This morning,
for instance, I opened the door to our
attached garage, got in the car, and realized I’d brought the wrong set of
keys. The right set of keys was on a
hook maybe five feet away as the crow flies, assuming the crow could fly
through the fireproof wall into the laundry room. But here’s what was involved:
Open car door
(back pain.)Shove car door further open (left shoulder pain.)
Move driver seat back (wrist pain.)
Move steering wheel up (no pain.)
Lift left leg with two hands, swing it out of car (back pain.)
Exit car (right hip pain.)
Three steps to door (left foot pain.)
Oops, door key back in car, three steps back to get it.
Three steps to door again (left foot etc.)
Unlock door.
Five steps to get correct keys.
And the exercise is only half done. You don’t even want to know about getting back in the car. Full disclosure – don’t let me whine too much – the pain involved is not very severe. But everything takes a lot more time than you would imagine.
Start Early.
Although I'm a generation behind you, I already realize that you are not just whistling Dixie here. With a partially replaced right knee, a left hip starting to get in on the act because of all the limping I did before I had the partial knee job, and the march of time in general, I'm taking my full share of ibuprofen and BenGay--and I readily acknowledge that you're only stating the facts!
ReplyDeleteFrom here in solid middle age, my mantra is slow down. more and more i realize how fast i used to do things, and how much i thought it was necessary to spend as little time as possible on just the kind of daily tasks you are describing. i mean, what is the hurry? slower, more deliberate now. in order to make no mistakes, and not hurt myself.
ReplyDeleteYou wrote 'and the exercise is only have done' - going back for those keys was extra exercise! You do want to keep moving just as long as you can!!
ReplyDelete