I don't want to hear anyone else tell me I'm too young to be entering into menopause! Even WebMD agrees with me! It really makes me BOILING MAD when someone tries to tell me I'm too "young". WHO are you? WHAT do YOU know about ME? Are you the one waking up in a pool of water in the middle of the night feeling like a fish flopping around gasping for air? Are you the one that kicks all the covers off because you're so hot to reach out and yank them back up 10 minutes later because you're shivering? I don't think so.
Menopause is like this elite club that women can only enter when their body allows them to. But it's not the stage of life we all go running toward. As a baby, we couldn't wait to crawl, as a child to walk and run, as a teen to break free of our parents incessant nagging and control. We couldn't wait to be kissed for the first time or to go "all-the-way" with just the right person. (Okay, that may be a chick thing. For guys, it was just about going all-the-way at anytime with anyone.)
Marriage and children, for many, is another thing we are taught to strive for as yet another stage of freedom and accomplishment in our lives. Once we have our children, we look forward to the days of cherishing our children as we watch them drive away to pursue their own dreams. As we wave goodbye to our children, we begin looking forward to retirement and enjoying our "golden years" and our grandchildren.
The ONE thing we NEVER, EVER look forward to is MENOPAUSE. We associate menopause with sweating profusely at odd moments. Carrying a shawl around all the time because you just MIGHT get the chills while trying to eat dinner. (I've found it's difficult to enjoy your food when your teeth are chattering.) Even better, bursting into tears when someone looks at you and says, "You look really nice today", and then not being able to explain to them WHY you are in tears and that it really WASN'T something THEY said. Or the moodiness! Dear God! Like the moodiness that came with PMS and our teen years was just such a BLAST, LET'S DO IT AGAIN!!
Menopause. Why, menopause is the DREAM. It is when there is no period. Period. No more carrying a tampon with you every single time you go to the bathroom 'cause you just NEVER know. It's when people begin to smile at you more often and you get invited to lunch again. It's when you go to sleep smelling nice clean sheets and wake up smelling them too. It's giving all your shawls away to charity because you don't need them anymore. Menopause represents freedom, Ladies.
Why, Ladies....Perimenopause is the admission price we all pay for Menopause. A high one, for sure, but definitely worth it in the end!
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SIDE NOTE: This piece was written as an attempt at humor over the perils of perimenopause that I am personally experiencing. It is intended to perhaps invoke a smile, or if I'm lucky, a laugh. Perimenopause can be a very serious stage in a woman's life. Learn everything you can about the symptoms and what you can do to best manage them. Be especially supportive of the women in your life who may be going through this stage. They need you to love them and be there for them.
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