Rachel Syme has just reached the 'scary age' of 36. The New York journalist touched a nerve by describing the time between the ages of 33 and 36 for women as one of lurches and swerves. It's not, she says, just about the big question of babies and the ticking of the biological clock, but how this time of life is full of major decisions about career and family.

When I was out on VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) in Indonesia in 1970, I was struck by how organised life in the East was for individuals growing up in that society. Where you were born and your social status determined how your life would progress from childhood to adulthood and very little was likely to affect how your life would progress. Decision making about what you would do with your life was quite restricted; this made life easier for some, but was frustrating for others who were beginning to engage with western culture and influence. 

In the West, changing social attitudes, education and social mobility had begun to provide choices for individuals as to how life would progress. The straitjacket of social norms and expectations was under challenge like never before. This was particularly true for women. The norm of an early marriage and then life as a housewife in charge of raising the children in a nuclear family was beginning to breakdown. The swinging sixties, with the development of contraception and the liberalisation of divorce laws was changing the world forever. Equal opportunities for women was still a long way off (we are still not there yet), but the possibility of a life shaped by your own decisions was a reality for those with determination and the sheer desire to succeed and break the norms.

We have moved a long way since those times and the rules of family life, sexual attribution and lifestyles are relatively fluid and a matter of personal choice. This provides freedoms but also increases the stress of making choices amid the potential to aspire for great things, whereas the reality might not always match the ambition.This creates its own tensions and heartache - hence the observations of Rachel Syme and the potential lurches and swerves of a female life in their early thirties. Indeed, this is after surviving our adolescence and the competitive world of our twenties, when we are still proving ourselves and trying to understand our own potential. 

The mid-life crisis of the forties and fifties has long been documented, although I think in many ways I was lucky to bypass many of the problems. For women, the menopause is quite another phenomenon and often very difficult to cope with. I sometimes wonder whether the male mid-life crisis is a cry for attention rather than a reality but who am I to say or really understand. What is important is that there are support systems in place to emotionally, physically and mentally support both men and women. In my firm, we have realised that this support should also come from your workplace, as it is where you spend most of your adult life. We have set up two groups - Women in Touch and Men in Touch - to offer our staff the care and support they need and to give them a safe space to talk openly about any issues they might be facing. 

I have now reached the sunny uplands of the seventies and have little left to prove. Surprisingly, this period of life is considered one of the happiest or the population as a whole. What is clear is that whatever stage of life we have reached, life is never that simple and we need the support of our family and friends to get through some difficult times. We also need to plan as well as we can and think forward. That is where our law firm comes in. Personal planning from buying a house to making your Will requires the best advice and at my firm we really do have passionate legal teams ready to make a positive difference to you. 

Swerves and lurches can affect us all and asking for help and getting advice and emotional support helps us all get through to better times and fulfilled lives. Legal planning is one small part of this but we neglect it at our peril.