Menopause is a tricky time in life. It signifies change and often lots of it depending on where you are in life. 

This blog post outlines some hints and tricks to try view it as a positive experience.

Menopause often coincides with a time where you may have children leaving home, transition to becoming a grandparent, be taking on caring responsibilities or whatever else you have going on. If you’re considering making any changes in your life, no matter how small, one of the key things you’ll need is a positive attitude.

Do you know what happy, successful people think about every day? They think about what they want and how they can get it. Not that it’s out of reach or unattainable.

When you spend your time thinking and talking about what you want from life and how you can achieve it, you will feel happier and more in control. When you think about happy things, your brain releases endorphins, which give you a feeling of wellbeing. Happiness begets happiness basically!

The importance of optimism

Psychological tests have shown that happy people have a specific quality that enables them to live a better life. That quality is optimism. If you’re eyes rolled to the back of your head at the thought of such a thing, because that’s not you, then slow your roll lady! The good news is, optimism can be learned. It’s all about cause and effect. If you change your way of thinking and align it with optimism, you will start to feel happier and see results.

The happy find the good in the world

There are two distinct ways that optimists deal with the world which sets them apart from the rest:

• they remain focused on what they want, looking for ways to achieve it. They set clear goals and remain confident they will achieve them.
• in every difficult situation an optimist will look for the good. When something goes wrong, they look for what lesson or knowledge can be drawn from the situation.

If you look for the good in someone or something then you will always find it. No matter how dire the situation may seem or how awful the person may be! A couple of years ago, I did the 100 happy days challenge and it was really great. Even on days where seemingly nothing happened or I’d had what I perceived to be a crap day, I could always sit and reflect and find something that was good about the day. Even if it was something really small. It totally changed my outlook. I would highly recommend the challenge if you struggle with this. You can find out more here.

The power of positive thinking 

Optimists look for the lesson at every obstacle. They don’t get upset and look for where they can lay blame. They control their emotions and look at things logically.

Positive thinking has several benefits to your life:

💪 Motivation: Willpower and motivation come from a strong mind. Negative thoughts lead to negative actions. When you replace pessimism with optimism, you reshape your whole outlook.

🤝 Strong relationships: Happiness attracts happiness, so it makes sense that happy people attract people who are happy right? If you surround yourself with negativity, you will only attract negativity. Positivity breeds trust, which builds strong relationships. Without trust, relationships won’t survive. We are hardwired to seek trust.

💅 Confidence: Negativity spreads and can impact other attributes, such as self-esteem and confidence. The key to leading a happy life is loving yourself. Optimists laugh louder, love harder, and walk taller. They glow. Even on days where your menopause symptoms are kicking you in the tits, confidence and positivity will help.

🧠 Strong mind & body: Negative thoughts are draining and can have a HUGE impact on your mental health. They can leave you struggling to get up in the morning and stop you sleeping. Fatigue leads to weakness, sadness, and a lack of motivation. Are you getting the message?? Negativity takes a toll on your whole body!

Choose happiness

You can make the choice to see the glass as half full instead of half empty. Look at all the good stuff you’ve got going on rather than focusing on every shortcoming. Look at the best in everyone around you, because the majority of people are honest and good. Look for the good in their actions and in their words, and tell yourself that you’ll be positive. If you’re having a run of hot flushes or woke up feeling anxious, tell yourself, it’s just temporary and won’t last. Because, well, it’s true!

It’s easy to be upbeat when everything in your life is going well. But it’s even more important to do it when you feel like everything is going against you or you’re falling apart. You can still draw from that inner strength and look on the bright side of life, it will pay off in spades. I promise!