Madonna and Lady Gaga are both successful pop star celebrities who need no introduction and yet one of them is a middle-aged mum. Something I’ll keep in mind when acknowledging I’ve become middle-aged. Thankfully, there is no definitive age when you can say ‘I’ve reached mid-life’ but we know it’s not Lady Gaga’s age, right?

Over the coming weeks I will be blogging weekly on issues that effects women of a certain age, we could say 40 – 59 might be a safe range but some argue mid life starts in their 30’s.

I’ll begin with some positives:

–          You have plenty of life experience and wisdom to draw upon.

–          You don’t get spots or greasy hair.

–          Your problem solving skills are well developed.

–          You know what suits you.

–          You can look forward to or have already stopped your monthly cycle.

–          If you have children, in all likelihood they are now old enough to sleep through the night and may even be driving themselves about or have ‘flown the nest’ completely.

–          If you are an ‘empty nester’ then you should have less domestic drudgery and more free time – you may be leading a more fulsome and interesting life.

–          You don’t have to fight off advances from unwelcome strangers very often (unless of course you are Madonna or similar.)

–          You look good in elegant clothes with a twist of your own style, thinking Sarah Jessica Parker (she’s 47), and if you don’t you probably don’t give a damn anyway!

It seems only right to acknowledge some physical deterioration seems inevitable, there’s no avoiding the outer signs as gravity does its work or the inner, as wear and tear effects our bodies and they begin to feel different. You know the kind of thing, post take away bouts of indigestion, aching joints, I could go on… But what of our minds, do you believe that as nature calls on us to accept signs of our own ageing, she also gives back to us emotionally? The awkwardness and embarrassment of our youth is long gone, we command a little respect without having to try. We are usually more emotionally resilient.

With luck we are still only half way through our life!

I am determined not to get hung up about things I cannot control but a little self maintenance can be good for the joints and self confidence. I need only recall my Mother’s occasional words seeing a passerby with a generous midriff, ‘she’s fair, fat and forty.’

It stayed with me. I need no further encouragement to get me to the gym on Monday morning!

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