Whatever Happened to my Youthful Zing?

Thinking back, I'm amazed at all the activities I went in for in my youth: Not, to be strictly honest, through any great inner desire to hike, cycle, sail, climb or jog, but brought about more by desires for various chaps who went in for these things.  So, perhaps the time has come to recapture at least some of that youthful zing.


Friends do not help much, but I ignore remarks like:  'I get all the exercise I need polishing floors', 'You're bound to do yourself mischief', 'You've to expect a few twinges now and then", 'You look fine to me' and even 'Well, my friend took up water-skiing and before he even got out of the sports shop, he tripped over his new skis and broke a leg!'

Whatever Happened to my Youthful Zing? asks Betty Bendell

Anna asks:  'What's my skipping rope doing out on the terrace, Mum?'
'I've just been seeing if I can still do it,' I reply.
'Why?' she asks.
'Go and tidy your room, ' I say.

The fact is, I've been getting increasing signs that I'm not as agile these days as I thought I was.  I quite accept that by the time I'm 80 or 90, I may have to curb any sudden desire to paint ceilings, take up rugger or toss my husband into the air.  But I'm not nearly old enough yet for twinges and funny turns.  I've been telling myself this quite often lately, as I totter clammily home from shopping, or seize up in an unusual position while cleaning the bath.


  Only yesterday, I swooped on a piece of bindweed in the garden and had to spend the rest of the day in a deckchair, resting.




'Could be just sloth, you know!' says a friend.  Or perhaps you ought to see a doctor,' says another. 


 But doctors tend to smile sceptically when I pluck up the courage to stagger into their surgeries, and imply I'm one of the healthiest sights they've seen the whole day. 


 'Here, try these,' they say, tossing me a prescription for something so nasty and so strong that when I take it, I really am ill for weeks.  So, on the whole, I think I'd rather make do with fresh air and exercise, plus the occasional shot of brandy as a last resort.  Anyway, at the moment, I don't think I am ill exactly.  I just think that, without realising it,  I've gradually been letting myself get out of condition.