I read a quote recently that struck me. American Journalist Sydney J. Harris wrote, "Middle-age is that perplexing time of life when we hear two voices calling us, one saying, 'Why not?' and the other, "Why bother?" Bullseye! This topic has been swirling around in my mind for months. For those of us not quite in the prime of our youth and not quite menopausal, we find ourselves in the chasm of the middle. The middle can be an uncomfortable place. It's a place I'm becoming well acquainted with, and I find myself wishing more sojourners on the same journey were talking about. Do any of my middle-aged sisters out there feel me? Learning to honor the changes in our bodies and accommodating those changes with grace isn't easy. It is, however, self-kindness. The Lord has impressed this upon my heart for the past year in particular. I believe I'm called to speak peace into other women's lives who are wrestling as I have been. I pray these thoughts usher in new waves of grace for you today.

Don't Expect What You've Always Expected.

I discovered fitness seventeen years ago. When I did, I fell hard. It was love at first spin class. I worked hard on my body. I developed physical strength I didn't know I was capable of achieving. I learned, I studied. A passion became a profession as I began training others and leading group fitness. I took pride in how hard I could push my body and the aesthetic benefits of the effort. Something interesting happened, though. I got older. Inevitable, yes? I found myself staring forty in the face and asking my body to perform the way it did at twenty-three. My body obeyed, but boy did it suffer.

I so clearly remember my forty-third birthday. I started the day with the most grueling strength and HIIT class my gym offered. As I pushed my body to perform, I grieved the searing pain in my overworked knees (hello, ten years of aerobics instruction) and aches in my back. I looked around at other women my age and wondered if they were suffering in the same way. Later that same month, I sought the expert opinion of an orthopedic surgeon, desperately hoping he'd affirm my desire to keep driving toward peak physique. He didn't. The doctor rolled his stool over to sit in front of me, leaned in, looked me square in the eyes, and gently but firmly said, "Sarah, you need to ask yourself, why, are you continuing to push yourself so hard?" Something about his sincerity stuck me. It sunk in. I received it. He was right. Why was I pushing myself beyond my current ability? When had my pursuit of health come at the cost of punishing my body? It was a revealing moment for me. From that day forward, I drastically adjusted my fitness groove. I didn't do one single high-impact movement. I backed off the amount of weight I used. I dialed down the intensity with intention, and my body praised me for honoring it. The pain subsided, and, unexpectedly, peace intensified. If you have not yet reconciled this issue, here's your starting point. We mature with the years. With maturity comes wisdom. If you're forty, fifty, older, and still asking your body to look and move as it did decades ago, today I ask you, why are you still pushing so hard?

Enjoy Less Intensity

On the heels of my prior sentiments comes the advice. I cannot encourage you enough to find a form of movement you love that is also kind to your body. If, like me, you've always enjoyed the hardest, heaviest form of exercise, this takes growth, but it's well worth the grapple. Two years ago, the Lord whispered to my heart, "Just walk." Repeatedly since then, He's reaffirmed that nudge. Sometimes obeying is easy. Other times it's a struggle, but the lion's share of my exercise comes through the blessing of walking arm-in-arm with Jesus. Fearful obedience has reaped unspeakable rewards for me. You can read more about this encounter with the Lord and what He showed me that made walking more powerful.

Lift the Ban a Bit

Beyond exercise, our nutritional needs change as we age as well. One of the most golden outcomes of aging for me has been the ability to let go of so many self-inflicted rules. I can view food from a more unrestricted perspective and allow so much more than I ever have. I've learned to trust my body and to honor what it tells me. I'm less concerned with restricting and more committed to responding with grace the messages it sends me. Nothing is "off-limits" to me. Every food can have a proper place, and when I eat with reverence and peace, I no longer pine for food. I no longer over-indulge for fear I may not enjoy the taste again, or at least not until my strength fails and I fall headlong into a bag of chips (ahem, any amens?). If you're in the middle-ground or beyond, consider a little bit of reprieve. I'm not suggesting boundaryless living. I'm talking about emancipation from rules and sweet, sweet grace.

See Through Seasoned Sight

My most sincere suggestion of all, however, is this, take your eyes off the body. Your body will change. It will. Your face will age. Some things will sag, and others will expand, but there is one enduring side of beauty. Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. My maturing sisters, we have such a beautiful, highly honored opportunity to speak into the lives of younger women. When we model spiritual priorities above physical preoccupation, we have true influence. The word of God admonishes us to be reverent in our behavior, not malicious gossips nor addicted to much wine, teaching what is right and good, so that we may encourage the young women to tenderly love their husbands and their children, to be sensible, pure, makers of a home [where God is honored], good-natured, being subject to their husbands so that the word of God will not be dishonored. What a calling we have! With the mercy God provides, the middle ground can be a sacred place. It can be a place of impact and inspiration. Will you shift your eyes from the physical today and ask God to propel you into your purpose, now, right here, in this place? You were made for such a time as this, and the world needs your wisdom, the kind found only through maturity. Raise your banner high and step into the middle ground with conviction today. I'll be right there beside you.