Having said goodbye to her fertile years, Stacey Duguid is celebrating her new-found confidence by doing things very much her way

Newsflash: I finally understand that confidence has nothing to do with my outer appearance and everything to do with how I feel inside. Late to the party, I know. I bet you’d already sussed that lousy hair days or, shock horror, eyeliner gone wrong (damn those hard-to-master liquid eyeliner flicks) needn’t matter any more; it’s how you feel as you step outside in the fresh air or hug a friend that counts. Cynical when it comes to “trending hashtags” and quotes on how to “find your inner confidence by lighting a candle”, I have, over the past few weeks, grappled with the notion that where there’s a trope, there’s a smidgen of truth.

Who cares about bad hair days? Not me, given I have crappy hair for roughly 50% of my life. A good day for me now constitutes having enough power in the tank to parent, see a friend after work, walk the dog, raise a smile – and sometimes a glass or two.