50 starts here
About a year before I turned 40, I had a think about how I wanted to feel as I woke up on that particular birthday. As I recall, I mostly wanted not to feel angry with myself for being overweight and unfit. I wish I could remember thinking or feeling anything more profound, as I entered the early stages of my midlife, and maybe I did. Who knows? I have quite serious CRAFT syndrome. For once, I took myself seriously. I took up running and exercising and woke up on my 40th, in Florence, lean and fit and proud of myself. I ran up the campanile to prove that I could. Nearly ten years later, that relatively simple outlook on a looming birthday feels quaint and out of reach. In 2.5 years I will be 50. For whatever reason(s) I'm feeling very aware of it - and not in a particularly positive way. So I thought I'd write about it. Let's break this into sections: PHYSICAL Peri-menopause. A list of symptoms as unpleasant to describe as they are to experience. An unavoidable sign that ...