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Flash in the Pan
A Quarterly Posting at Tiny Lights
Power Surges
by Elaine Webster
If the body has a natural rhythm, what's with menopause? It comes in rhythms alright. Hot rhythms like salsa music or maybe the tango. It comes with power surges that bring sweat and nausea at the most inopportune moments, and unlike wisdom teeth, removal by extraction isn't an option.
There are hormones, both natural and those from pregnant mare urine. Yummy! In fact, eating has become rocket science and hot fudge sundaes and milk shakes are distant dreams; nightmares really. Every morsel adds belly fat that even the most strenuous power yoga class can't erase. Also gone are energy filled days and sleep filled nights.
Today, I stopped whining long enough to access the situation. I realized that at fifty-eight I'm more powerful than ever. The aforementioned belly fat gets me to the gym most mornings by 6:00 AM. I see muscles that I didn't know I had and I even know their names: deltoids, trapezius, and transverse abdominis. True, the power comes in surges like the hot flashes, but it comes, like lightening striking the earth, flashing down from the heavens and grounding in me.
I stop to ponder the wisdom of the body. Doesn't it know how much I like to eat and sleep? Why is it playing these tricks on me? On the other hand, what if it's the surges that power my engine? Do I need them for the second half of the journey? Are they keeping me on track? If I stop them, will I run out of steam?
Elaine Webster is a staff writer for the on-line publication,Greener Living Today. She’s part of the Memoir Writing group in Sebastopol sponsored by SRJC and Steve Boga is the instructor. She lives in Windsor, CA.
Eighteenth Flash
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