Gwyneth Paltrow is aging with grace.
The 49-year-old actor took to Instagram to celebrate her upcoming 50th birthday, sharing a stunning black and white snap of herself jumping for joy in a bikini.
"Musings on a milestone," the Shakespeare in Love star captioned the picture. She also directed her followers toward a blog post she had written on her website, in which she spoke candidly about the prospect of turning 50.
The mom of two wrote began the post by looking back on when her parents - Blythe Danner and Bruce Paltrow - celebrated their 50th birthdays.
She then moved on to consider how her body had changed over the years, writing: "There is something about the sweetness of life that exists deep within me that is unchanged, that will not change. It is the essence of the essence. It seems to be getting sweeter.
"My body, a map of the evidence of all the days, is less timeless."
"A collection of marks and irregularities that dog-ear the chapters. Scarred from oven burns, a finger smashed in a window long ago, the birth of a child. Silver hair and fine lines," the mom-of-two continued.
The Marvel star went on to say that - while she still looks after herself - she has accepted her body's aging and imperfections.
"While I do what I can to strive for good health and longevity, to stave off weakening muscles and receding bone," she wrote, "I have a mantra I insert into those reckless thoughts that try to derail me: I accept."
"I accept the marks and the loosening skin, the wrinkles. I accept my body and let go of the need to be perfect, look perfect, defy gravity, defy logic, defy humanity. I accept my humanity," the Academy Award winner added.
Paltrow is well known for her commitment to health and wellness. In 2008, she launched the wellness lifestyle brand Goop, which started out as a newsletter but has since expanded to include a podcast, a print magazine, pop-up shops, and a docuseries for Netflix.
Later in the post, Paltrow spoke about her hopes for the future, saying that she was looking forwards to taking things a little bit slower.
"I would like to slow down. I would like to retreat a little bit. I would like to make my circle smaller," she wrote.
