THE AGE OF KNOWING
There comes a time
when you stop asking
if everyone else approves.
You wear the shoes
you like.
Eat the cake
before dinner.
Say no
without writing an essay
to explain why.
You stop confusing exhaustion
with virtue,
and being needed with being loved.
You learn that comfortable
is not the same as giving up.
That staying home
can be an adventure too.
That early nights
are not boring,
and cancelled plans
can feel suspiciously like freedom.
You begin to understand
that your time
is not an endless resource.
Neither is your energy.
So you become more careful
with where you place them.
You stop shrinking
to make other people comfortable.
Stop performing
the version of yourself
you think they want.
And somewhere along the way
you look in the mirror
and realise...
Oh.
There you are.
Not the woman
you were told to become.
Not the woman
everyone expected.
Just you.
Older.
Wiser.
A little more wrinkled.
Considerably less bothered.
A little less willing
to waste your life
on things that don't matter.
And perhaps that
is the real gift
of getting older.
Not becoming someone new.
But finally
coming home
to the woman
you are now.
And deciding she's worth listening to.
Sally x
Sally Somerton - Island Writer
©sallysomerton2026
All Rights Reserved
Inspired by the message in this image popping up in my FB feed..
Comments