Life Is Too Short and the World Is Too Big to Keep Shrinking

The older I get, the more I notice how many women spend their lives making themselves smaller.

Not because they aren’t capable of more. Not because they don’t have dreams. But because somewhere along the way they got used to putting themselves last.

Over the last decade, I’ve worked with several hundred women from different backgrounds, ages, income levels, careers and family situations.

And while their lives often looked very different on the surface, one thing showed up over and over again.

Women putting themselves on the back burner.

I see women working fifty or sixty hours a week building someone else’s dream while convincing themselves they don’t have thirty minutes to move their bodies.

I see women making sure everyone else eats before they do, often surviving on leftovers because they’re too exhausted to care for themselves after caring for everyone else.

I see women saying yes to favors, obligations, events and responsibilities that drain every ounce of energy they have left, then wondering why they feel disconnected from themselves.

Life looks different for everyone. Some women are raising young children. Some are caring for aging parents. Some are navigating seasons that require more stability, sacrifice and practicality than others.

But regardless of age, income, career, or circumstance, I keep noticing the same pattern.

Women treating their own happiness, growth and fulfillment like luxuries instead of necessities.

Every adventure starts with a reason not to go.

You’re busy. You’re tired. You should save your money. Maybe next month. Maybe next year. Maybe after things calm down.

The funny thing is, most of the experiences you enjoy the most start with having a reason not to do them.

Even now, through Adult Play Adventures, I’m seeing that lesson.

I almost talked myself out of roller skating. I almost talked myself out of rock climbing.

I’ve almost talked myself out of plenty of experiences in life that eventually became some of my favorite memories.

Fear is rarely loud. Most of the time it sounds responsible. It sounds practical… It sounds patient. It sounds like waiting for the ‘right’ time.

But sometimes it’s just another way of talking yourself out of living.

And that’s what makes this project so important to me.

Adult Play Adventures isn’t really about roller skates, climbing walls, paddleboards, hiking trails, or whatever adventure comes next.

It’s about proving to yourself that your life is worth showing up for.

Because confidence doesn’t usually come before the experience. Confidence shows up after you survive the thing you were scared to do.

The world is too big to spend your entire life shrinking yourself to fit inside other people’s expectations.

Apply for the thing you’ve been talking yourself out of. Book the trip. Take the class. Start the project. Learn the skill. Go somewhere new. Stop waiting for a version of yourself that feels more ready, more qualified, or more confident because she isn’t coming. The version of you that’s capable of doing those things is built by doing them.

Life is too short, the world is too big, and there are too many different ways to live for us to keep making ourselves smaller.

Take up more space.

Take more chances.

And most importantly, do more things that scare TF of you.

You might be surprised how much of your life has been waiting for you on the other side.