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I was excited to reach another milestone in my life, turning 40.  Considering I believed I wouldn’t live past 30, I was chuffed to make this far. Menopause couldn’t be far off.

I was overcome with a feeling that life was going to change and with a lifetime of lessons gently boxed away in the attic of my mind, I could only hope that my heart’s desires were going to manifest into a tangible reality.

Yet the path that unravelled would lead me down another road less travelled.  We’ve all had moments where the road diverged and both roads ahead were equally fascinating and equally cool.  But you choose one or the other and your life happens either way.

The unconscious choice I made was to remove myself from my ethereal bubble of bliss into my own physical rodeo. It wasn’t about staying on the horse, it was about trusting that life is going to happen either way. Resisting change would only create more suffering and pain.

Time passed, and I had no idea that my journey into menopause had begun.  It would be years of physical changes and health challenges, before I learnt the truth…

I was Transitioning into the Crone

Somehow, I missed the memo about the first two stages of life, Maiden and Mother.  Each stage of life can be profound if you have the awareness to understand, honour and accept the changes you will go through.

But I spent the first two stages trying to figure out life and a place to belong.  I was searching for myself and trying to find the answers to this thing called life. So, it makes sense why the journey into menopause can be one of the most life-altering experiences a woman can go through.

I disconnected from my sensual self.  I had no connection to the woman I was becoming, and I longed for the woman I thought I had been.  I couldn’t accept that they were both the same person.  I struggled to acknowledge they were a part of me all along.

I had a perpetual resistance to change, till finally it was all too much to carry, and something had to give and that was me.

So, here is the breakdown…

Your body changes and goes through a metamorphosis, where excess body weight is an uninvited guest who hoards and won’t leave.  Your hair changes, your nails become brittle and if you’re lucky, glasses are your new clothing accessory.

Any remnants of the sexy, sensual woman you were have long disappeared and the only guarantee you have, is that you will never be the same again.  Thank God….because you emerge from the ashes of your life that once was and rise into a far more beautiful version of yourself – sacred, connected and divine.

Set Yourself FREE!

It was time to unshackle the chains that bound me.

When you’ve spent years, (48 to be exact), rejecting yourself it makes perfect sense that I was freeing myself from the constraints that I had placed on who I was and how I thought I had to live my life in order to be accepted, loved and seen.

You liberate yourself and you begin to acknowledge your worth.  You don’t give a fuck what people think anymore.

Embrace The New You

I can intellectualise that I am smart, creative, funny, loving, empathic and compassionate. But the truth is, I’ve never really seen myself.  I have never looked in the mirror, never recognised myself externally.  I could easily connect to the love and acceptance I had for others, but creating a new habit of truly seeing me, all of me, yes standing in the mirror butt naked all of me, is really fucking hard and yet I cannot turn away from myself.

This new habit of embracing every aspect of maiden, mother and crone is my rite of passage, one I no longer can ignore.

Avoidance Became Second Nature

When you have been shunned your whole life and told that you were not pretty enough, not thin enough, ridiculed, bullied and made to feel that your existence on earth was a mistake, you begin to believe it.  So, you do anything not to see the mistake in the mirror.  Avoidance became my middle name and I became really good at pretending.

Menopause Allows You To  Take Back Your Life

The sacred journey into menopause is like a wake-up call from all your Ancestors past.  You open your eyes from the disillusioned coma you’ve been living in and begin to take back your life.

Some would say empowered, but I don’t agree with words that elude to the assumption you have been anything other than that throughout life, except for the fact we rarely get a chance to fully embrace who we are because of the scars we carry.

Unlock The Shackles

I let go of labels that society placed on women in order to compartmentalise what they fear to understand.  I said goodbye to the should, could, can’t and why’s because I didn’t need to justify my existence anymore.  I let go of people in my life that only served themselves.

I regrouped, re-evaluated and recharged, then I relaxed into the woman I wanted to be.

I was taught to believe there is no beauty in imperfections and any woman who was flawed by society’s standards was deemed unlovable and unacceptable.  The irony of this, is my body has evolved through menopause into the image of what I feared most of becoming.

Menopause Is About Divine Acceptance

The scars I carry are roadmaps into the treasures of my soul and the roads I’ve travelled just to bring find my way home.  I don’t have another choice, but to accept all of me.

I am curves, my hips and my saggy tits, but this does not define me. Every part of my body tells a story, even the choices I’ve had to make in order to survive.

I Choose Me!

