The benefits of ageing (yep, there are some!)

Hearing becomes a little dull when you age, so the benefit there is you are not always aware of the scathing remarks, or the inane muttering of your husband! Just joking of course.

Sight gets a little blurred; no worries! Can’t see the dust and the wrinkles clearly. I once borrowed a magnifying mirror from a friend, and almost ran screaming from the room at my image. It was truly scary. The lesson there is don’t look in a magnifying mirror.

You need to walk a little slower, but this gives you time to talk the ears off people you meet. Which brings me to another aspect of age; the fact that you become less aware of what a drivelling bore you are. I am not saying this is me, but I do know some…

Fashion sense encompasses comfort, not speed. Instead of wearing figure-hugging things, we wear the comfortable things more. I sometimes throw caution to the winds as I did last week, and wore tights, tight leggings and another pair of lace trousers over the top, the result was a stomach unable to expand, result after eating dinner, was severe pain! So mostly I wear the nice elastic waist pants. I have not yet drifted into wearing the tracksuit though. Clothes in general are less important, having the latest fashion is not a problem, not that I could afford it! But things come back in fashion too, so sometimes in the back of the wardrobe will be a recycled item ready for another airing. Think the hot pants are a lost cause though.

You learn all the shortcuts in life and apply them. I mean like I do as much as I can in bed, and it does not mean what it once did! I write my diary, organise the shopping list, and sort my U3A papers, I also hop back under the covers after a shower to apply my make- up. Might as well be comfortable, as I make my ancient face presentable.

We fold washing not iron it, we use tongs to pick things up, and a long handled dustpan and brush. So we save a lot of time with these ‘old-timers’ tricks of the trade, not sure what we do with the time, exactly. We have learned how to save time in the kitchen too. If I hand wash something I leave it dripping over the tap or the shower, so saving spin drying it; letting gravity do the work.

Being older makes you crafty. I no longer iron hankies into neat triangles I fold each one in four and iron over the top of the pile. My husband uses so many; I don’t have the time or inclination to spend ages ironing them. As he says the first thing you do is shake it out anyway!

I can see through a scam, a salesman’s drivel or a phone call that will be wasting my time in seconds, and never bother to waste breath, I just put the phone down. If I was younger and naive the way I was I would have let them talk me into a ‘demonstration’ or three books of tickets to sell.

I give my feet a beauty treatment while sitting out on the ‘non-public’ side of the veranda, soaking them in scented water as I write notes or sip a coffee. Multi- tasking you see. When I was younger I would have not had the courage to do some things. Becoming older you throw caution to the winds. You just think, “Who the heck cares”…. When life is short and racing faster like the toilet roll at the end; we have to cram life into every moment…Use the short cuts, wear the comfortable clothes, and enjoy the sunshine instead of ironing your knickers!

What are the other benefits of ageing for you?