You're as young as you feel!

Sometimes I wonder if I’ve just fallen for the hype! Somebody out there has decided that we should no longer think of our age as our actual age – '60 is the new 50', or some such phrase – but rather, we should laugh in the face of advancing years! We should still be doing everything we ever did, look better than we ever did and see life-long-learning as an essential! We should work hard and play hard - our social lives should be a whirl. We will, of course, look absolutely wonderful as we gallop around taking on exercise, voluntary work and new challenges whilst still managing to whisk through the housework, prove ourselves indispensable in our jobs, and be perfect spouses, parents and grandparents!

Now, I’m not against any of this – I’m not yet at the point where I want to retire to my armchair in front of the fire, watching “Countdown”, whilst sipping a nourishing milky drink and smelling of lavender water. There isn’t anything wrong with any of these things – I just haven’t reached that point yet. I do want to go on working and learning and exploring – I want to continue to dye my hair, listen to some modern music, and try to keep up with technology!

However, I sometimes get tired – more tired than I used to – and sometimes I get wee aches and pains. I would like to be able to say this, to say it without feeling guilty that I’ve somehow ‘let the side down’!