In fact, it kept her going well into old age, helping her to
maintain a positive attitude. And of course, she ate well and kept active. Oh,
and she took the occasional bit of alcohol
By now most of us know the things we need to do to grow old
gracefully and positively. Still, it’s not so easy.
Your body changes; you have more aches and pains. You may
develop a chronic illness. Your brain changes – it shrinks, has memory
problems. Maybe you find that you have less patience than you used to, or worry
more. You might be more vulnerable to illnesses such as the flu.
Then along comes a winter like this last one. It’s cold with
ongoing severe wind-chill. And it seems to go on and on. Everyone finds this
difficult, but it seems worse when you’re older.
We all have coping strategies. Whether it’s listening to
music, reading a good book, getting together with friends, and so on.
This winter, however, was the most difficult I can remember.
What was it all for? Where was the joy? Had I done anything useful in my life?
Was the world really going to hell in a handbasket?
In the depths of it I happened upon a new piece of
information: the beaks of puffins are fluorescent under ultraviolet light. And
on doing a bit more research, I also discovered that birds see more colours
than people, and they are able to distinguish subtle gradations in shades. And
they can see ultraviolet light. Amazing.
How does this relate to aging? It goes back to that curious
cat. She found things in life that interested and intrigued her, that kept her
going even in the depths of a long cold winter. Perhaps that seems simple, but
for me it was a light to follow. The world still has marvels, can still
surprise us, can give us hope that spring will come, joy will return.
And now it is spring and I love to be out in the garden or
walking along the riverbank, seeing wild creatures, enjoying the water. And
then comes a heat wave! Life doesn’t stop throwing us challenges no matter what
age we are. The key for me is to find the moments of joy, of fascination, of
hope.
