What Scares Women About Getting Older? Everything!

By Michelle Burford
Elizabeth Lesser knows where her strength lies.

"What if I leave my jerk husband but find myself too broke to survive on my own?"

"I've gone through a divorce and the terror of leaving a marriage. I know what it's like to feel stuck in something that is draining your life force, to stay because you're afraid of what's on the other side, especially financially. Helen Keller has become one of my heroes. She was blind, deaf, and mute, and you'd think she'd sit cowering in a corner. Yet this is what she once said: 'Security—does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.' I often think, 'If she could live life as a daring adventure, then any of us can.' I used that when I finally made the decision as a 32-year-old mother to become a single parent and to leave a marriage that had been difficult for 14 years. It was about going for quality of life as opposed to security. It's not just in marriages that this decision is required. It's in everything—your job, where you live, how you relate to people. Much of the time, choosing security isn't a good idea."

— Elizabeth Lesser, 52, co-founder and senior adviser of Omega Institute