What's your Act 2? Living life beyond 50

“Darling, you become invisible in your fifties,” my mum told me a few years ago.

“Eeeeewwwwweee?” I said.

Now I love my mum dearly, but I knew I was NOT ready to become invisible. It’s true, wolf whistles on the street are rare (well perhaps extinct) now that I’m 53 but there’s a lot more excitement to be had. In fact, right now I can pretty much do whatever I like (unless my kids are watching).

Sometimes I wake up giggling and wonder if my life is really as fantastic as it seems. Buddha says “we are what we think”. I think I’ve unleashed myself.

By staying healthy we can keep pushing boundaries and enjoying magic moments for years to come.

My journey has taught me we can create our own reality. And I’m not alone. Look around you.

We over-50 women are in our second stage of life, our 'Act 2'. Yes, there sure is life after 50! In Act 2, let’s “Live as if you were to die tomorrow; learn as if you were to live forever”. Gandhi.

I try to remember this daily. And I’m passionate about helping women transform their lives.
I’ve done my share of crying. I've known the heartache of ending my 25-year marriage. I’ve wondered if I would ever find true happiness again; hated myself for being obsessed with food; spent days sobbing in the foetal position over lost love.

When I was at my lowest, agonising over the best way to protect my children from the emotional turmoil of divorce, my sister said “tough times pass”. So simple, so true and ever so helpful.

My surprise third pregnancy at 41 convinced me that my life was pretty much over. Then I discovered Secret Women’s Business (aka Trek Training).

With my beautiful baby-in-backpack, I decided to start a micro business: walking with women in nature. My eldest son laughed at me.

Fast forward 10 years and now my youngest son calls me a socialpreneur. My idea of inspiring women to trek 50-100km along the Sydney coast has gone off. With the help of my little team of Act 2 women, nearly 6,000 of them have walked the Wild Women On Top Sydney Coastrek, raising nearly $6 million for The Fred Hollows Foundation. This will restore sight to nearly 250,000 people.

My life is just buzzing. I’ve got three amazing kids, allowing for that bond of timeless and enduring love (definitely my raison d’etre). Recently, a friend told me I look better now than I did when I was 25, (never believe red heads!) and apparently I’m far more sexy. My life began at 50 when I chose NOT to be invisible.

That’s not to say that I don’t prefer selfies by candle-light and I do have bad hair days.

Sometimes I don’t want to get out of bed.

I don’t believe in menopause suffering (for me, that is). I’ve managed to exercise and nourish my way out of hot flushes and extreme mood swings. I chose extreme adventures instead. And I do plan to climb Mt Everest when my kids aren’t looking.

I do believe we can Choose Our Attitude. Every day I have a choice: I can choose to be positive or negative, happy or sad, ludicrously enthusiastic or flat. But be warned, now that you know you have a choice, there’s no going back.

What about you? Do you want to be invisible, or not? What are your plans for Act 2?

BIO: Di Westaway is the Founder & CEO of Wild Women On Top and Sydney Coastrek, and is an ambassador for Blackmores Healthy Ageing. She has inspired thousands of women to achieve extraordinary goals and achieved some amazing goals herself. Check out Di's blog at Wild Women On Top.