This Made Me Question Everything We’ve Been Told About Midlife

Most people think _____. But the truth is _____. A writing coach I love shared that prompt with a group of us recently. When I sat with it, here's what I wrote: Most people think women are naturally good at handling it all. But the truth is — we are praised for self-abandonment. That landed somewhere tender in me. Because I'd been living that narrative for a long time without quite having words for it. Many of us have.

So I want to offer you the same prompt. Sit with it this week — in your journal, on a walk, in a quiet moment before anyone else wakes up. Most people think midlife is _____. But the truth is ____. Let it be honest. Let it be yours.

Because one of the bravest things we can do in this season is question the stories we inherited — and finally start telling the truth about what's real for us instead. You are not broken. You are becoming brave enough to stop living inside stories that were never truly yours.