We notice that we seem to have lost a step. We wonder why we can’t quite get on top of things the way we always have in the past. We do something we enjoy, only to realize we don’t bounce back the way we did even a year or two ago. Our weekly productivity has declined and we find ourselves needing more physical and mental rest than before.

Slowing down in various ways is part of growing older. We know in an abstract way that it comes for all of us. But when it begins creeping into our own lives, we often fail to recognize it for what it is. We don’t think of ourselves as being old enough to be aging. We think of it as a phase, a season of stress, or the result of working too hard.

But once we admit that we may never again sustain productivity in quite the same way we did in the past, we can begin to come to terms with this new reality.

We realize that rest isn’t optional. It’s a necessity if we are to be good stewards of our body and mind.

Saying “no” is required more and more often if we wish to live any kind of a peaceful and balanced life.

For women who are accustomed to being engaged and productive, this can feel like a real loss. It can seem as though part of what made us feel like ourselves is slipping away. These changes can be confusing, concerning, and even depressing.

I have also wondered whether this tension can be especially acute for older mothers.

Those of us who had children later in life often experienced a much longer stretch of highly productive adulthood before motherhood than women who married and had children younger. That level of productivity feels normal to us because we lived it for so long.

But with older motherhood comes being much older as we leave hands-on motherhood. A woman who has all her children by 30 will have them all grown by her late forties. A woman who starts later will have grown children in her late fifties or even sixties.

The changes many women undergo in their fifties can be profound. Perimenopause often begins in the forties, and most women reach menopause around age fifty-two. But even after menopause, the physical and mental changes that continue through the fifties can be unexpectedly difficult.

Women who entered motherhood earlier may be through the most demanding years of mothering before some of these later physical changes intensify. Older mothers may find themselves trying to finish a demanding season of motherhood while their bodies are clearly asking them to slow down.

There is no right or wrong in these scenarios. They are simply a reality we all face as mothers and aging women in one way or another.

Wherever we are on this journey, honesty with ourselves is essential. There is no reward for pushing our body and mind beyond what is realistic. There is no trophy for gritting our teeth and insisting we can still do it all.

There is peace in accepting where we are in this season and making adjustments accordingly. Rest is not giving up. In many cases, it is simply faithful stewardship that looks a bit different.