I didn’t do the usual polite, downplaying thing we’re trained to do when I turned 53….
“Don’t remind me!”
“Where did the years go?”
“God, I’m so old now…”
Instead, I did something radical.
I reframed it.
Not as a birthday. But as a version update.
I’m not 53. I’m Version 5.3.
And if you’re a woman in the middle of your own quiet identity crisis (or what feels like one) I want to offer this same reframe to you.
Because what if this isn’t you falling apart?
What if it’s just the moment before your system finishes downloading?
The woman before this version
She kept the peace.
She said yes out of guilt.
She earned gold stars for how freaking selfless, sorted, and self-sacrificing she was.
She wore labels like “good girl” and “strong woman” like a second skin.
She wasn’t weak. She was adapting.
But that version of you? She’s retired now.
And the woman coming next…. the one standing quietly in the wings, just waiting for you to stop f*cking apologising…. she’s got nothing left to prove.
She wants truth.
She wants space.
She wants you, but on purpose.
Reinvention isn’t always loud
Sometimes it looks like reading a book that punches you in the gut…. and putting it down because you’re not ready to face it.
Sometimes it sounds like….“I don’t even know what music I like anymore.”
Sometimes it feels like grief… not for him, but for the version of you who vanished while trying to keep everything together.
But the thing that nobody tells you is that moment, that ache….That is not weakness.
That is your next version knocking.
You don’t need to start over
You just need to update.
And like any good update, it might take a hot minute.
It might glitch.
It might feel uncomfortable.
But when it lands?
You’ll realise you were never f*cking broken.
You were just running an outdated version of yourself based on someone else’s idea of who you should be.
This is your reminder
You’re not too old.
You’re not too late.
You’re just in your Version 5.3 moment (or maybe you’re right on the edge of it)
Let it download.
Ready to remember who the f*ck you are?
The Badass AF Book Club is open, and we’re doing August with You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero.
Chapter-by-chapter private podcast
No BS, no filter community
This isn’t about becoming someone else.
It’s about finally letting you lead.
Sarah x
🩷
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