Woman with Issues

John 11:4 “When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.”

Perimenopause

Great news. I’m not just a grouchy insensitive woman I am now (added to all of my other disability issues) going through perimenopause. This is great news that as a woman who is now ‘not getting any younger’ has even more issues to deal with. At least there is a reason for my instability of the mind going, I’m a woman! I feel so sorry for men who have to put up with women, love or no love, no wonder they’re considered the stronger species, they never have to go through HALF of what women go through, they just have to put up with us. That takes strength, my friends, even though men are the biggest babies I’ve ever seen at the slightest of ailments.

By the way, this post isn’t for the single man, stop now. 

Everyone’s experience of perimenopause is unique. This is nice to hear.

35 Symptoms of Perimenopause

Hot flashes, hot flushes, night sweats and/or cold flashes, clammy feeling
Irregular heart beat
Irritability
Mood swings, sudden tears
Trouble sleeping through the night (with or without night sweats)
Irregular periods; shorter, lighter periods; heavier periods, flooding; phantom periods, shorter cycles, longer cycles
Loss of libido
Vaginal dryness
Crashing fatigue
Anxiety, feeling ill at ease
Feelings of dread, apprehension, doom
Difficulty concentrating, disorientation, mental confusion
Disturbing memory lapses
Incontinence, especially upon sneezing, laughing; urge incontinence
Itchy, crawly skin
Aching, sore joints, muscles and tendons
Increased tension in muscles
Breast tenderness
Headache change: increase or decrease
Gastrointestinal distress, indigestion, flatulence, gas pain, nausea
Sudden bouts of bloat
Depression
Exacerbation of existing conditions
Increase in allergies
Weight gain
Hair loss or thinning, head, pubic, or whole body; increase in facial hair
Dizziness, vertigo, light-headedness, episodes of loss of balance
Changes in body odor
Electric shock sensation under the skin and in the head
Tingling in the extremities
Gum problems, increased bleeding
Burning tongue, burning roof of mouth, bad taste in mouth, change in breath odor
Osteoporosis (after several years)
Changes in fingernails: softer, crack or break easier
Tinnitus: ringing in ears, bells, 'whooshing,' buzzing etc.

What else is good to know is that I have two more stages:
Menopause. This is the point when it's been a year since a woman last had her last menstrual period. At this stage, the ovaries have stopped releasing eggs and making most of their estrogen.

Postmenopause. These are the years after menopause. During this stage, menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes ease for most women. But health risks related to the loss of estrogen rise as the woman ages. 

Great, more health risks after all of this? I guess my eight-hour sleep-filled nights will be over too! Maybe I’ll be an exception to the rule, but I’m not counting on it. 

I thought I had permanent PMS but since I’m no long in my thirties, nope, it’s the OTHER PMS woman syndrome, PeriMenopauseSyndrome. Yeah, I made that up because I’m so happy to find out that what I’m going through isn’t a life threatening illness that is going to take my life so early, although, I’d probably be glad to get away from the earth at this point in my GOS, (growing old syndrome).

So you probably thought this was yet another God post or something and stumbled upon a woman and her issues post. Issues is an understatement, I’m trying to figure out what in the name of God I am going through. (See what I did there?) Well there you have it, I turned this into a God post after realizing that this is part of the woman’s suffering.

Gen. 3:16 “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”

I guess I’ll just have to live with it AND die with it, YAY women. I think I’ll find ways to deal with these issues that are bombarding me like a fourth of July fireworks show. I’ll be a better person for it, right, dealing with the syndrome with grace? Praise be to God. 

Goals for the New Year

"So often we dwell on the things that seem impossible rather than on the things that are possible."
Marian Wright Edelman

As the new year begins, this is the perfect time for setting your goals; whether it is for the week, the month or the coming year! As writers, we need to have goals in order to accomplish them. A lot of writers make plans by spelling out their goals; they make a list, either on white board or in a document, so they can visually SEE the goals and once they’re achieved it gets marked off.

Say for example:
January’s Goals
write story
revise story
edit story
find market
query
send

Or maybe the goals are simpler in that it’s a time line for your novel. You’ll need to follow each character created so the consistency remains solid throughout the novel. Or maybe executing goals was your problem in 2011? Whatever it was for you, goals were made to be broken. It seems like thousands, no, millions of people make resolutions when the year ends and the very next day, they break them like an egg into a frying pan. There goes your goals, all fried to bits.

You need to set realistic goals, ones that are possible to accomplish and carry out. How many people say, “I’m going to start going to Church! Every week in the new year!” or “I’m going to quit smoking!” or my favorite resolution across the country, is, “I’m going to lose weight.”

You’re setting yourself up to fail. I’m setting myself goals that I aspire to keep. But when you’re addicted to things it is not easy to just say, goodbye addiction. Some people are in the throes of social addiction. They NEED the sites, so they feel a part of something solid and whole, even though it is a virtual, temporary, blissful world. Maybe it is what completes them as a human being, maybe it fulfills the empty aches in their heart? I don’t know, but I realized that while the internet is a voice-box to the world, I also realize it can suck the oxygen right out of your lungs! Some know where to draw the line, some can’t draw the line, and some have no desire to draw the line. I’ve decided to draw the line and work on my writing, not the social ins, outs, gizmos, apps and gadgets. A danger to computers and lives, everywhere!

Networking is an entirely different use of the net, that as a writer, is necessary. But is it all about pics and ‘like’ing? Networking is connecting, it is not a social popularity contest. Suffering from low self esteem is an entirely different blog!

As we enter into a new year, goals are all a part of feeling as if you have something to reach for in the year, and maybe accomplish them too. And when next year ends you can look back and say, “I set goals, AND I followed through!”

My goals for the new year:

1. Use facebook to network with other writing sites/writers.
2. Focus on MY writing!!!
3. Focus on my health and not being a Socialite
4. Remain focused on my Lord and Savior.
5. Be strong, endure the pain, chin up and move on!

Basically I’ve set pretty achievable goals for myself, so I don’t set myself up for failure. The tie that binds my goals? FOCUS!!!

authors note: Please keep in mind the views on this blog are entirely mine and not targeted at anyone. I’m entitled to an opinion too, I’m a writer! 

addendum: My Lord and Savior has and always will be first on any list in my life, it's a given. 
 
 Happy New Year!