The rules I MADE ON TURNING 50

For novelist Tess Stimson, life after half a century is the best it's ever been - and it's all because she set a few gleeful laws to live by. Here's her (wo)manifesto

By any measure, 50 is a milestone birthday. Even the most optimistic among us have to admit we've probably passed life's halfway point by now. At 40, you can still tell yourself you're young, but by 50 there's no denying that you're middle-aged.

I need my glasses to read the label on the pills for my sciatica, and when I drop something on the floor, I hesitate before I pick it up while I work out what else I can do while I'm down there.

But I've found life after 50 is also strangely liberating. My primary evolutionary function -procreation - is over. The baby ship has well and truly sailed, so there's no more dithering about whether to have just one more before it's too late.

I have a career that I love and a husband, Erik, 52, who I adore, but my three children, Henry, 28, Matt, 25, and Lily, 20, have all flown the nest, and time seems to be passing ever more quickly. So, on turning 50 last summer, I made a few light-hearted rules to make sure I don't waste a single minute.

1 Dress for comfort

Sure, six-inch heels make your legs look endless. But they're also bloody crippling. Fortunately, the fashion for box-fresh white trainers with dresses means I can bin my stilettos and still look bang on-trend. I've also ditched thongs (like wearing cheese wire) and shapewear (when did you last see a man worrying about his wobbly bits?). I love fashion, but I'm done with suffering for it.