Age like the rainbow tree
On my birthday eve last week, I decided to give myself a birthday present: the best 5K I could run.
Before I tell you whether I made it or not, let me tell you something else.
I turned 47.
Most people assume personal bests belong to your twenties, maybe your thirties if you’re lucky. But in your forties? The narrative shifts. Quietly. Almost automatically. You start hearing it in the way people talk about themselves, especially women.
“I don’t remember things the way I used to. Must be age.”
“I can’t jump like a 20-year-old anymore.”
“I’m too old to climb a monkey bar.”
Every time I hear an age-based limitation spoken out loud like a fact, I find it unsettling. There is nothing wrong with aging. What’s wrong is using age as permission to stop trying.
On the contrary, aging can reveal colors in life that were never accessible before.
And I mean that literally.
The rainbow tree in my neighborhood
There’s a tree in my neighbourhood park that makes me smile every time I pass it. It looks almost mischievous, as if it refuses to take life too seriously. Its trunk is painted in stripes of green, blue, purple, orange, maroon, and soft pink, like a rainbow that decided to become a tree.
It’s called the Mindanao gum tree (Eucalyptus deglupta), also known as the rainbow eucalyptus.
Here’s the part I love.
When the tree is young, it looks ordinary. Nothing dramatic. Nothing magical. Just another eucalyptus. But as it grows older and its trunk thickens, the bark begins to peel away in long, curling strips. Each time the outer layer sheds, it reveals a fresh new layer underneath, bright green like something newly born.
Then, as that exposed layer sits in the open air, it changes. Slowly. Quietly. Almost like a time-lapse of maturity.
The green deepens into blues and purples. Then it warms into oranges and maroons. Some sections soften into pinkish tones. Since the bark peels in patches, not all at once, the tree ends up showing multiple stages of colour at the same time, like a living map of its own becoming.
That is what makes it so striking.
Its most cheerful colors are not the result of youth.
They are the result of time.
It’s worth pointing out that the famous rainbow effect doesn’t show up clearly on a very young trunk. It becomes most vivid only as the tree grows older, thicker, and sheds more layers over the years.
We, humans, are no different
Age does bring limitations. That part is real. Elite sprinting performance, for example, tends to peak in early adulthood. You may not be able to run like your 25-year-old self forever.
But what we forget is that age also brings strengths that youth simply does not have access to.
A 70-year-old has decades of lived experience. They can read people faster. Spot patterns sooner. Sense consequences more clearly.
A 40-something can be far more disciplined than their younger self. They can sign up for a course and actually complete it. They can choose a healthier life and sustain it. They can say no. They can stop people-pleasing. They can start again without needing permission.
And sometimes, they can still surprise themselves physically too.
On my birthday eve, I ran my best 5K in years: 30 minutes.
I was hoping for under 30, but I’ll take this as a personal best with an asterisk: 47 years old, and still improving.
The next challenge is already waiting.
Real examples of “late” strength
Dan Go, a fitness coach, wrote about outperforming his 26-year-old self in his forties. Not through denial, but through better systems, better recovery, and smarter training. (Here’s the article if you’d like to read it.)
I have a friend who was never particularly interested in academics when we were in school or college. But a few years ago, she returned to studying out of pure passion. She completed her Master’s, and now she’s pursuing a PhD. 👩🏻🎓
Not because she suddenly became “smarter.”
She became steadier.
She learned how to show up.
Age gave her a different kind of power.
I’ve also seen people reinvent themselves in ways that younger versions of them could not have handled.
A friend who finally started therapy in her forties and learned how to stop repeating the same relationship patterns.
A colleague who left a high-paying job at 50 and built a small business that actually made him happier.
A woman who began strength training at 60 and now carries her own groceries with pride and ease.
A man who stopped drinking at 45, not out of shame, but out of self-respect.
People find new ambitions, new purpose, and new energy at every age. I wrote about that in a previous edition.
We need to stop using age as an excuse to…
neglect ourselves.
stop moving.
stop learning.
stop taking care of our minds.
stop believing we can still get better.
A 40-something PR, a wiser decision, a calmer nervous system, a stronger body, a more honest life… these can be like fresh colors emerging on the tree.
Not despite age. Because of it.
So if you’ve caught yourself saying “I’m too old now,” pause.
Your personal bests are waiting. It’s time to show your rainbow colors like never before. 🌈