FIONA LINDAY
Horses for Courses – A Letter to My Younger Self Forgive me for not writing earlier on this taboo subject of hormones. They are to be respected, believe me. I remember the time you started a journey into wild womanhood, thanks to those dreaded chemicals stimulating fiery reactions throughout your veins. We say horses for courses, don’t we? At home, hooves were firmly planted in grassroots – they led you out of the stable on a short rein. When you escaped, you protested with loud snorts and many a whinny. But bets were off as you cantered towards maturity. It was as if puberty were to be jumped over, at all costs. As a filly bolting out of the starting gate, you were raring to go. You actually frothed at the mouth, trying to attract a mate. When denied a fair pairing with a young stallion, you reared up in rebellion and kicked off big time. You watched the rampant stallions pass you by until successful introductions came from the careful steering towards a more mature breeding stable. As a mare, you sweated excitedly towards the finish line of a thoroughbred breeding course, gaining steady experience with a sure winner at 3 to 1. He was your Mr. Right. On your mark, you married and triumphantly waited for the rosettes to be pinned to your scoreboard. In your heyday, you were blessed with strapping offspring to successfully compete with. Your first rosette, red, came with the birth of your first child. That initial race was won with ease. Sadly, in the next race, you fell at the first hurdle and had a blue time with a non-starter. A yellow rosette came swiftly after, followed by a green, and your stable of three beautiful children was complete thanks to those pesky hormones. I’m delighted to say long after the shot reverberated around the track, you kept running. Three grandkids have subsequently joined the fold, your happy family the best trophy of all. Since menopause, hormones still bamboozle your mind. You’re quirky, but that’s no wonder, what with lowered levels of oestrogen and testosterone acting as secret double agents. These pit ponies were never sure bets. Even now, they regularly send security messages to your trembling body to comfort eat. Watch out for lameness because you no longer need that same old rush to get a buzz. Despite these up and down covert pulses, hormones sustain, strengthen, maintain, and even repair. They were a pain for many years, adding unwanted whiskers and dreadful bone aches, but more recently they’re on your side. 37
