your life now.

But while we’re at it, slow down. (Yeah, I know. That one’s hard for you.)

You don’t have to do it all. Be it all. Prove it all. You are not a machine built to produce for other people. You are allowed to rest. You are allowed to be still. You are allowed to say “no,” and mean it without apology.

Be everything for yourself, sometimes. Just because people rely on you doesn’t mean you’re supposed to erase yourself. Your needs are not a burden. Your desires are not too much. You are not too much. You matter, too.

So, don’t wait.
Pursue your dreams.
Say the thing.
Eat the cheesecake.
Tell them you love them.
Remind yourself that you matter as much as they do.
And never, ever let anyone, including yourself, convince you to shrink.

Because you, my dear…were always meant to be big…at every age.

Here’s What I Know

Getting older will hand you some aches, yes, but it also hands you clarity. Confidence. And freedom. Freedom to be loud. Freedom to be soft. Freedom to be wildly, unapologetically you.

It’s about finally stepping into your voice, your truth, your life.
It’s about trading the performance for presence.
It’s about learning to live for real, not just for everyone else.
It’s about realizing that the most sacred thing you can do is honor who you’ve become after all you’ve survived.

Aging humbles you, yes. But it also sharpens you.

You stop chasing perfection and start chasing peace. You stop being afraid of dying, and start being more afraid of not living. You stop watering yourself down and start blooming…wildly.

And if there’s one thing I hope you carry with you, whether you’re in your 30s, 40s, 50s, or wherever life finds you, it’s this:

You are getting older, but you aren’t done yet…you’re just getting to the good part! Stop waiting and enjoy your life.