Use By

Age is a terrible thing.

Watching a documentary recently, it stated that women hit menopause between 45 and 50.  Suddenly struck me I'm turning 39 in less than 2 months, and that particular power-surge experience is looming!

Which is OK - it's still years off.  But I've noticed more and more daily signs of ageing, which are a lot harder to handle.

For one thing, I know I can't continue doing what I do day in and out forever.  Recycling e-waste requires a lot of strength (no problem), but it also requires dexterity of the hands.  Lately I've noticed increasing stiffness in my fingers - it's hard to make a fist, some fingers aren't as flexible as they used to be, I struggle with tools that used to be easy to hold and manipulate.  Fine work is hard to do - small screws don't come undone as easily.  You might say it's because the work's taking its toll on me: repeated injuries can't be doing me any good.  I may even have broken one of my fingers without realizing it a few months ago.  But I suspect it's merely "middle age" settling in.  Eish, that's a scary term when one still feels like a teenager.

The mirror is also talking about years - those lines, grey hairs (can't get away with calling them extra-blonde anymore), skin that won't bounce back, things that sag and all that stuff.  I'm getting old, dammit.

And have you ever noticed that, whereas you could easily shift a few kilos off here and there in your youth, the same amount of effort has no effect in your 30s?  Granted, I'm pretty proud that I have rock-hard abs somewhere underneath a little pillow-cushioning of middle, but they're not exactly eager to make their appearance to the general public.  Perhaps that's why you find the gyms full of cougar types, sweating it out for all they're worth?  It really DOES take that much effort to keep the wobbly bits in check.

Then there's eyesight.  I find myself adjusting the distance to read fine print or make out small parts until I can actually see what it is that needs seeing.  Sometimes that just isn't enough.  I have to hand it off to the younger generation to decipher.

Years ago 38 sounded so old - 39 even more so.  I'm certainly feeling it.  I may be well past my use-by date already.  With a son close to 18, I'm actually old enough to be a grand-mother...

Quite frankly, having to see me first thing in the morning, every morning, I wouldn't blame Favourite Man if he traded me in for a younger model! :-)