As age takes hold and the joints begin to ache, one could be forgiven for letting another day pass in the living mausoleum of our mindless TV homes, as we listen to the raindrops on the windows and wondering if summer is ever to come.  Can hibernation last year round?

Yes it can, if you let it.  Making use of our time is the most important of all things, otherwise envious time will run out its race and leave us like dead leaves on a cold trodden path.

So no matter what it is that ails you, however ancient you feel this morning, you must achieve something this day and every day.  If you are locked in the agonising grip of arthritis,or find it difficult to remember what you had for breakfast, there is still something you can achieve, be it personal or interactive, be it a grand plan or a tiny victory over pain.

Our aging population is corporately aware that we maybe a huge burden on society if we let ourselves slump into progressive and collective dilapidation. Each one of us can make a difference, not only can we, but so we must if we are to make anything of our existence.

‘Caring for life’ was a strap-line I first  encountered in a wonderful Hospice where great and wonderful things are achieved each and every day.   Here generous people from all walks of life make very moment a valuable one for those who are terminally ill.

Surely then, we can use our own energies to ensure our moments are worthwhile, making something of our precious time, both for ourselves and for others.

 

Growing old is something unavoidable, as is thinking about it when we do.  Sustaining the intellectual part of our being becomes even more important that at other times of our lives. The good but sometimes sad  news is we are living longer.  The issue is how to make this extra time  worthwhile to ourselves and of course with those with whom we interact. We know of so many cases of our  colleagues  ‘loosing it’ either through dementia or other age related illnesses of the mind.  Keeping that part of us sharp is so important, for both our self awareness and to be at least sympathetic to the way that others see us.  This is almost self evident, yet in this age where entertainment (much of it mindless) is served up at the touch of a remote button many folk surrender their mental alertness along with their physical  decline.

Reading then is as important at eighty as it was at eight, reading is one of the most important tools in the mental gymnasium.

Ballroom dancing and golf are important, of course they are but exercising the mind is crucial.  Now we have more time, then we should engage the mental muscles as well as the physical. If we used to read ‘the Beano’ maybe its time we graduated to the Daily Mail.  If we read John le Carre maybe it’s time we read ‘The Bard’.

Whatever our choices, make them challenging and we will enjoy both the work and the achievement.