You might be chatting sociably with friends, and suddenly you notice that they're all flapping their hands at at their faces. You're all sitting there like a bunch of chickens - all flapping away. You hardly notice that you're doing it because it's such a habit. All clutching at your clothes to try and flap some cool air in, And all of you are bright red in the face." Sally, 58

Some people assume that there must be something wrong with a relationship if they discover that partners are sleeping separately. But why? OK, human beings have sex and procreate, but whoever said they had to spend the whole night together in the same bed?

Sometimes the menopause is a nuisance, but on the whole I quite like it. I feel like I'm being 'rounded off.' I just like the feeling of completing a whole area of my life. And then - well, who knows what I might do next? - Benni, 50

The very best way that you can help yourself is to develop and sustain a positive attitude. The way you think and feel about everything will make all the difference to your experience.

Decide to smile and keep upbeat. A scowling, bad-tempered face is far less attractive than a smiling, accepting one.

I went to work wearing a suit and odd shoes. One was blue and one was black. I can't believe I did that. I'm so particular - I would never have done that before. - Les, 48

I drove through red traffic lights once. I thought red meant 'go', which was dreadful because I know red means 'stop'. - Nora, 50

I made a mental note of where I'd parked the car, but when I came out of the precinctI couldn't remember where it was. I pushed a full shopping trolley through acres of busy car park to try to find it, and after 20 minutes I was nearly in tears. Eventually I just stumbled across it, but I don't remember parking there at all. I felt so stupid. What's even worse was that a few weeks later I did exactly the same thing. - Fiona, 56

Sometimes I feel as if there's too much information going into too small a brain. - Paula, 56