The secret to MIDLIFE MAGIC

Over 50? A life of happiness and fulfilment is waiting for you...

- SAMANTHA WOOD

Midlife can be a rocky road to tread for many women with loss of confidence, identity and purpose often being exacerbated by the hormonal imbalances of perimenopause. But once the end of that chapter is in sight - then what?

Getting older often gets a bad rap but, contrary to all of the scaremongering, a woman's feelings of happiness are actually more likely to increase after she turns 50 than decrease, with one study finding that those aged 50-65 were happier with their age, relationships and confidence than women in their 20s.

'I genuinely believe that for many women, life gets a lot better after 50,' says positive psychologist Miriam Akhtar, author of The Little Book of Happiness (Aster). 'Yes, the menopause represents the end of the reproductive years but it also signals a time of new beginnings, where going forward you get to centre your wants and needs, shed a skin and birth a new sense of self, which often culminates in genuine feelings of "mature happiness".'

Sounds good, right? Here's how to ditch the older age dread and harness that positivity.

Trust in your wisdom

In many other cultures, midlife is seen in a much more positive way than perhaps it is here, with women gaining greater status within their communities with their menopausal transition.

In Japan, this time of life is all about transition and new purpose rather than being associated with loss or fear, while Native Americans are brought up to consider postmenopausal women as 'women of wisdom'.