Welcome to October! After our month-long celebration of BIN’s first birthday in September, this month I find myself reflecting on age–the good, the bad, and the beautiful. My approach to aging has really changed over the last decade or so. I’ve started looking at it as something I’m excited about. Really! There’s a sense of freedom to it. I used to fear aging–or just think it was never going to happen–but I truly feel so much younger now than I thought I would. 

There are so many amazing things that have come along as I’ve gotten older. My friendships are so much deeper, more solid, open, and connected–we just don’t have time for pettiness and bullshit! I have more energy than ever; I really thought that would wane, but my experience has been the opposite. And my confidence has only grown with my knowledge, my history, my experience. I can walk into any room now with a higher level of comfort and assuredness than I once had. 

I know a lot of women who avoid birthdays, but I think we have to celebrate them–our own and others. You were born, you are here, and you’re lucky enough to have been able to get through a whole other year! Let’s be honest: there’s a whole lot to do in life, and it’s not easy. So instead of thinking, “I’m another year older,” I like to think, “Look what I did this year. Look what I was able to learn.” We deserve to be excited about our accomplishments–and those come with time.

My approach to wellness is so much more balanced than it used to be, too. I used to deny myself pleasures or do extreme workouts in the name of health, but now I truly believe that wellness can mean a glass of wine and a plate of pasta with a good friend. I don’t think calorically or do those checks and balances anymore. Of course I’m thinking about my health, but I’m thinking about what kind of woman I want to be into my old age. What can I do now to lay the groundwork for a Brooke who’s athletic and vibrant, who travels and experiences and laughs a lot? I want to be spry and energetic and have a vitality well into my 80s, and I know I can. 

What I’ve learned over the years is that the little things really, really don’t matter in the big picture. My mother used to tell me not to sweat the small stuff, and I’ve finally started to get it. I used to live in the wreckage of the future–a phrase I learned recently–and I’ve learned not to do that. It only took me 57 years…but I know it only gets better from here. 

Here’s to our biggest, best, most vibrant lives–at every age. 

xo, Brooke