Member-only story
Did we get life backwards?
Play when you’re young, work when you’re old
There I was, in the early spring sun, watching a wise master of all, smash apart some rock in order for us to erect a goat repelling fence.
Eighty-one years of age, and still able to do everything he does. I’m hoping that given that I now live where he grew up, that same water or earth will give me similar strength and longevity! I watch him in admiration every time he comes to build, plant, paint, dig or just drink wine.
However as the day goes on, I see him catch his breath a bit more than I do, have to be more careful of his balance, and check three times with his eyesight deteriorating year after year. He is more than twice my age after all.
Meanwhile I flick through my feeds to see the younger abled sit in cafes, play on their phones, have conference calls and so on. Which led me to think — do we do life backwards?
Physical decline
I’m only 34 yet over the past couple of years have heard more creaks and felt more pains in the first 32. When I ran my second half marathon when I was 31, I felt at my physical peak, and after two months resting up my foot, I am hoping to return there.
