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Wednesday, September 08, 2004
I saw another red squirrel on the way to work yesterday morning (me, not the squirrel – he didn’t have a tie on). I thought they were meant to be rare – they’re all over the place!
This is quite a long post so I’ve included an emergency exit if you can’t face it – feel free to leave now.
Getting old isn’t great – it would be better if you didn’t. The years dribble by, the number gets bigger, but you essentially feel pretty much the same. Except for your knees and that noise you make getting out of a low chair, you’d swear you were still only 18.
Whilst climbing the mountain on Sunday, I thought I was doing quite well, moving along at quite a speed. I began to slow down after a while and eventually resorted to stopping after every step to catch my breath. Hardcore stuff, this was some serious climbing, I was to be admired. And yet the only people I met who could be impressed were coming back down the mountain – they’d already climbed up, they knew how hard it was.
And it occurred to me that climbing mountains is like getting old: you think you’re doing well, reaching a good age, deserve some recognition. “My god, you went up THAT!” “Wow, you’re 31, you must be so wise.” But loads of people have already been up there before you, been your age already, done what you’ve done already. You can’t ask for admiration or sympathy or even whisper a complaint – you’re not the first and you won’t be the last. I suppose that’s how the world works.
So I’m just going to keep on climbing up the mountain, noticing the things around me that others miss, keeping quiet about them just in case they didn’t.
You should have used that exit when you had the chance!
.....posted at 11:24 am permalink
babyatom's
old BIG BLOGS
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