What Are You Rebelling Against?

It seems to me that everyone is rebelling against something.

In my teens it was conformity to my parents’ rules. Although now, thank God for those rules—they kept me in check and taught me boundaries and how to obey and how to succeed.

In my 20s, I was working on Capitol Hill and rebelling against the system—whatever that was.

I’m my 30s, when I was birthing and raising our children, I was rebelling against conformity to the norm of pouring everything into my children. Although I was out of the traditional workforce for 10 years, I always had some money-making side hustle going on—communication consulting, personal training, and teaching fitness classes.

In my 40s, I was still rebelling against conformity, but I added rebelling against aging. I picked up running and completed dozens and dozens of half marathons, 10ks, 5ks, and Ragnar trail races. I started paying more attention to my diet and skin and tried to improve my care of both.

Now in my 50s, I am still fighting against aging, but I am noticing that I have more time now that the children are launched or in college, and I am thinking maybe I need something new to rebel against.

I wonder what that will be?

I don’t know for sure, but for me, if I am not getting better than something, I am not living. So maybe my new rebellion will be against complacency. But maybe that is what I have been rebelling against all along.