One more year should be reason for cheer not fear

How do you feel if you’ve got a ‘significant’ birthday coming up? Do you dread turning 40, 50, 60 — or indeed any of the noughties?

A new decade often gives us an opportunity to reassess our life and work out what’s important to us.

It encourages us to make choices. Do I want to stay in this job I don’t like — or this relationship which is making me unhappy?

But in our ageist society there’s another pressure — am I becoming an ‘oldie’? Does that make me irrelevant, invisible and a fuddy-duddy?

Last week, a book by Angela Neustatter was published called ‘TheYear I Turn....’. It’s a quirky A to Z of ageing and she tosses out the pram the notion that a significant birthday is anything to stress about.

She debunks the notion that 50 is the new 40 or 60 is the new 50, as the cards often proclaim.

“What’s wrong with being exactly the age you are and enjoying it?” Angela asks.

She’s been doing pilates and yoga for 10 years and is fitter than she’s ever been. She goes travelling, has fun, reads, watches films, enjoys lunches with her pals and sees no reason why she shouldn’t wear her leopardskin tights.

Angela is ageing with attitude — and proud of it.

It’s all about knowing what you want out of life and refusing to lose your identity.

Remember when women were so scared of being labelled ‘mutton dressed as lamb’ that they wouldn’t wear anything too trendy?

Now even models with grey hair strut the catwalk in funky clothes.

It’s not about trying to copy young people — it’s about having your own style and being happy in your own skin.

If that involves going backpacking, learning Italian, climbing a Munro, changing your hair colour or fundraising for your favourite charity — why not?

Older people today are more confident and adventurous than they’ve ever been.

Another zero on the birthday card isn’t about to make any of us feel our time is over.

Instead we can choose to live life to the full and become exactly who we always wanted to be.

Last week I was talking at a women’s group near Glasgow and there were women of all ages who were full of energy and learning new skills. Then I met Isabella. Slim, vibrant, skintight trousers tucked into sexy boots, she has a significant birthday in the offing — and she’s undaunted by it. What’s her secret? “I’m not ready to grow old,” she said.

That’s ageing with attitude.

We can all do it in our own way, by embracing each birthday with joy and curiosity.