I was a young police chief in my early forties, fully immersed in my career and family. I retired at 52 to write and create art, and that’s when reflection and philosophical explorations deepened. We are indeed all our past ages, but hopefully rewarded with the wisdom of time and experiences. I don’t think readers appreciate how difficult it is to constantly create like you have, Jeff. And I don’t think they always understand that writers evolve. Sometimes that includes periods of burnout or reinvention. Change is inevitable, and your essay today captures the universal experience of aging, reflection, and maybe uncertainty about what comes next. I like this season of Jeff Goins writing. Your honesty and authenticity. It’s something we can all relate to.
I love that you said it sometimes requires reinvention John. Willingness to look inside and perhaps reinvent are what keep folks vibrant as they move through life, it widens our perspective.
You don't know me, so maybe I'm not qualified to say anything. We don't have any kind of relationship, but years ago, b4 you burned out and disappeared for a season, I worked on a couple of your launch teams.
I'm older than you, by about 20 yrs, a boomer @.tje tail end of that generation. And I can say this, getting old is about how well you take care of yourself, not something that happens to you. Nutrition. Exercise. And emotional health. They all affect your "age", which in the end isn't really about a number.
I pray for you. I'm praying you heal, and find your voice again. Jesus went and chased down Peter when he went back to fishing. God sent an angel to refresh burned out and depressed Elijah.
God's looking to do that for you too. Your voice is missed.
Thanks, Scarlet. I am enjoying this new medium to explore different versions and articulations of my writing voice. Just as with singing or talking, the voice is an instrument that is more diverse than we often realize. I'm trying to stretch some creative muscles here and see what happens.
Thanks, Geoffrey. It's been a nice relief to have not to need anything from an audience while I write, other than a handful of minutes of your time. This whole community/project is an experiment for me. I will continue to explore new areas and styles and try new things. It feels like a relief to me, as well. I appreciate your feedback.
As someone who crossed the 60 year mark already, I still feel like a teenager in my heart but my body reminds me otherwise. I heard a marketer say the human mind is like being in the cab of a large Terex mining truck with 40 other people and each one is desperately fighting for the steering wheel. I think the biggest battle is telling the other voices to step back and let you drive for a while.
I heard the author Liz Gilbert say the voice can come along for the ride, in her example it was fear, but it is not in the driver's seat and has no control over the radio! I'm paraphrasing but it was something like that. It goes along with your mining truck analogy, which many days is more apt as there are usually many more voices in there.
Hi, I agree with you. I just turned 60 this month. I do not even recognize the world anymore. It is too busy and loud for me. The women in my family live a long time. My grandmother is 93 and going strong. The oldest woman in my family died at 104. She lived by herself with a dog and gave up driving the year before.
This is wonderful contemplation. I’m 58! I can not believe it. Who is this woman who’s hair is now more silver than black. The silver highlights were amusing at first. Now they just jump out and scare the shit out of me.
I am learning to savor the experiences more. The comfort of the sunlight that dances through my house when I come downstairs in the morning.
Watching my autistic son turn into a responsible adult.
My grandson who makes my heart light up with his smile. The way he leans in to lay his head on my shoulder and lingers.
Thank you for making me stop for a moment and think about the things that matter.
I may be one of those friends who said “40 is young”. Of course, that is easy to say when you were not 39 just a few months ago. At 57, I’m fond of saying I am “in my fifties” and not eager to exchange that for “I’m almost 60”. My 93-year old Great Aunt recently told me “Lordy, Ray, you’re just getting started”. I choose to believe her. It may be a delusion, but it seems it might at least be a useful one. Thanks for the thoughtful essay. Good to hear your voice. 😉
Love what you wrote! and Ray, I was 70 and running down the hall in our apartment in Brazil.
I remember thanking God that I could walk and run.
I'm now almost 91 and am in the US. I had a stroke just over a year ago, and my walking is limited.
BUT I still have dreams, and am able to travel. About 10 days ago I flew to LA to be with some of my kids and many of my Brazilian friends.
It was wonderful!
And Jeff - that book I sent to you years ago has been through many revisions, along with tears, and almost ready to publish. I keep learning more about God and still love your writings. Please keep asking yourself questions and sharing them with us.
You and Paul Young are two of my favorites, because you DO ask questions.
Hi Jeff! Voni here... I'm working with a young man from Paraguay... wanting to step out of the blog world and looks like substack is going to be my next learning phase.
So much still to learn! and the learning is exciting.
I've been living in your pocket for so many years! and I'm going to keep on. I've read all of your books (but not the ghosts) ... and love these notes you write for they give me goose bumps!
I didn’t learn anything important before the age of 40. That was a little less than a decade ago. Now I call people under 40 “kids”. Age doesn’t make you old. Illness makes you old.
