When really is menopause?

Ok, so not everyone wants to hear about this. I don't think I do either. But let's look at this. The truth of it is that a woman is either premenopausal, perimenopausal, menopausal, or postmenopausal. That's a lot of pausing if you ask me. I never really thought about any of this until I hit the mid-40's. I guess that's when I officially became "pre-m" as it were. Because I could go into detail about what that means to me & perhaps freak out too many people, let's just suffice it to say that every month there are days that I just didn't feel like going out much. OK, so that has now blurred into that phase of not DARING to go out. Even opportunities to attend certain functions, visit family in another town, or participate in worthy ministry trips have been avoided because of those pre/peri-m symptoms.

So, this is what I was thinking. Just what are the lines between each of those phases? I ask because they have become utterly blurred for me & I'm ready to move onto the next phase...the big M or even the post-M. And just when I think I can't do this anymore, the next few months find me not experiencing all those aforementioned unmentionable symptoms. AHA! I've passed over! What joy! What release! What relief! OOPS! I have become elated too soon. Those few months were merely teasers; what I COULD eventually look forward to. But obviously not just yet.

Of course, there are other fears involved in this "phase" of life, like: Will I be one of those women who suffers grossly from hot flashes? Oh, come on. I live in the hottest part of the west coast. How can you accurately distinguish a hot flash from the normal summer heat? I guess I'll wait until the dead of winter before I'll really know that answer. And, what about those mood swings? Mmmmm. I've sorta had mood swings my whole life. This could really be a bad spot in the road for my marriage. You know, the rantings, the ravings, the "Why can't you read my mind? I've always been this way! How come you don't know what I'm trying to say?" Wait a minute. I'm pretty sure those are all the things that I already struggle with. Great! This means all those areas of my life that I constantly battle with just increase to gargantuan size. I'm thinking right about now that I should ask my son-in-law to help my husband pad a room just for me, just for those certain outbursts. It would need to have a really good fan, a few pillows, maybe a crossword puzzle book, and absolutely nothing sharp in it (see photo at top). I should get bonus points for thinking ahead & thinking about others. I wonder if those points are cumulative.

So, I'll just have to ride this thing out. Maybe it will pass much easier than I have anticipated. In any case, I know that I'm not alone. I have a host of women who have gone on before me who have come out on the other side whole and intact. And I have a Sovereign who has promised to walk with me the entire journey. Eventually I will be post-M.