Preparing for Your Senior Years

The Conversations We Should Be Having in Our 50s: Chapter 4

What Are You Still Trying to Heal?

When people hear the word healing, many automatically think about the body.

I used to think that too.

Today, I see healing very differently.

As we prepare for our senior years, we talk about a lot of things.

Retirement.

Finances.

Social Security.

Medicare.

Where we’re going to live.

Our physical health.

Whether we’ll be able to remain independent.

All of those conversations are important.

But there is another conversation I believe we should be having in our 50s:

What are we still trying to heal?

Because we can prepare financially for our senior years and still carry emotional pain that has been sitting inside of us for decades.

Healing can happen in so many areas of our lives.

Healing from grief.

Healing after divorce.

Healing from childhood trauma.

Healing from abuse.

Healing after addiction.

Healing from disappointment.

Healing broken relationships.

Healing physically after illness or injury.

Healing mentally.

Healing emotionally.

Healing spiritually.

We can carry these things for years.

Sometimes we get so used to carrying them that we don’t even realize how heavy they have become.

But do we really want to carry everything that hurt us into the next chapter of our lives?

I don’t.

Healing isn’t just about what happened to us.

It’s about what we choose to do next.

For me, my healing journey really began during COVID while I was living alone in Las Vegas.

I had time.

Time to think.

Time to reflect.

Time to ask myself some hard questions.

Time to decide what kind of life I wanted moving forward.

That journey eventually led me back home to Seattle.

Today, at 66 years old, I can honestly say I’m in the best place I’ve ever been in my life.

That may surprise some people because I also live with a disability.

But that’s another thing I’ve learned.

Healing doesn’t always mean everything is fixed.

Sometimes healing means you’ve found peace while you’re still healing.

I’m still learning.

I’m still growing.

I’m still working on my body.

I’m still working on my heart.

I’m still working on my mind.

Healing isn’t a destination.

It’s a lifestyle.

I believe healing begins with honesty.

Being honest about where we are.

Being honest about where we’ve been.

Being honest about what needs to change.

And maybe even being honest about something we have spent years pretending doesn’t hurt anymore.

Then comes something just as important…

Having the willingness to take the next step.

Not ten steps.

Just the next one.

Sometimes that step is asking for help.

Sometimes it’s forgiving someone.

Sometimes it’s going to counseling.

Sometimes it’s exercising.

Sometimes it’s changing our eating habits.

Sometimes it’s praying.

Sometimes it’s setting a boundary.

Sometimes it’s finally letting something go.

Sometimes it’s simply getting out of bed when yesterday felt impossible.

Every healing journey looks different.

There is no right timeline.

There is no perfect formula.

And there are some things we may continue working through for the rest of our lives.

But if you are in your 50s and beginning to think seriously about your senior years, I want you to think beyond your retirement account.

Ask yourself:

Am I emotionally prepared?

Am I mentally prepared?

Am I spiritually prepared?

Is there something I need to make peace with?

Is there something I need to forgive?

Is there something I need to finally release?

Is there healing I keep putting off because I think I have more time?

We don’t have to enter our senior years carrying every wound we collected along the way.

We may have scars.

We may have memories.

We may have things that will always be part of our story.

But they don’t have to control the chapters we haven’t written yet.

I believe this…

If we have the will to keep moving forward…

And the faith to believe tomorrow can be better than today…

Healing has room to grow.

I don’t know what you’re trying to heal from.

But I want you to know this…

Please don’t give up.

Your healing matters.

Your life matters.

And I believe you can take the next step.

One step at a time.

Blessings from Flava in Her Tower