I'd say, none of what you consider "me" is really you. The reason why we feel like we are all the ages we've ever been, is because we actually are. When you were that thirteen year old boy, you were still the same you, just experienced less. Now you're still the same, just have experienced more. Who you truly are, is really the pure consciousness, that's experiencing this life, through your body, your mind and your heart. Sensations, thoughts and emotions. Those are really just the mechanisms of experiencing. You, you are the one who's experiencing and you'll always be ageless. Or "all-age".
Beautiful piece, Jeff. Thank you very much for sharing and creating the space to "go down the deep end". I'm happy to be here to read your explorations.
This was well said, Veronika. Thanks for the reply. And I agree. Still learning who and what I am and why I'm here. Glad to have you as part of this community.
Jeff, I'm 57. Some of what you are calling getting old is the mindfulness of having lived long enough to know much of the urgency you felt when you were younger is self-induced. It's also the wisdom of pausing to let your senses inform your life.
I agree with Tim that taking care of yourself affects how you age. I was lucky enough to have 2 sets of grandparents my entire childhood. One set was sedentary, never ventured beyond their hometown or their routines. The other set would take on us 3 kids while my parents got a vacation, came to visit me at college, read widely. That grandmother, who did not get to go to college as an adolescent, did at 62 and graduated at 64. The first set struck me as old, the second as young. Old is a state of mind, not an age.
Lastly, my experience re: your exercise shoulds...the creakiness or aches you may feel are often solved by movement. The movement doesn't have to be an official workout. Any momentary stiffness or minor ache that shows up first thing in the morning is often solved by emptying the dishwasher, folding laundry, sweeping the floor, or just a few trips up and down the stairs. Circulation heals.
It takes a lot of awareness to ask oneself or someone else which voice is talking and to realize the presence of your soul. At least, that is what I read between the lines, or what I wonder about sometimes too. I think listening to birds and lying on the grass changes the world for the better and is one of the best contributions you can give. Nice you didn't dally over the IRS letter and sent it on quickly :-).
Hi Jeff. Love your reflection of past . 40 you’re just starting to live again new wife, new place just keep going stay healthy exercise, be thankful for today love your family with all your being. In the end that’s all you’ll have .
Sounds to me like you are having a spiritual experience. I very distinctly remember turning 40; I wrote about it, was sad about it, then became overjoyed because, after all, I was still "young." At 69 years old, I have discovered that without a deep spiritual life I would be destined to fillers, filters and freeting about becoming irrelevant and just "old."
By the way, I have been following you in my older years when you were "young and sassy." I would say you are growing in a level of understanding what is truly important. It's a journey that can make us uncomfortable because we've never been here before.
Love reading your insights and thank you for sharing your heart. Go with it.
You are on an amazing journey. Your favorite things sound like my favorite things. I’m now in my upper 40s which seems unfathomable and I don’t like much of what the world has become. I suppose that makes me old as this is something every generation has said about those that follow. But we were one of the last generation’s raised without Internet and I think that says a lot. Life and aging are really weird and as a woman, I just decided last night I’m tired of trying to appear young and beautiful, I spend way too much energy on it and I’m done.
Nature, creativity, learning, writing, reflecting, thinking, deep discussions and cooking heathy plant-based food are my favorite things, as well as time with my husband not doing much of anything at all. I need a lot more time to myself now as well, more than ever. Sometimes this scares me as I really like helping others. But people really wear me out.
I was thinking similar thoughts last night when I was thinking about my life when I graduated high school and who I am today. I was thinking of people I thought I would know forever and how they have disappeared. I sometimes feel so disconnected from myself.
Hah! It's funny, isn't it? I find that this is the norm. We don't necessarily experience ourselves changing, even though we do, as much as we notice the world around us looking sometimes less familiar.
I really enjoyed this piece, Jeff. I’m only 5 years ahead of you and I’ve been following your public work for well over a decade. My younger self would not recognize my 45 year old self and I wonder if she’d be proud of me. I’ve survived cancer and my child is now 16. My religious life is deeper and far more heretical than my younger self. So much so that I laugh when I think about it. The world is far louder and it’s amazing what listening to birds, feeling the sun on your face, and planting flowers can do for the soul.
I was a young police chief in my early forties, fully immersed in my career and family. I retired at 52 to write and create art, and that’s when reflection and philosophical explorations deepened. We are indeed all our past ages, but hopefully rewarded with the wisdom of time and experiences. I don’t think readers appreciate how difficult it is to constantly create like you have, Jeff. And I don’t think they always understand that writers evolve. Sometimes that includes periods of burnout or reinvention. Change is inevitable, and your essay today captures the universal experience of aging, reflection, and maybe uncertainty about what comes next. I like this season of Jeff Goins writing. Your honesty and authenticity. It’s something we can all relate to.
Thank you for the encouragement, John. I don’t know where I am or where I’m headed. But writing helps.