For the first in my life I choose me.  Is that selfish or self-centred?  Either way, I do not care, because I’m in service to myself, for myself without any expectation that I need to be anything other than the total sum of who I am so others might accept me.

I chose to embrace this humbling journey from the highest vibration of love, even in the shadows of suffering.

The wise Crone is the embodiment of divine, holy sacredness.  Where the sacraments of your life need to be acknowledged and revered.

I Am FINALLY Proud To Be Me!

I live with integrity, a compassionate heart for the woman I was and the goddess I have become.  Living with love and all of loves complexities, the light and dark are journeying on this path with me, including the shadows that I cast, because they are all me.

I have made a commitment to hold a sacred place, so I can honour the divinity inside myself, even when I struggle to see her.

Accepting that I am my past, my present and my future.

The only regret I have is that it has taken me so long to embrace the woman I am proud to be.

How do you feel about menopause? Does it signify freedom for you? Tell us in the comments below.

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  • I didnt go through menopause until I had a hysterectomy in my early 50’s.
    I wasnt happy. Im in my late 50’s now and I accept my new body but I dont love nor like it but it is what it is so i accept it.

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  • Must admit I feel for this lady and wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Never had the problems she espouses prior to menopause and never felt particularly free afterwards. Hot flushes still come and go, but if you just take it all your stride you will ride through till the end whenever that may be. Wishing all the mums on this site a great life no matter at what stage it happens to be.

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  • a good reminder to acceptance

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  • It’s funny, the whole article spoke to me more about simply aging than anything to do with menopause. It’s about discovering your own power, This can happen at any age.

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  • After years of bleeding most days with a day or 2 break and always in absolute agony I was diagnosed with endometriosis. I saw a doctor who had my ovaries removed but didn’t put me on hormone replacements which saw me go through early menopause at 28. The good news was that the bleeding stopped and so did the pain. The bad news was the hot flushes but it doesn’t last forever. So for anyone going through menopause just know it does have an ending.

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  • OMG I love this! I am going through perimenopause and have been for a few years. I’ve been frustrated by the lack of info and went to far as to pool it all together and create my own fact sheet!! My Dr doesn’t get it, family don’t get it, and only that I have some other friends going through it, can we now have conversations. The swell of chatter is gaining momentum and I am rapt. I can relate to everything in this post. And I’m trying to love myself. I understand. When my looks and weight have been commented on my whole life, I understand what that does to your mind and self esteem. When you lose a lot of weight, but what you see in the mirror doesn’t match what’s on the scales… that showed me what people’s comments can do to your mind. I’m trying to embrace menopause. I’m sharing, reading, learning… and trying to embrace the new me – extra weight, enormous boobs, hot flushes, and all. I’m really trying to go with the flow. And hearing other women’s stories, is so helpful. I feel I’m not in this alone, and I’m normal.

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  • I used to have the most painful menstrual cycles that would see me bedridden for days. Not only painful but totally irregular so I was often caught out. My social life became non existent for 3 weeks out of 4 because I couldn’t risk going out and having an ‘incident’. On bad days, I’d go through 3 ‘heavy duty’ pads, 2 hot water bottles and a dozen pain killers a day! Then, suddenly, it all stopped – nothing for months … then the hot flushes started – Hell during the day and Hell during the night. That lasted about 6 months and since then, nothing. Freedom, finally, yes!!

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  • This not far away for me.

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  • I love that I have no more periods, no more expense of pads and tampons, no getting caught short. No more worrying about contraception. But the hot flushes are a struggle! For me they are by far the worst symptom

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  • I’m not looking forward to menopause, not because it’s a changing of life, but because I have PCOS. My symptoms include higher levels of testosterone and therefore unwanted body hair. Not looking forward to that, or the excessive weight gain that will be impossible to lose. Please note that my concern is from a medical perspective not a vanity or social acceptance one.


    • Aw bless you, would treatment be possible ? I certainly would encourage you to talk about that with your specialist when time comes.

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  • Glad you found yourself ???? a great ending

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  • Your article gave me goose bumps! I went through menopause early in life and it wasn’t pleasant however I am happy to be me!

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  • Thank you for a special article, an inspirational read.

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  • Reading this article I found it a bit sad that this person only at menopause comes to the acceptance of her personality, although glorifying yourself is not needed or pretty in my opinion.
    Menopause signifies at least freedom of those bloody periods, which I found a positive thing :)

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  • I haven’t found menopause particularly problematic, but neither has it been particularly illuminating. It’s just my body working a little differently.

    Reply

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