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How I Got My Mojo Back

A story about sex, confidence, and shoes.

I’m not sure how it all happened but I seem to spend an awful lot of time thinking about what makes a woman over 40 sexy. It’s led me to the topic of confidence and an understanding of how they’re all intertwined. In other words, confidence is sexy.

How’d I figure that out, you’re maybe thinking. In a word, menopause. It ripped my confidence out of me and left me flapping helplessly in the wind. I got to experience what life was like without my usual bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed-can-do attitude.

It was worse than I could have ever imagined.

It was like getting up one morning and realizing you’re out of milk. You saunter over to corner store and boom, find yourself in the middle of a hold-up.

Gun to your head, a growling voice barks, “Your confidence or you life, lady.”

You scream and lunge for cover. You’re not fast enough. By the time, you get out of there, you’re battered, bruised, and broken. You count your lucky stars though. It’s just your confidence that’s shot to bits.

Or so you think.

It wasn’t long before I realized I’d lost more than confidence. It hit me one morning when I couldn’t even get the old Greek waiter at my usual diner to flirt. I mean, the guy flirts with hamburger patties but suddenly I was invisible.

I knew I was in trouble.

Then I committed the ultimate confidence crusher. I pretended to be someone I wasn’t (a teenage sex kitten, if you can imagine) and got involved with a guy who was infatuated with that person-I-was-not. And then I hated myself for being not-me, but hated him more for liking not-me. (Logic only a woman could understand.)

Then, out of the blue, I got my rude awakening. A friend called me up one day explaining that this “so called boyfriend” of mine had just tried to solicit her for some group sex. And did I know about this?

I looked at the phone as though it had just turned into a rattlesnake. I covered my mouth so I wouldn't scream.

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Comments
11.27.2009
Bobbie
What astounds me is why women (like the author) are thinking like this is their 40s. I never gave my age a though in 30s, 40s, 50s, even turning 60. Granted I am blessed with good health and that is part of it. I never had kids, so perhaps I have not marked time in the typical way. This year as I edged toward mid-60s, I got a bunion, had to give up my high heels, and suddenly everything felt like a "was." But after a few weeks of self-pity, I am pulling out of it now, embracing myself as what I now consider middle aged (I cannot believe news stories that speak of an "elderly" citizen who is barely past 60!), and I still find my focus is on the remaining quality of life - 10, 20, 30 years? Not whether I can be a sex kitten. While I consider myself as attractive as the next woman, unless you defined yourself mostly as a sex object in the first place, then evolving with age and time is a growth opportunity, not a loss. The pages of MORE reinforce this, for the most part.
10.14.2009
Lisa Jennings
Thanks for commenting on the impact of perimenopause and menopause. I recently got my MOJO back after being AWOL for three years (44-47). I started taking my health and nutrition seriously and lost, now almost 50 pounds. I weight train and do morning bootcamps and boy oh boy - did my drive come back with a vengence! Seriously - and my perimenopause symptons lessened. Lucky for me my husband is 10 years younger and still hot to trot! life is good! Hope yours is just as good!
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