For many women, turning 50 can prove to be a very difficult pill to swallow. And lead to baffled questions. HOW can I be 50? WHERE did the years go? WHAT has happened to my waistline and jawline?<\/p>\n
For me, the big 5-0 fell in the eye of the Covid storm. My plans to really celebrate the event with a family trip to New York were well and truly scuppered.<\/p>\n
I was 50, without any big, fun and special memories attached to the milestone.<\/p>\n
Just a few drinks out in the street with neighbours. Lovely though they are, they\u2019re not match for NYC.<\/p>\n
The next day, I woke up and cried.<\/p>\n
I was 50. And with it came a feeling of invisibility.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t get any first looks, never mind second ones any more.<\/p>\n
But, I contented myself with my wonderful husband frequently telling me: \u2018You\u2019re gorgeous.\u2019<\/p>\n
Even though I bear no resemblance to the woman smiling out from the frame wedding photo that hangs above our mantelpiece. A photo taken September 17th<\/sup>, 2006.<\/p>\n I reminded myself that I had so many things be thankful for and look forward to. And told myself that\u201950 is the new 40 isn\u2019t it?\u2019<\/p>\n As friends in my own age group and a little older bemoaned the hot flushes, night sweats that would leave the sheets drenched, and wild rages sparked by the smallest irritation, I could only sympathise.<\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t empathise because I\u2019d basically been spared all of that. After attempting to get pregnant for 18 months, from the age of 37, tests revealed that wasn\u2019t going to happen. Not naturally, anyway.<\/p>\n I\u2019d had a premature menopause at some point, over those many years I\u2019d been on the pill.<\/p>\n My ovaries had prematurely failed. My body was old before its time. This knowledge made me feel less \u2018womanly\u2019 but I wasn\u2019t going to let it get in the way of becoming a mum aged 40, with the help of a donor egg.<\/p>\n As soon as I stopped breast feeding, I was put onto HRT to replace those hormones that my poor, old ovaries had unfortunately stopped producing. Job done. No big deal.<\/p>\n Being made redundant from my Deputy Features Editor\u2019s job with Woman magazine, while on maternity WAS a big deal. But a few months later, I had landed another magazine job.<\/p>\n The latest in a long line of newspaper and magazine jobs since I\u2019d left Uni in 1994 with a BA (Hons) journalism under my leopard-print belt.<\/p>\n I loved my new Features Editor job on a lifestyle and wellbeing title, and had a very happy time of it for nearly 12 years. Until February this year, when the redundancy cleaver struck me again.<\/p>\n This time, it felt different. After so long in the same role, the \u2018outside world\u2019 was a fearful place. My confidence was diminished hugely. Two questions spiralled around my panicked mind.<\/p>\n \u2018What do I do now?\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m pushing 53 \u2013 will people want to employ me at 53?\u2019<\/p>\n When the panic subsided and I was able to think rationally about the first question, the words \u2018second career\u2019 started percolating in my thought process.<\/p>\n But as what? I mean, a journalist was all I\u2019d ever been. Ever known. I\u2019m a journalist. That\u2019s WHO I am.<\/p>\n A bit of advice I was given was to \u2018remember just HOW much you\u2019ve achieved, and HOW many skills you have\u2019.<\/p>\n I took this on board and thought about how I could use all those skills differently. Apply them to a different kind of job, use them to greater advantage.<\/p>\n This redundancy could be a golden opportunity to do something completely different, rather than get another of the \u2018same old\u2019 sort of job.<\/p>\n I decided that now I was out of my comfort zone, I\u2019d use it to do something different. Really change things up.<\/p>\n I started looking into Media Officer jobs with charities. Rewarding, worthwhile jobs that would utilise my writing, communicating, interviewing, news sense skills.<\/p>\n Then one day, in March, one of my job alerts flagged up a \u2018communications\u2019 role with the Met Police.<\/p>\n On closer inspection, the role was predominantly answering and triaging 999 and 101 calls. This would involve intensive training and shiftwork.<\/p>\n It excited me though. No two days the same. A job that very much matters. New skills to learn. It sounded an enlivening experience.<\/p>\n Okay, the shift work aspect is a little daunting. But hey, I\u2019m human \u2013 humans adapt. I applied. Immediately.<\/p>\n On the face of it, the role is VERY removed from my job as a journalist but there are commonalities.<\/p>\n Both require the ability to be a good listener and pay attention to the details. Because those details could make the difference between it being a highest priority call or not. Between a life saved, or not.<\/p>\n Working to tight deadlines requires a cool head under pressure. Something that\u2019s definitely the same for a 999\/101 call handler.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s the really practical skill of touch typing! A \u2018talent\u2019 I\u2019ve honed through typing as I\u2019ve interviewed case histories for stories over many, many years. An essential skill when taking the details of a 999 or 101 call.<\/p>\n While the Met Police is male-dominated, I don\u2019t think that is going to be something that I\u2019m glaringly aware of.<\/p>\n At the assessment day, in May, where I clinched my Conditional Job Officer (subject to vetting procedures and a medical) there were more women there than men.<\/p>\n Women, who like me were all there with the intention of boldly entering new territory, and carving out a second career.<\/p>\n For more stories, advice and interviews, head to the\u00a0Menopause Your Way Stories hub<\/a>. To browse and shop a curated edit of menopause products, visit the\u00a0Menopause Your Way page on QVC<\/a>.<\/p>\n The content of the QVC website is for information only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on the QVC website.<\/i><\/p>\n We understand there\u2019s a lot of information out there on the menopause. You can read through the\u00a0<\/i>NICE guidance on menopause management<\/i><\/a>, as well as the\u00a0<\/i>NHS overview on the menopause<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For many women, turning 50 can prove to be a very difficult pill to swallow. And lead to baffled questions. HOW can I be 50? WHERE did the years go? WHAT has happened to my waistline and jawline? For me, the big 5-0 fell in the eye of the Covid storm. My plans to really […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":119529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[292,295],"tags":[176],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119502"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119502"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119504,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119502\/revisions\/119504"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}