Retiring in Your Twenties

"Where do you go from Prince? Does it get any better than that? So I retired in my early twenties."

That's what my friend Robia Scott said when describing her decision to leave professional dancing after achieving what most would consider the pinnacle of success. She'd been hired by Prince, performed on his album cover, traveled the world dancing in front of 60,000 people at a time.

She was living the dream she'd had since she was a little girl watching Flashdance. She'd made it. She'd arrived.

And then she walked away.

Why? Because she realized something profound: achieving everything you wanted doesn't fill the void. Success at its peak can't satisfy the hunger in your soul. And sometimes the courage to walk away from "the dream" is actually walking toward your true calling.

The Question of "What's Next?"

Imagine being in your early twenties and having already achieved your biggest goal. Where do you go from there?

Robia had been dancing professionally since age 16. She'd worked incredibly hard, trained for hours every day, traveled around the world doing dance jobs. And then she landed the ultimate gig: dancing for Prince.

It was the pinnacle. The peak. The top of the mountain.

And here's the thing about reaching the top: you start asking yourself, "What now?"

If you've already achieved your dream, what do you dream about next? If you've already made it to the pinnacle, where else is there to go? If this is as good as it gets, then what?

These are dangerous questions. Not because they're wrong to ask, but because they reveal something we don't often admit: worldly success, even at its highest point, isn't ultimately satisfying.

Robia could have stayed in dance. She could have continued performing, leveraged her success into other opportunities, built a long career on her reputation. But she recognized something important: there was nowhere to go from there. She'd already reached the peak. And the view from the top was... empty.

So she retired. In her early twenties. While most people are just starting their careers, she was walking away from hers.

The Danger of Peaking Too Early

There's a unique challenge that comes with achieving major success at a young age: you peak before you've had time to develop the maturity and perspective to handle it.

When you reach the pinnacle in your twenties, you're forced to confront questions that most people don't face until midlife: Is this all there is? What was the point of all that work? Now what?

Robia had poured everything into becoming a professional dancer. That was her goal, her dream, her identity. And she achieved it. She made it to the very top of her field.

But success didn't fill the void inside her. Achievement didn't bring peace. Being at the pinnacle didn't satisfy the hunger in her soul.

In fact, in some ways, success made things worse. Because now she couldn't even tell herself, "If I just achieve this goal, then I'll be happy. If I just make it to the top, then I'll be fulfilled."

She was at the top. And she was still tormented. Still uncomfortable in her own skin. Still battling eating disorders and anxiety and searching for something to fill the emptiness.

The dream had been achieved. But the void remained.

When Achievement Reveals Emptiness Rather Than Fulfills It

This is the cruel irony of worldly success: sometimes the only way to discover it can't satisfy you is to actually achieve it.

Before you reach the pinnacle, you can tell yourself stories. You can convince yourself that success will bring fulfillment, that achievement will bring peace, that making it to the top will finally make you happy.

But when you actually get there and discover you're still empty, still searching, still unsatisfied—you can't lie to yourself anymore.

Robia could have blamed her emptiness on not having achieved enough. She could have told herself she just needed to work harder, get more famous, achieve more success. But she'd already reached the pinnacle. There was nowhere higher to go.

So her success actually revealed the truth she'd been avoiding: external achievement can't fill the internal void. Worldly success, no matter how spectacular, can't satisfy the hunger in your soul.

The preacher in Ecclesiastes understood this reality: "Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 2:11, NKJV).

Vanity. Grasping for the wind. No profit.

That's what happens when you achieve everything the world says should make you happy and discover you're still empty. You realize you've been chasing something that could never satisfy you in the first place.

The Courage to Walk Away

So what do you do when you've achieved your dream and realized it's not enough?

You could double down. You could pursue even greater success, more achievement, higher peaks. You could keep grasping for the wind, hoping that maybe if you just achieve a little more, you'll finally find satisfaction.

Or you could do what Robia did: you could walk away.

Think about the courage that requires. She was in her early twenties. She'd spent her entire young life training for this. She'd achieved what millions of people would love to achieve. And she walked away from it.

That's not quitting. That's wisdom.

She recognized that she'd reached the pinnacle in her current path and it hadn't satisfied her. So instead of staying in something that wasn't fulfilling her soul, she chose to pivot. She transitioned into acting, which offered "a little broader of a career path" and allowed her to be "expressive and communicative."

But even more importantly, she eventually walked toward the one thing that could actually fill the void: a real relationship with God.

Finding Your True Purpose Beyond Performance

Here's what Robia discovered—and what many of us eventually learn: our true purpose is never found in performance. It's found in relationship with God and in becoming who He created us to be.

All that time she was performing—first as a dancer, then as an actress—she was portraying an image. She was on stage, in front of cameras, showing people what they wanted to see.

But she wasn't being her authentic self. She wasn't walking in her true calling. She was achieving success in the world's eyes while dying inside.

It wasn't until she came to know God personally that she began to discover her real purpose. Not performing for an audience, but ministering to hurting people. Not achieving worldly success, but helping others find the freedom she'd found in Christ.

Now she writes books on counterfeit comforts. She helps people break free from the bondages that once held her captive. She ministers out of the very wounds she once tried to hide while performing on stage.

That's her true calling. That's her actual purpose.

