In THE WISDOM OF MENOPAUSE, Christiane Northrup describes not only the physical, but also mental, emotional and spiritual changes a woman goes through in mid-life during perimenopause and menopause. This must be the Menopause Bible of the world – it is almost exhaustingly detailed in health related areas (hormones, bones, thyroid function, etc.) of the physical body.
Where the theme aligns with the other books is how in mid-life (which I can vouch for from my own experience) women are simply not willing to put up with crap anymore. Divorces tend to happen during this phase, after years and years of marriage. I personally know two women who have divorced their respective spouses after having been together for around two decades. Both are just a few years younger than I am.
After years of putting their own desires on hold to raise families, provide emotional or other types of support for spouses, keep the household running smoothly, etc., there comes a time. A time when hormones are changing, it’s not about nesting anymore, and a woman simply must start saying “no” to the demands of others and “yes” to those from deep within herself to take care of her own needs.
Early on in the book, Northrup describes a gentleman who was utterly shocked when his wife uncharacteristically stood up and threw a plate of roast leg of lamb (or some such thing) right out the window at the dinner table. He blamed her “craziness” on hormones and the emotional charge of her change of life. More likely accurate is his wife – after years of simmering frustration and anger – simply reached a boiling point wherein enough was enough and she simply wasn’t going to keep playing her prescribed role anymore.
If the woman doesn’t change, she will wind up miserable and ill, and noone around her will be happy either. So either the marriage stays the same with everyone miserable until death does someone part, it changes, or it ends.
This transition is an opportunity to move into a new future, with clear intentions and nurturing of self. I say CHEERS to that!
Authentically Yours,
Laura
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