I love that you said it sometimes requires reinvention John. Willingness to look inside and perhaps reinvent are what keep folks vibrant as they move through life, it widens our perspective.
You don't know me, so maybe I'm not qualified to say anything. We don't have any kind of relationship, but years ago, b4 you burned out and disappeared for a season, I worked on a couple of your launch teams.
I'm older than you, by about 20 yrs, a boomer @.tje tail end of that generation. And I can say this, getting old is about how well you take care of yourself, not something that happens to you. Nutrition. Exercise. And emotional health. They all affect your "age", which in the end isn't really about a number.
I pray for you. I'm praying you heal, and find your voice again. Jesus went and chased down Peter when he went back to fishing. God sent an angel to refresh burned out and depressed Elijah.
God's looking to do that for you too. Your voice is missed.
Thank you for your comment, Tim. Is this not, also, my voice?
Your voice has stayed true. Yes, this is your voice, the way it was, is now, and will be, until you change it.
Thanks, Scarlet. I am enjoying this new medium to explore different versions and articulations of my writing voice. Just as with singing or talking, the voice is an instrument that is more diverse than we often realize. I'm trying to stretch some creative muscles here and see what happens.
I like/love this current Jeff Goins voice — not something dogma-checkable — or a market-needy / market-ready contrivance. Whew.
Thanks, Geoffrey. It's been a nice relief to have not to need anything from an audience while I write, other than a handful of minutes of your time. This whole community/project is an experiment for me. I will continue to explore new areas and styles and try new things. It feels like a relief to me, as well. I appreciate your feedback.
As someone who crossed the 60 year mark already, I still feel like a teenager in my heart but my body reminds me otherwise. I heard a marketer say the human mind is like being in the cab of a large Terex mining truck with 40 other people and each one is desperately fighting for the steering wheel. I think the biggest battle is telling the other voices to step back and let you drive for a while.
Love that.
I heard the author Liz Gilbert say the voice can come along for the ride, in her example it was fear, but it is not in the driver's seat and has no control over the radio! I'm paraphrasing but it was something like that. It goes along with your mining truck analogy, which many days is more apt as there are usually many more voices in there.
Yes, I loved that part of Big Magic. Fear can ride along but it cannot take the steering wheel or pick the music. ;)
Hi, I agree with you. I just turned 60 this month. I do not even recognize the world anymore. It is too busy and loud for me. The women in my family live a long time. My grandmother is 93 and going strong. The oldest woman in my family died at 104. She lived by herself with a dog and gave up driving the year before.
So loud.
This is wonderful contemplation. I’m 58! I can not believe it. Who is this woman who’s hair is now more silver than black. The silver highlights were amusing at first. Now they just jump out and scare the shit out of me.
I am learning to savor the experiences more. The comfort of the sunlight that dances through my house when I come downstairs in the morning.
Watching my autistic son turn into a responsible adult.
My grandson who makes my heart light up with his smile. The way he leans in to lay his head on my shoulder and lingers.
Thank you for making me stop for a moment and think about the things that matter.
Weird is good.
You're welcome, Karen. Thank you. :)
I may be one of those friends who said “40 is young”. Of course, that is easy to say when you were not 39 just a few months ago. At 57, I’m fond of saying I am “in my fifties” and not eager to exchange that for “I’m almost 60”. My 93-year old Great Aunt recently told me “Lordy, Ray, you’re just getting started”. I choose to believe her. It may be a delusion, but it seems it might at least be a useful one. Thanks for the thoughtful essay. Good to hear your voice. 😉
Jeff,
It's Voni here.
Love what you wrote! and Ray, I was 70 and running down the hall in our apartment in Brazil.
I remember thanking God that I could walk and run.
I'm now almost 91 and am in the US. I had a stroke just over a year ago, and my walking is limited.
BUT I still have dreams, and am able to travel. About 10 days ago I flew to LA to be with some of my kids and many of my Brazilian friends.
It was wonderful!
And Jeff - that book I sent to you years ago has been through many revisions, along with tears, and almost ready to publish. I keep learning more about God and still love your writings. Please keep asking yourself questions and sharing them with us.
You and Paul Young are two of my favorites, because you DO ask questions.
love to you and Chantelle
Thank you, Voni!
Hi Jeff! Voni here... I'm working with a young man from Paraguay... wanting to step out of the blog world and looks like substack is going to be my next learning phase.
So much still to learn! and the learning is exciting.
I've been living in your pocket for so many years! and I'm going to keep on. I've read all of your books (but not the ghosts) ... and love these notes you write for they give me goose bumps!
Now, tomorrow, I start learning about substack!
Sending hugs and God bless!
Love you, friend.
I didn’t learn anything important before the age of 40. That was a little less than a decade ago. Now I call people under 40 “kids”. Age doesn’t make you old. Illness makes you old.
