After reading this entire thread for the 10th time

I had a thought about what it's like for so many different women to be going through the same things, but still having different experiences and difficulties at different times.
What came to mind was learning to drive a stick shift.

Right about the same age (some 15, some 16 or later) we're old enough to drive. Now some are lucky enough to be given a brand new car....automatic, no less and they speed away into the future hitting very few speed bumps or red lights.
Most of us end up with a beat up old stick shift that we have to learn to drive and it takes each of us a certain amount of time before we can ride smoothly down that road. Remember trying to coordinate the clutch and the gas? LOL The car would go hopping and jerking about 10 feet and then stall. Then if we DID manage to get it moving, trying to get into 2nd gear was excruciating and the grinding gears sounded like the car was falling apart!
I think it took me about 2 weeks to learn to get to 3rd gear and suddenly I felt like I had made it over the hump!! I was finally a driver!! About that time came my first HILL. How was I going to take my foot off the brake, put it on the gas, let go of the clutch and keep the car from rolling back into the car behind me!!??
There were actually years of situations that helped me become a good driver. This is kind of how I see peri-menopause today. Lots of speed bumps, red lights and steep hills, but we're not going to just give up driving, right? It helps to know that we have to just keep trying and we will make it to our destination, hopefully without any major accidents along the way!

What do you think, Girls?