Hello and happy Monday! This is Susan Hyatt and it’s GO time.
This is the 101 episode in a series of GO podcasts to wake you up on your Monday morning and get you going.
In this episode we’re talking about why it’s NEVER TOO LATE to be yourself… to express yourself… to make memories… and to enjoy your life.
[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/susanhyattgo/101-too-late-for-what” background=”default” social_gplus=”false” social_pinterest=”true” social_email=”true” ]
Wanna read the full transcript? Here ya go:
Earlier this year, I turned 44 years old. Around that same time, I remember stumbling across a magazine article with fashion tips for women over 40. And let me tell you… I was NOT amused.
This article was packed with a big list of DON’Ts. Don’t wear tiny shorts. Don’t wear mini skirts. Don’t wear leather pants. Don’t wear tiny, delicate patterns unless you’re extremely petite. Don’t wear bright neon colors. Don’t… you get the idea.
I felt so aggravated. And then I stormed into my closet and put my tiniest leather mini skirt in protest! Haha!
Articles like this really bother me, because they’re talking about clothes, but really, it’s about… much more than just clothes. The deeper message that’s being conveyed is: Ladies, the best years are behind you. It’s time to settle down, quiet down, and cover up. It’s too late to be daring and bold. Those days are looooo-ooong gone.
A lot of women soak in this type of message and actually believe it. I know I used to, for sure. And this breaks my heart.
So if you’re a woman, whether you’re 22 years old, or 88 years old, I want to remind you that it’s NEVER TOO LATE to be yourself… to express yourself… to make memories… and to enjoy your life.
I know women in their 40s and 50s and beyond who rock stiletto heels and mini skirts and feather boas and who feel FABULOUS doing it.
I know a woman who reinvented her entire career and taught herself all about online marketing and blogging and starting writing her first book… in her 60s. She’s got ideas to share, so she figured, why the hell not?
I know another woman who decided that she wanted to produce a new Broadway musical—even though she’d never attempted a project like that before. And she’s doing it. She’s in her 60s, too.
I know a woman in her 30s who finally decided to go to culinary school—something she dreamed about doing for a DECADE. She finally enrolled in a program. She’s doing it, and she’s having so much fun.
Anna Mary Robertson Moses, one of the most influential folk artists of the 20th century, didn’t start painting until she was 78 years old. She eventually died at age 101, and she was painting right up until her final days. One reporter noted that “until her last birthday, Sept. 7, she rarely failed to do a little painting every day.”
My point is… there are a million dumb magazine articles that say NEVER DO THIS ON A FIRST DATE and NEVER MAKE THIS CAREER MISTAKE and YOU CAN’T WEAR THAT AFTER 30, 40, or 50.
No offense to those magazine writers—uh, I’m sure they have the best of intentions, I guess?—but it’s all BULLSHIT.
If you ever catch yourself thinking, “Oh, I’m too old for that…” or “It’s too late for that…” I want you to stop yourself in your tracks and ask yourself, “Um, excuse me?! Too late for what, exactly?”
Too late to do what you want?
Too late to dress the way you want?
Too late to express what’s in your heart and mind?
Too late to do meaningful work, and contribute to your community?
Too late to make a painting?
Too late to write a book?
Too late to leave your legacy?
Too late to laugh, have adventures, and make memories?
HELL to the N-O.
It is never too late. So, put on your gown, or your jeans, or your leather mini-skirt, or your painting smock, or whatever you damn well please, and use this precious time you’ve been given to do whatever you want—and be whoever you want.
Whether today is your 21st birthday or your 101st birthday, today is an excellent day to express yourself, to enjoy yourself, and be exactly who you are.
It’s GO time.
P.S. My new BARE membership community is opening soon. If you wanna be the first to know, sign up here.
