"Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you cry alone."

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The Middle AgeD Goddess first made herself known to me about the time I was saying so long to my thirties. I quickly nicknamed her the MAD Goddess, for she spoke to me from the heart of my wildest yearnings to have reign over my own life. She is MAD in every mirthful, fearful and powerful nuance of the word. She has taught me that middle age isn't about growing older, it's about developing an ageless attitude. And the MAD Goddess has Attitude with a capital A.

Losing my youth wasn't easy, but the MAD Goddess in me saw the perks. I've picked up a few things with age besides extra pounds and wrinkles. I have more patience for one thing, and tolerance too. It's so much easier to not sweat the small stuff (just ask my daughters regarding my grandchildren).

And then there is all this wisdom, gained from mistakes made and lessons learned - most often the hard way. One thing I learned is to laugh through it all, because everybody eventually stops listening to the whining. And the most powerful lesson I've learned about middle age? That would be to speak my mind when it matters. Speak up, speak out, stand up and stand out from the crowd. Take a stand for what you believe.

Now, this inner voice of the MAD Goddess compels me to be her "mouthpiece" and share our tales from the road of midlife and beyond. So I'm sharing.

"Midlife is not about reaching a certain age.
It's about the journey to an age of certainty."

The MAD Goddess