Midlife Matters: Diane Amelia Read
Reclaiming physical confidence after 50 often begins when we stop asking what we’ve lost and start asking what is still possible in our bodies today.
I stood at the shoreline with my surfboard beside me, staring at the water like it was an old friend I wasn’t sure how to greet. It had been 767 days since I’d last paddled out. Two years of injury recovery, and rebuilding strength, with patience that was repeatedly tested.
Part of me was terrified.
Part of me was thrilled.
And part of me whispered, “Girl, what the hell are you doing?”
Well-intended messages oozed in: Should you be doing this at our age? We’re not getting any younger. What if you REALLY hurt yourself?
Then, a better question surfaced: What if my body is more capable than I’ve been led to believe?
The Questions We Ask Shape The Gifts We Claim
Women over 50 are essentially trained to ask the wrong questions about their bodies:
- What can I no longer do?
- What’s declining?
- What am I losing?
- How do I keep up with my younger self?
Forget the answers. The questions themselves lead to feelings of limitation, frustration, and disappointment. But when we ask different questions, possibility opens.
- Where do I feel strong today?
- What new capacity is emerging?
- What movement feels joyful?
- How is my wisdom making me braver?
Flip the script. Asking: What is possible? And, Where can I start? Help us claim gifts we forgot we had or didn’t think could be within reach at this age.
That morning on the beach, I didn’t ask if I could surf like before. I asked if I could meet the water as the woman I am now.
Oooh, that woman was ready.
What I Reclaimed When I Stood Up On That Board
Here’s the part that sent me over the moon: I popped up on the very. first. wave.
Not because I muscled through fear. Not because I pretended age doesn’t matter. But because I took the time, nearly two years, to listen to my body and trust its innate ability to heal.
That long, humbling recovery built strength. It restored flexibility. It sharpened balance.
It prepared me for the exact moment the wave offered itself. An on-demand pop-up I did at 67 years old, just two months shy of my 68th birthday.
In that moment, I didn’t reclaim a hobby. I claimed this truth:
My body is an ally, not a liability, when I partner with it instead of doubting it.
That was my gift.
Reclaiming Physical Confidence After 50 Starts With Better Questions
Your gift to claim may be balance, flexibility, mobility, stamina, confidence, or courage. It may show up in a yoga pose, a bike ride, a dance step, an evening walk, or simply in the way you get down on the floor and back up again, a wildly underrated midlife strength test, by the way.
You don’t claim your gift by pushing harder or by being anyone other than your fine self. You claim it by asking better questions and honoring the answers. You claim your gift by remembering your body is not a before-and-after story. It’s a living, adaptive, astonishing partner.
Four Questions to Help You Claim Your Physical Gift This Month
Try these before deciding what you can’t do:
- “Where do I feel strong today?” Your answer may change daily. Let it.
- “What movement feels joyful?” Joy is more honest and way more fun than discipline.
- “What challenge feels exciting instead of punishing?” Possibility lives where curiosity meets courage.
- “What is my body asking for?” Not what it used to do. What it wants today.
Your Gift Is Not Youth. Your Gift Is Presence.
When I got back on that surfboard after 767 days, I didn’t reclaim my younger self. I owned my current self, steadier, braver, and deeply tuned to my body’s wisdom. The gift of this chapter isn’t getting back the body you think you lost. It’s discovering how completely and steadfastly your body is standing with you.
This December, claim the gift already living in you: your mobility, strength, flexibility, and stamina. Then let your body express it. And ask better questions. Try the thing you’ve quietly, maybe nervously, wondered about. Step toward the water, literal or symbolic, and see what rises to meet you. You don’t need to be fearless. You just need to be willing.
This chapter is yours, and your body’s, to claim fully, boldly, and without apology.
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About the Author:
Diane Amelia Read is an experienced growth partner, health and mindset advisor, stereotype disrupter, and surfer wannabe. She’s a Reiki Master Teacher, podcaster, StreetWise MBA graduate, and samba singer, Law of Attraction mentor, and motivational speaker.
Her mission is to make the world a more loving and interconnected place by helping women love themselves first so they can bring their most joy-filled awesomeness to everyone and everything else without depleting themselves
As a Mind & Body Alchemist For Women Over 50, Diane Amelia’s unique personal transformation toolbox is chock full of options for midlife women ready for sustainable improvement in their health, confidence, mindset, income, community, or all of the above.
