What If the Best Chapter of Your Life Hasn’t Even Been Written Yet?

In a recent episode of The Aging Games Podcast, I sat down with Renee Landers, whose story is such a beautiful reminder of why I keep saying that we need to stop letting our age dictate what we think we can and cannot do.

Renee went through a major lower lumbar fusion at 58, didn’t even start lifting weights until she was 60, and then somehow found herself, at 74 years old, standing on a stage being crowned Classic Universe Woman. And I think what I love most about her story is that none of this was part of some lifelong master plan. She simply kept saying yes, kept challenging herself, and kept refusing to accept that getting older meant she had to start doing less.

The Power of Saying “Yes”

How many times do we talk ourselves out of doing something before we’ve even tried it? We decide we’re too old, we won’t be good enough, everyone else will be younger, or we’ll look ridiculous, and before we know it, we’ve said no to something that could have completely changed our lives.

When Renee was invited to enter a pageant for the first time in her seventies, she could very easily have said no, especially knowing she would be competing alongside women decades younger than her. Instead, she said yes, and that one decision opened up an entirely new chapter of her life.

Sometimes saying yes isn’t about knowing where something will lead. It’s simply about being willing to find out.

Strength Has No Expiration Date

Renee didn’t pick up her first weight until she was 60, after major back surgery, because she wanted to rebuild her strength and be able to continue doing the things she loved. Fourteen years later, she is a competitive bodybuilder, which is pretty incredible when you think about how often women are told that after a certain age we should just accept becoming weaker.

This is also why I talk so much about muscle and strength as we get older, because it isn’t just about what our bodies look like. It’s about independence, mobility, confidence and being able to keep living your life instead of slowly removing things from it because you think you’re “too old.”

Stop the “Old Speak”

One of the things Renee said that really stayed with me was her idea of eliminating what she calls “old speak,” all those little comments we make without even thinking about them. “I’m too old for that.” “At my age, what do you expect?” “I can’t do that anymore.”

We hear these things so often that eventually we start believing them ourselves, and I think we need to be very careful about the stories we tell ourselves about aging. There is obviously no pretending that our bodies never change, but there is a huge difference between acknowledging those changes and deciding that our best years must automatically be behind us.

You Are Worthy of Trying

You don’t have to become a bodybuilder or enter a pageant at 74 to take something from Renee’s story. Maybe your version is finally picking up a weight, travelling somewhere you’ve always wanted to go, starting a business, learning something completely new, changing the way you eat, putting yourself out there again, or doing something you’ve secretly wanted to do for years but have convinced yourself it’s too late for.

Because maybe it isn’t too late at all.

Renee started lifting weights at 60 and became Classic Universe Woman at 74, and who knows what she’ll decide to do next.

And really, that’s the whole point.

What if the best chapter of your life hasn’t even been written yet?