And she never would have found it if she'd stayed at the pinnacle, still performing, still achieving, still chasing worldly success.

Sometimes you have to retire from "the dream" to discover your true calling.

Worldly Success Can't Satisfy Soul Hunger

Let me be really clear about something: I'm not saying success is bad. I'm not saying achievement doesn't matter. I'm not suggesting you should abandon your goals or stop pursuing excellence.

I'm saying that worldly success—even at its absolute peak—cannot satisfy the hunger in your soul.

You were created for more than achievement. You were designed for more than success. Your soul hungers for something deeper than worldly accomplishment can provide.

Jesus said it plainly: "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26, NKJV).

You can gain the whole world—you can achieve every goal, reach every pinnacle, accomplish everything you set out to do—and still lose your soul in the process.

You can be successful and still be empty. You can achieve your dreams and still be unfulfilled. You can reach the top and still be searching.

Because worldly success was never meant to fill that void. Only God can do that.

Augustine understood this when he prayed, "You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You."

Restless. That's what we are when we're trying to find satisfaction in worldly success instead of in God. We keep achieving, keep climbing, keep grasping—but we never find rest.

Because we're looking for satisfaction in things that can't ultimately satisfy us.

Walking Away from What Everyone Else Wants for You

Here's another layer of courage in Robia's decision to walk away: she wasn't just walking away from her own dream. She was walking away from what everyone else wanted for her.

When you're successful, people get invested in your success. They want you to keep achieving, keep performing, keep being who they've seen you be.

Parents are proud. Friends are impressed. Fans are invested. The industry has expectations.

Walking away from all that—from the applause, the approval, the expectations—takes incredible courage.

But sometimes walking away from what everyone else wants for you is the only way to discover what God wants for you.

Maybe you're in a career that looks successful from the outside but feels empty inside. Maybe you've achieved what everyone said you should achieve, but you know deep down it's not your true calling. Maybe you're at the pinnacle of something and realizing it's not the right mountain.

You have permission to walk away.

You don't have to keep performing just because people expect it. You don't have to keep climbing just because you've come this far. You don't have to stay at the pinnacle of something that's not fulfilling your soul.

God has a purpose for you that goes far deeper than worldly achievement. He has a calling for you that's far more significant than external success.

But you might have to walk away from "the dream" to discover it.

The Transition from Performing to Ministering

What I love about Robia's story is how God redeemed her years of performing and turned them into a platform for ministering.

She didn't waste those years as a dancer and actress. God used them. The discipline she learned, the work ethic she developed, the communication skills she honed—all of it prepared her for her true calling.

But she had to transition from performing to ministering. From seeking applause to seeking transformation. From chasing worldly success to pursuing God's Kingdom purpose.

That transition required her to:

• Walk away from the pinnacle

• Acknowledge her emptiness

• Come to God honestly

• Experience His transforming power personally

• Allow Him to redirect her toward her true calling

Now she uses all those years of experience—including the painful years of bondage and the successful years of performance—to help others find freedom.

She's not performing anymore. She's ministering.

And the difference is profound.

When you're performing, it's about you—your success, your achievement, your applause. When you're ministering, it's about others—their freedom, their healing, their transformation.

When you're performing, you're always chasing the next peak. When you're ministering, you're walking in your calling.

When you're performing, success never satisfies. When you're ministering, you've found your purpose.

An Invitation to Evaluate Your Pursuits

So here's my question for you: Are your pursuits leading you toward God or just toward the next achievement?

Are you chasing worldly success, hoping it will finally satisfy you? Or are you walking in your true calling, using your gifts and experiences to further God's Kingdom?

Are you performing for an audience, or ministering from authenticity?

It's worth examining. Because you can spend your whole life climbing the wrong mountain. You can reach the pinnacle of worldly success and discover you're still empty. You can achieve everything you set out to achieve and miss your true purpose entirely.

Don't wait until you're at the pinnacle to ask, "Is this all there is?" Don't spend decades performing when you could be ministering. Don't chase worldly success at the expense of your soul.

Here's the truth: God has a purpose for you that's far more significant than anything the world defines as success. He has a calling for you that will actually satisfy your soul in ways that achievement never can.

But you might have to walk away from what everyone else wants for you to discover what He wants for you.

You might have to retire from "the dream" in your twenties (or thirties, or forties, or whenever) to step into your true calling.

You might have to stop performing and start ministering.

And that's okay. In fact, it's more than okay—it's the path to the abundant life Jesus promised.

Because worldly success, even at its peak, is vanity and grasping for the wind. But walking in God's purpose for your life? That's where you'll find the satisfaction, fulfillment, and peace you've been searching for all along.

The pinnacle isn't the destination. It's sometimes just the place where you finally realize you've been climbing the wrong mountain.

And that realization—painful as it might be—is actually the beginning of finding your true calling.

So if you're at the pinnacle and feeling empty, don't despair. God's not punishing you. He's awakening you.

He's showing you that there's more. That you were created for something deeper. That your true purpose goes far beyond worldly achievement.

Listen to that awakening. Follow it. Even if it means walking away from the pinnacle, even if it means disappointing people's expectations, even if it means starting over in your twenties or at any age.

Your true calling is waiting. And it's worth more than all the worldly success you could ever achieve.

Blessings,
Susan 😊