You Can Self-Sabotage at Any Age, by Thinking You're 'Too Old'

Originally published on Cleopatra's Worldwide — December 29, 2019

Two women celebrate their 70th Birthday. They both feel very different about this milestone. One 'knows' that her best days are behind her and that life is drawing to a close. The other woman figures that what a person is actually capable of, at any age, depends much more on her beliefs — and she believes there's more fuel in the tank. She's always been interested in mountaineering and decides, if not now then when?! For the next twenty years she devotes herself to this passion, climbing some of the highest peaks in the world.

At 91, Hulda Crooks became the oldest woman to scale Mount Fuji.

It is a tragic truth of many lives that people have a fixed idea of what they should do, when. That there is an optimum age to start something, or achieve a milestone. If you've gone past it, unfortunately that experience has passed you by.

Look up 'Penelope Fitzgerald' on Wikipedia and you'll be told that Penelope Mary Fitzgerald (1916–2000) was an English Booker Prize-winning novelist, poet, essayist, and biographer. In 2008, The Times included her in a list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. What that snippet doesn't tell you though, was that in 1970, aged 53, Penelope hadn't written a thing. When she finally did commit to writing her first book, she went on to publish 9 novels and 2 biographies. And it was her last novel, 'The Blue Flower', which made her a literary celebrity at the age of 80.

There are many, many examples of people like this but our culture doesn't make their stories famous as it does with younger stars or prodigies. Carlos Santana has had a remarkable career as a musician, but the spotlight was never brighter on him than it was in 2000, with his single "Smooth". He was over 50 then, and is still performing now.

If you think you may be too old to start or pursue something which interests you, ask yourself: the experiences you dream about now, do you think you'd still enjoy those in 5 years' time? If so, then what are you waiting for? We are living longer — so just because Tupac and Keats were heroes at 22, doesn't mean 22 is the only age you can be heroic.

The curves of our lives don't all bend the same way.

"I'll tell you, there is nothing better in life than being a late bloomer. I believe that success can happen at any time and at any age." – Salma Hayek