I am slowly starting to get that.
I'd say, none of what you consider "me" is really you. The reason why we feel like we are all the ages we've ever been, is because we actually are. When you were that thirteen year old boy, you were still the same you, just experienced less. Now you're still the same, just have experienced more. Who you truly are, is really the pure consciousness, that's experiencing this life, through your body, your mind and your heart. Sensations, thoughts and emotions. Those are really just the mechanisms of experiencing. You, you are the one who's experiencing and you'll always be ageless. Or "all-age".
Beautiful piece, Jeff. Thank you very much for sharing and creating the space to "go down the deep end". I'm happy to be here to read your explorations.
This was well said, Veronika. Thanks for the reply. And I agree. Still learning who and what I am and why I'm here. Glad to have you as part of this community.
Jeff, I'm 57. Some of what you are calling getting old is the mindfulness of having lived long enough to know much of the urgency you felt when you were younger is self-induced. It's also the wisdom of pausing to let your senses inform your life.
I agree with Tim that taking care of yourself affects how you age. I was lucky enough to have 2 sets of grandparents my entire childhood. One set was sedentary, never ventured beyond their hometown or their routines. The other set would take on us 3 kids while my parents got a vacation, came to visit me at college, read widely. That grandmother, who did not get to go to college as an adolescent, did at 62 and graduated at 64. The first set struck me as old, the second as young. Old is a state of mind, not an age.
Lastly, my experience re: your exercise shoulds...the creakiness or aches you may feel are often solved by movement. The movement doesn't have to be an official workout. Any momentary stiffness or minor ache that shows up first thing in the morning is often solved by emptying the dishwasher, folding laundry, sweeping the floor, or just a few trips up and down the stairs. Circulation heals.
Thanks for sharing, Evelyn.
It takes a lot of awareness to ask oneself or someone else which voice is talking and to realize the presence of your soul. At least, that is what I read between the lines, or what I wonder about sometimes too. I think listening to birds and lying on the grass changes the world for the better and is one of the best contributions you can give. Nice you didn't dally over the IRS letter and sent it on quickly :-).
Heh. Right. Basically I paid taxes and they were like what is this? Sigh.
Hi Jeff. Love your reflection of past . 40 you’re just starting to live again new wife, new place just keep going stay healthy exercise, be thankful for today love your family with all your being. In the end that’s all you’ll have .
I understand that now more than I ever have, Martha. Thank you for sharing.
Sounds to me like you are having a spiritual experience. I very distinctly remember turning 40; I wrote about it, was sad about it, then became overjoyed because, after all, I was still "young." At 69 years old, I have discovered that without a deep spiritual life I would be destined to fillers, filters and freeting about becoming irrelevant and just "old."
By the way, I have been following you in my older years when you were "young and sassy." I would say you are growing in a level of understanding what is truly important. It's a journey that can make us uncomfortable because we've never been here before.
Love reading your insights and thank you for sharing your heart. Go with it.
Thank you for sharing, Yolanda. I think you may be right.
You are on an amazing journey. Your favorite things sound like my favorite things. I’m now in my upper 40s which seems unfathomable and I don’t like much of what the world has become. I suppose that makes me old as this is something every generation has said about those that follow. But we were one of the last generation’s raised without Internet and I think that says a lot. Life and aging are really weird and as a woman, I just decided last night I’m tired of trying to appear young and beautiful, I spend way too much energy on it and I’m done.
Nature, creativity, learning, writing, reflecting, thinking, deep discussions and cooking heathy plant-based food are my favorite things, as well as time with my husband not doing much of anything at all. I need a lot more time to myself now as well, more than ever. Sometimes this scares me as I really like helping others. But people really wear me out.
This all resonates. Thanks for sharing Cynthia. I, too, enjoy my time alone more now than ever. And sometimes feel weird about that.
I was thinking similar thoughts last night when I was thinking about my life when I graduated high school and who I am today. I was thinking of people I thought I would know forever and how they have disappeared. I sometimes feel so disconnected from myself.
Me too, Kevin. I'm glad you're here.
Thank you so much. I'm now 63, and often wonder how I got here.
Hah! It's funny, isn't it? I find that this is the norm. We don't necessarily experience ourselves changing, even though we do, as much as we notice the world around us looking sometimes less familiar.
I really enjoyed this piece, Jeff. I’m only 5 years ahead of you and I’ve been following your public work for well over a decade. My younger self would not recognize my 45 year old self and I wonder if she’d be proud of me. I’ve survived cancer and my child is now 16. My religious life is deeper and far more heretical than my younger self. So much so that I laugh when I think about it. The world is far louder and it’s amazing what listening to birds, feeling the sun on your face, and planting flowers can do for the soul.
Deeper and more heretical. I totally get that. I am with you on all the above. Thank you for sharing.