The wisdom of midlife gave my patients and me the strength to say ‘F&*# it.’ I am ready to find out and be who I was put on this earth to be; I have nothing to lose except the last half of my life in the prison of living someone else’s dream.
I promise you, there is nothing you could think or feel that hasn’t been experienced by countless other women. That doesn’t make us each less unique and miraculous, it just makes us more connected.
I can attest to the fact that weight increase in our 40s and 50s is a major bummer. Those who claim that decreasing metabolism around menopause is a myth have obviously never been a menopausal woman.
I love my teacher Vinny’s saying, “If you want to feel good about yourself, do things that you feel good about.” When I act in accordance with my core values, I feel good. When I don’t, I feel lousy. It’s that simple.
Fast forward to the present. If I’m considering whether a decision is in line with my core values, I can pay attention to how my body feels. It’s pretty much always right.
Deeply knowing you can do hard things is foundational for happiness and comes from – guess what? – a history of doing hard things and surviving. No one gets through life unscathed, nor should we want to, since it is the experience of struggle, failure and survival that teaches us to be brave and to have the courage to keep trying.