I’m 47. And over on Instagram last week, I posted an unmade up picture of myself and spoke openly about my life, my age and about how numbers mean nothing, age means nothing – what matters is who we are.
I received a lot of positive responses and messages to the post, so I wanted to share it with you here. Because it’s only when we are open about life, about the reality, good and bad, that we learn to love it. We learn to finally, and truly, live it.
This is what 47 looks like:
I was 39 when I got my first agent.
41 when I got my first book deal.
15 when I won the district cross country championships.
26 when I got married.
44 when that was sadly all over.
28 when I had my first child, 30 when I had my second.
36 when the doctor said I had arthritis in my kneecap.
37 when I said sod that, and took up triathlon.
38 when I learnt to ski.
43 when I learned to surf.
19 when I first had my loving heart broken.
45 when it broke for real.
7 when my parents divorced.
29 the last time I saw my dad.
I guess why I’m saying all this is because more and more I feel as if age is simply a number. And it’s not just age but numbers in general are just that – numbers. The number of likes we get, the number of books we read, friends we have, the numbers we get in our latest race or the statistics we clock after a workout.
Thing is, humans are not numbers. We are living and messy and real. And putting everything we do into numbers misses out on the magic that happens in between – the good, the bad, the easy, the happy, the sad and the downright sassy. What matters is who we are and what we give a go in life.
So yeah, this is me, 47. An age that’s seen a lot, on my way to 50 and ready to rock it all in a real happy and messy as hell, fun way.
Whatever numbers you have in your life right now, I hope you get a moment to step away from it and see yourself for what you really are: truly awesome.
Nikki Owen is an author and endurance athlete living in Stroud.
Instagram @nikkiowen_author_athlete
Twitter @nikkiwriter
Facebook: nikkiowenauthor
