Stop Waiting to Start Living Fully
There comes a moment in life when the noise quiets just enough for truth to rise to the surface. For me, that moment arrived as I stepped into my seventh decade on this earth.
I’m 60—and I still can’t quite believe it.
Time moved faster than I ever imagined it would. One decade blended into the next, and suddenly I found myself asking not how did I get here, but how do I want to live from here forward? That question has been sitting with me for weeks, and it led me to a realization I want to offer you gently but honestly:
Too many of us are waiting to start living fully.
We tell ourselves we’ll begin later—when things calm down, when circumstances change, when permission arrives, when fear fades, when life feels safer. But life doesn’t work that way. Later isn’t guaranteed. And clarity doesn’t come from waiting—it comes from choosing.
As I reflect on my life, I’ve narrowed it down to three things I am no longer willing to carry forward. And while these lessons arrived at 60, they don’t belong to one age group. If I could, I’d hand them to my 30-year-old self and say, Start now.
1. I’m Done Explaining Myself
One of the most exhausting habits I carried for decades was over-explaining—my choices, my boundaries, my pace, my decisions. I thought if I could just say it the right way, with enough detail and kindness, people would finally understand.
What I’ve learned is simple and freeing:
People who respect you don’t need explanations.
And people who demand them rarely accept them anyway.
Over-explaining is not clarity—it’s self-abandonment. It drains energy, weakens boundaries, and keeps you negotiating with people who have already decided not to honor you. Silence, when chosen intentionally, is clarity. “No” is a complete sentence. Your life does not require footnotes.
The people who respect your boundaries are already respecting them. The ones who don’t won’t start just because you explained yourself better.
2. I’m Done Making Myself Smaller to Make Others Comfortable
For years, I softened my voice. I wrapped wisdom in apologies. I edited myself so I wouldn’t be “too much.”
And I hear this all the time—especially from women: You’re too much.
Too bold. Too outspoken. Too intense. Too confident.
I’m done shrinking to fit rooms that were never meant to hold me.
Making yourself palatable might keep the peace temporarily, but it costs you authenticity. You are not required to dilute your convictions, dim your clarity, or slow your growth so others don’t feel uncomfortable.
If someone doesn’t want to grow alongside you, that doesn’t mean you stop growing. It means you may outgrow them—and that’s not a failure. That’s evolution.
You don’t need permission to pivot. You don’t need consensus to move. And you don’t need to be liked by everyone to live with integrity.
3. I’m Done Outsourcing My Authority
There was a time when I checked every decision through someone else. Even small ones. Is this okay? Do you think this is allowed? Should I do this?
What I was really asking was for permission to trust myself.
Respecting authority is not the same as surrendering your own. Collaboration does not require self-betrayal. And wisdom does not live exclusively outside of you.
I’ve learned to discern the difference between guidance and control. I value counsel. I honor leadership. But I no longer hand my power to people who haven’t lived my life, carried my burdens, or walked my path.
I will make decisions. I will communicate them. But I will not give my authority away.
Why This Matters Now
There’s something that happens as we age—especially for women. Whether it’s biological, emotional, or spiritual, clarity sharpens. Time becomes more precious. Energy becomes sacred.
For me, health has been a teacher. A cancer diagnosis. Major surgeries. A genetic disorder that reminds me, often, that nothing is promised. That reality can be heavy—but it has also been clarifying.
I am learning to release fear where I cannot control outcomes and to live fully where I can choose. That means embracing life with intention, faith, and courage instead of postponement.
Waiting doesn’t protect us. It postpones joy.
A Question for You
You don’t need to be 60 to ask this question. You just need honesty.
What are you being invited to release so you can live more fully right now?
Is it the need to please?
The habit of over-explaining?
The fear of being seen?
The belief that you need permission?
Or the idea that it’s “too late” to begin?
Whatever it is, releasing it is not loss—it’s alignment.
The world doesn’t need more bitterness, division, or fear. It needs people who are willing to live fully, lead with compassion, and show up as the best version of themselves.
And that work starts inside you.
Not someday.
Not later.
Now.