I don’t sweat the small stuff any more: Elaine C Smith on life at 60

ELAINE C SMITH turned 60 last month and says hitting the landmark age has taught her to relax and be thankful.

After enjoying a surprise short break to Nice with her sister, cousin and friend Barbara Rafferty, she held a big party for friends and family last night.

“You get to 60 and there’s a lot of stuff I would’ve fretted or worried about but now I let it go,” Elaine said.

“When you’re younger and you’re in the business of approval, you need people to like you to have a career, but when you get to 60 you realise not everyone will.

“People will say, ‘No her!’ It’s a cliché but you don’t sweat as much of the small stuff.

“I feel very blessed, very lucky, and if this is as good as it gets, then thank you. I’m full of gratitude to the Scottish people who have afforded me kindness and a career I couldn’t have dreamed of as a wee lassie in Motherwell.

“I’m a grandmother now too, which is a source of constant joy.” She added: “I lost a dear friend earlier this year to ovarian cancer and realise you’re lucky to get to 60. Gerard Kelly didn’t make 60. Too many don’t.

“I read a great deathbed quote from someone saying I wish I’d found more time to be happy, and I thought that’s great. Rather than worrying about this or that, be happy about where you are. It’s given me more perspective.”