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Menopause-
Disease or Rite of Passage? by
Jay Ray During the course of our lives there are certain Life Crises that arrive when we least expect it, bringing with them huge opportunities. The problem is that they often have attached to them huge requirements for self and life change. Most of us are not really interested in upheavals and would prefer them to go away quietly. However, as part of the evolution in which we are all involved, like it or not, they don't, and we are left with choices to make. These life crises can come in the form of, broken marriages, contact with sickness or loss, often having to do with the fact that we are aging from the moment we breath our first breath. It just takes the odd decade or two before we realize it! For women this process can be kick-started by entrance into the period known as The Change- Menopause! It is a shock to most of us when our body starts the adjustment process to the departure of our reproductive and sexual hormones. Thousands of parts of our body are having to get used to the idea that they need to fund some energy from sources other than the oestrogen/progesterone hormones that have pumped into them, month by month. We start to feel the 'fire in the belly' of Hot Flushes. We start to ache all over. We can feel exhausted, gain a kilo or two, or have migraine headaches. That's just on the physical level. Along with that, (and partly because of it), we start to feel what I call 'Menopausal Rage', anxiety, fear, and depression. We feel dreadful! Of course it is different for everyone, but at its worst we can feel like we are going crackers! Any wonder that non-menopausal people come to believe we are sick? Any wonder that in their wisdom they have spent a lot of time and money trying to find ways to 'fix' us? But we are not sick, though we may 'feel' that way. We are going through an age-old (back to the first woman) process and we are in good company. All women have the privilege of this 'Rite of Passage', that can take us from the naiveté of the Maiden, through the self-sacrifice of the Mother, into the Wisdom and the self-assurance of the Crone or Wise Woman, the Elder of her tribe! It is just such a crisis that brings us to contemplate subjects that we have previously actively avoided. Subjects like the amount of attention given to a woman's body and her place in the world (or lack of it) once her physical attractions dissipate. We get to become aware of the amount of time we 'haven't' spent with our self, our own needs and our own journey. Most of all, (the subject that takes us into the realm of deeper spiritual understanding), is that we begin to realize the significance of the ever present and encroaching issue of our own deaths. We touch our own Mortality! We begin, if we are wise, to come to terms with what is! And when we have, we have become wise! The more consciously we can approach our changing years, the more we are able to glean from them, in terms of personal growth and development. The more we also have available to teach those coming behind us. Because they need teachers who have been there consciously, and because we are not dead yet!! It is so tempting at times during the process to think of ourselves as sick people. It feels so easy to run for the various substances on offer to 'take it all away'. But if we do, we remove the opportunities of growth inherent in the process. My challenge to you who are embarking on this journey is to 'milk it to the full'. Feel every flush. Listen to its wisdom and message. Get as much growth out of your personal menopausal journey as you can, because you won't get another opportunity like this in this lifetime. |