Please will you give me some motherly advice?

[generallycheery]

I'm 37, and recently have found myself thinking about menopause and aging a lot. I have a couple of slightly older friends who've had a rough time of it, and my mum also had a rocky year or so in her late forties.

I still feel young, and am in a youngish time of life - primary age kids, still ambitious for some career progression etc. I don't have health problems. But I have this sense of how aging sort of creeps up on a person unexpectedly, and I want to be ready!

What's your advice for aging well, please?

I'm 51 and if I could talk to my 37 year old self now I would say, in a kind but firm motherly way, to prioritize my own well being more. To not try to look after everyone else before me. To drop any guilt about saying no to things and people I don't want to do or see. To look after my finances even more actively. To not put on 5st in my forties due to self medication for anxiety (emotional eating). To get on HRT earlier, probably from 44. To only drink alcohol at weekends, mostly (everything in moderation including moderation). To do more fun and creative things. To be less perfectionist. To wear all the nice stuff. And to avoid the sun at all cost, don't even take the bins out on a rainy day without spf 50 on the face, neck and chest.