better than the alternative

It’s what they say about getting old when you’re inclined to grumble about aching limbs and forgetfulness.

I’m prompted to write because I woke up one morning recently aching like I’d been on a 10 mile walk yesterday. I hadn’t, it didn’t ruin my night’s sleep and is largely dissipated through the day but it nonetheless got me thinking. I am getting older, 76 at the last count and 77 in September, and although I generally feel pretty good there are signs. You can’t ignore them.

Signs of aging seem to broadly divided into two: those relating to mental faculties and those to physical prowess and often you’ll get people saying that if they had the choice they’d prefer the latter to go first. That makes sense because you reckon that if your mind is in good shape then at least you can enjoy life. But then if you can’t be active how is that possible. It’s best if neither deteriorates!

Fingers crossed but I’d say I’m OK mentally. I’d say my mental acuity is still good, I can do crosswords and number and other puzzles, I’m at 99% on Wordle, although my data retrieval is sometimes a little slow. It’s a bit Rumsfeldian at times, I know that there’s a word or a name it’s just that I can’t immediately bring it to mind. I continue to stimulate my mind with plenty of reading but too often what’s on the TV leaves me somewhat unfulfilled.

It’s in the physical domain that I notice the result of seven decades and more. I can walk fine and do the two kilometre to the village and back frequently, Fitbit records an average of over 10,000 steps a day. I also walk with a group which does 12 km or so before we reward ourselves with an excellent lunch. And I can still run but I haven’t run a 5k for some time because I’ve felt that my hip won’t last forever if I continue to pound the streets. However I do run one or two kilometres on the treadmill most weeks just to be sure that I can.

Where I’m suffering is in the flexibility of my joints. I can bend down and pick something off the floor but it’s hard work and I can look over my shoulder when I’m driving or cycling but I really can’t turn my head as much as I used to. I know that I’ve got to keep exercising these joints because if I don’t I’ll loose all movement.

They say that a major source of ill health in older people is from falls and that’s largely related to balance. I seem to do well in this regard and can quite easily do my quad stretches on one leg, both of them.

My biggest frustration though is my lack of drive. I guess that’s mental. I can’t imagine spending 40 plus hours a week making sure something happens! I enjoy completing tasks in which I’m invested and I certainly look forward to the travel opportunities which my life still affords me but if you were to ask me to run a business or a charity or a council I’d say that I can’t be bothered. I’ll happily advise, I’ll do bits of foot soldier work but I really can’t be bothered to shoulder the responsibility of managing the whole. I’d prefer to let someone else do it and that’s probably a good thing.