I travelled round Europe a few years ago and I took it in my stride. I drank like a fish, slept little and travelled thousands of miles. Now I need an afternoon nap to get by.
Jalapeno chilli peppers are a perfect illustration of my slide out of youth. Once I could devour these by the mouthful, their burning taste feeling great as they slipped down, one after the next. Now it's a 20 minute gut-wrenching roller coaster of pain in the morning if I try and tackle the spiciest of chillis. This might be that no one should eat bucket loads of spicy peppers, and that that much chilli should leave you humming that infamous Johnny Cash song after 15 minutes on the toilet. But it might also mean that my body is fighting back.
I used to be able to drink 12 pints when I was 18. I even went through a brief stage where I didn't even get hangovers. I had toned my liver and kidneys to be able to handle the workload, my brain had come to enjoy that much alcohol in my system. Last night I had 4 beers and this morning I didn't feel great. When I was 18, 4 beers was warming up - it's a sad day when you realise you have had your peak. My days of excess are getting shorter.
I groan when I sit up. I don't know when it started, but I was alone in a room the other day and as I sat up I heard a low grunt. It was me. I groan when I stand as well. It's a sobering though to think that from now on, all my life, sitting up is only going to get harder and louder. It will also only get slower, more painful and eventually impossible - and the first reminder of this inevitability? That groan.
I also tire easier, seek out more comfortable situations like sofas (a quick sit down has become a regular phrase. how many times did I need a 'quick sit down' when I was 17??) and teenagers bug me. But that's for a whole other, bile-filled blog.
Anyway, I hope not to depress all you people who are older than me. I must go for my nap now, anyway.
No comments:
Post a Comment