Midlife crisis creates a change for the better

Basically we see and have to accept that we are mortal and that our personal story isn’t going to go on forever. For women, the end of fertility undeniably marks the end of an important phase of our lives, but it most definitely does not mean the end of our usefulness.

Quite the opposite.

"The object of facing up squarely to the fact of the climacteric is to acquire serenity and power".

Greer G. The Change. Women, Aging and the Menopause. Hamish Hamilton Ltd. London 1991.

The transition to post menopausal life is a passage to a renewed and more vital self. The passage itself marks a time of reflection, review and introspection.

It may signify loss – of fertility, of children from the home and death of parents, but it can also bring with it enormous hope.

Because at last women can follow their own dreams and build confidence in themselves.

Even if the world wants to make us invisible we can fight to remain visible but this time for reasons that are not to do with our bodies.

If we make ourselves visible in our mature years this is because of what we are, what we are capable of and what we give. Not because of what we look like.

But of course we can look good too: If we develop our own personal style, care for ourselves and live out our passions then we can be even more attractive that we were in our youth.

And that's great because at long last being a sexy, attractive woman is not the cornerstone of our being. It can be a part, an important part, but it is no longer essential. Because now we have really become "of age" and have entered the golden harvest time of our lives.

So let’s stop moping about and dreading perimenopause as the cause of a midlife crisis.

Because rather than being a time of doom and darkness, perimenopause or climacteric is a very rich and precious period in our lives which:

"is not a stage to hasten through, let alone obscure or deny. On these years depends the rest of your life, a life that may be as long as the life you have already lived".

Greer G. The Change. Women, Aging and the Menopause. Hamish Hamilton Ltd. London 1991.

Published February 2010. Updated 13/2/2010

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