Is it “Manopause” ?

There has been a lot of talk over the years about menopause with women what they go through, physically emotionally but what about us lowly men? Do men go through Manopause?
I ask because I am now 56 and I have for the past 4 months been experiencing something. Not sure what it could be either bad allergies, or ….. Manopause.

I am not buying new cars, shaving my head and joining the circus. I am happily married with 5 kids. In fact I liked marriage so much I did it twice!!

Throughout my life I have tended to do things early or first. I didn’t do this on purpose. I am just not very patient. At 56 I have been looking back on my life and saying to myself that there are many things that I have not done.

I have not climbed Mount Everest.
I didn’t’ run with the bulls at Pamplona.
I have not communed with the Dali Lama.
I haven’t joined a motorcycle club, and wore one of those silly leather Jackets.

This all started when tried to get a picture for my face book page. I looked around for a good current picture. I looked high, and low ,and realized that there weren’t any because …. .I didn’t look good. The picture I am using here is a few years old 🙂

Well that was a wake up call. I wrote a column a year ago about the “Diet revolution confusion”. Essentially it said that I had tried many diets and the net result was a gain of 50 pounds. To me I don’t’ measure time in years I measure it in weight. I am now on a diet or a “lifestyle change ” .

I can tell you what happened in a period of time with the weight gain that I had. The first ten pounds the loss of my Mom. The second ten well, I just like to eat. The third ten, business issues. The fourth ten was the loss of my Dad. The remaining was about 8 pounds per child and a bad divorce. Well my trip through memory lane is literally related to the physical and mental shedding of excess baggage.

When we are younger we try to look older, when we are older we try to look young. I remember always being in a rush almost all my life especially when I was young. You couldn’t wait to get to the next age, grade, and moment in your life. As you age you take things sllllllllower and slower. You try to savor things. Of course this is completely impossible when you have 5 kids, a business, and a crazy world.

You know that you are getting older when your childhood is retro.
You know that you are getting older when your kids ask you who the Beatles are.

The joy of a man getting old is best exemplified when you are driving and a commercial for Kevis, or Rogaine, comes on and it says. Is your hair getting thin? Are you able to comb through it a lot easier? Did you make a deal with your hair cutter to charge you per hair? If you have answered yes …… You start to hear giggling and your kids say hey Dad you need to call that number right away. …..

Well at least at 56 I am not going grey. I have a few little grey guys on each side but I will never die my hair. That is a hereditary thing in my family. I just have to keep my hair. The front of my head is fine which kind of symbolizes how I think. The front is fine so I can forget about the back getting thinner so I am living in “hair denial”. I am considering becoming more religious so that I can wear a yarmulke to cover up my thinning spot.

At this point in my life I am starting to re think who I am and what I want to do in the future. You start to think about things like this column. Am I too tough on our President Obama? Yes he is the first President that is my peer in age. Yes he is a socialist and ………………… Well if you read my column you know how I feel there. My conclusion so far?

I don’t care about climbing Mount Everest I am afraid of heights.
Running and getting your tush gored by a stupid bull is not my idea of fun.
.
The Dalai Lama has his own problems he doesn’t have time to deal with mine.
I don’t’ plan on joining any motorcycle clubs. If I did I would call it the “Crazy Jews”. Boy that would strike fear in the hearts of the Hells Angels now wouldn’t it

As far as being too tough on Obama well ……………….naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah