Lifemaps for Midlife Women

The fact that you’re reading this means there’s a good chance you’re one of the 37 million Baby Boomer women between the ages of 40 - 60 who wants to know what on earth to do with this new phase of life, this midlife thing. You’ve undoubtedly heard countless stories about what it’s like to make the shocking discovery that you’re no longer young, stories about reaching back to swipe off something stuck to your butt and then realizing that it is your butt, about being called the dreaded “ma’am” for the first time, and about unexpectedly passing a mirror and seeing your mother. In my case, it was looking at an old photo of my grandmother and being dumbstruck upon realizing that, if I had my hair in a bun, that’s me!

In our misguidedly youth-oriented culture, aging can be scary. On the other hand, when we use our years of experience and acquired wisdom to create our own life journeys, our own LifeMaps, midlife can be the most exquisite time of life.

You might be saying, “That’s not what I’ve heard!” Well, a lot of what you’ve heard is just plumb wrong.

Midlife Myths and Realities

The first thing this book does is dispel popular myths about midlife. For instance, the media too often makes it seem as if all midlife women are alike, with the same family experiences, aging concerns, and blasé interests. Not true. We’ve been unique individuals all of our lives and will be until we push up daisies. Another myth, if you believe advertisements, is that hot flashes attack most menopausal women. No. Medical research reveals that the majority of menopausal women are as cool as a cucumber. Likewise, you might think that sexual desire goes caput as we age. Ha! Wait until you read the stories about women who are hot all right, but for sex! You might even have fallen for the notion that all older women are supposed to be domestic, cooking up Martha-Stewart-style meals. Not so. I know a fifty-five-year-old who got rid of her stove so that everyone would stop expecting her to feed them. And, you might believe the jokes about mental ability taking a dive in middle age with “old timers’ disease.” Nope. Research proves that’s not true, either.

Of course, there are some disturbing truths that midlife women must face, like negative media images, unflattering stereotypes, ageism, sexism, and work and wage inequities. This book helps you face those real issues head-on, as well as dealing with the plethora of myths. To help you deal with the myths, you’ll work with a list of things that we need to let go of in midlife versus things that we can embrace, like fantasy vs. reality, blind faith vs. enlightened faith, and wishful thinking vs. actionable planning.

There are many expectations and fantasies that we grew up with that never have done us any good. (Have you seen the prince lately? Would you want him if you did?) When we’re first whacked with the startling fact that our lives are at least half over, most of us panic. But once we catch our breaths, we settle down and resolve not to waste one more minute on unrealistic expectations and stupid fantasies. It’s time to get real and enjoy real life.