I ‘Let Go of the Need to Be Perfect’

Gwyneth Paltrow is celebrating an upcoming milestone birthday in style.

The actress, 49, shared a black-and-white photography of herself jumping while wearing a bikini on Instagram Thursday.

In the caption of her post, the Iron Man star wrote, “Musings on a milestone,” and directed her followers to a link in her bio to her Goop blogwhere she spoke candidly about her thoughts on turning 50 next week.

After looking back at both her mother Blythe Danner and father Bruce Paltrow‘s respective 50th birthdays, the mother of two wrote, “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,” she said.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

RELATED: Brad Pitt Debuts New Skin Care Line, Credits Ex Gwyneth Paltrow for Getting Him to Wash His Face

As Paltrow continued that she does “what I can to strive for good health and longevity, to stave off weakening muscles and receding bone,” the star then 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,” she added. “I accept my humanity.”

Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow

GOOP Gwyneth Paltrow

Back in October 2021, Paltrow chatted with PEOPLE about aging and how she still struggles with her body image.

“Unfortunately, we’re always looking at ourselves with a critical eye,” the Goop founder explained at the time. “I would love to get to a place where I don’t do that anymore.”

RELATED VIDEO: Gwyneth Paltrow Says She’s Working to “Accept” her Body As She Ages: “It’s All Going South From Here!”

Video: Gwyneth Paltrow shares rare photo with her two teenage kids

She continued, “I want to show up for myself in a more loving way, because it’s all going south from here! There’s nothing we can do about it.”

For Paltrow, who is mom to daughter Apple18, and son Moses16, with ex Chris Martinchanges in her body became most apparent after she had her first child, though she explained her own acceptance journey has shifted since then.

“For me, as I go through the aging process and really start it, I realize it’s less about, ‘Oh, I have this wrinkle, am I going to fix it or not?’ and more, ‘Do I feel vibrant?’ ” she previously told PEOPLE.

“I would never want to go back to my 20s, or even my 30s for that matter,” added the star. “I know myself, I like myself and I am so grateful for the wisdom that comes with age.”