The Battle Within

It seems like a daily battle within, one day I am full of joy and thankful for all that I am and have, the next day I am feeling down and not satisfied with who I am or what I have. So why or how do things change overnight?  I believe it is that pre-menopausal journey I am on, my blood work says differently though.  I don't believe it! 

As I continue to seek God's Word, I find myself being convicted of the very things of this world my flesh takes in. The Spirit of the Lord is within me, so why does it struggle to shine bright?

LOVE is the first of the fruits and it is the most important command Jesus gave us. The word love is used so loosely and it seems to be no longer taken seriously. In the eyes of God it is not a feeling rather than an action. It gives freely without expecting anything in return. Love others without feeling they deserve it or not.

The second fruit of the Spirit is JOY. It is not the same as happiness. As I reflect on this, I realize, I struggle with joy. I rely so much on others to make me happy rather the Spirit op the Lord. 

And PEACE, another fruit of the Spirit. How can there be peace when there is so much chaos in this world? God tells us... Do not to be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all your requests to God in prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks. Then the peace of God that exceeds all understanding will keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:6-7 Sounds easy, right? But I struggle to complain to God. Does He really want to hear me complain? I have so much, why am I complaining....? 

Because I just want to be LOVED! (God loves me! That should be sufficient.)

So how does pre-menopausal fall into all this? HORMONES! Out of whack, unbalanced, lacking, etc... 

Hormone Fluctuations

From puberty to menopause your hormones are constantly fluctuating and this is a part of the natural life cycle, this gets the body ready for ovulation, and possible pregnancy, if this does not occur then the menstrual cycle begins and the process starts over again.Once a woman gets past 40 years of age hormone levels start to decline, this will eventually lead to menopause at around 50-52 years of age. While hormones are naturally fluctuating, problems start to occur when the fluctuations go out of balance …. this can cause a lot of symptoms in both your body and your mind.

The most common imbalance is an excess of estrogen compared to progesterone which is known as estrogen dominance, this can obviously be caused by the body making too much estrogen or you may have normal estrogen but not enough progesterone. This may cause similar symptoms but the treatment to correct the problem will be different

Signs of estrogen and progesterone imbalance
There are many different signs and symptoms of estrogen dominance and it is important to remember that some of these symptoms can be caused by imbalances with other hormones.
Signs and Symptoms Include:

• weight gain
• fluid retention
• PMS mood changes like anger, irritable and anxiety which can last from a day or so to two weeks
• migraines and headaches
• breast tenderness
• heavy periods, or very light periods if you have low estrogen/ progesterone
• breast lumps and cysts
• infertility
• cramping pains, back pains (something I never had before)

Sometimes women have one or two of these symptoms or you could have them all, and while they are common they are not “normal” and are a sign of imbalance. Some months symptoms are really bad, while other times things are “ok”. Lets look at why your hormones change. http://www.planetnaturopath.com/functional-pathology-testing/what-causes-hormonal-imbalances-in-women