Exercises in mind and body

Things that transcend politics. 

Basic humanity. List some things under that heading for yourself.  

There are fine people on both sides. 

Differences yes, total division, no.   (I was listening to a Democrat comedian today and he was saying that total division between Democrats and Republicans is wrong.  He mostly blamed Democrats for their attitude to Republicans like not speaking to them,  not wanting to share the same Thanksgiving table, not wanting to live in a neighbourhood of Republicans and told a story of a Democrat woman who moved to a Republican neighbourhood and found the Republicans were so helpful and nice she changed her views when they cleared the snow and helped her.  She couldn't believe it, she found they were normal individuals who were kind and warm and just like anybody else.  Surprise surprise, just like my post yesterday, here I am a real person just like anybody else indoors.   I wrote a poem along these lines about Britain in my dissertation collection.  The poem is called the Wreck of Britain where I put in a line about a farmer helping you with your car when you went off the road in the snow at 3am.   I have lent my collection to a friend and will see what her reaction is. 

I am currently using  You Tube to teach myself to get up from the floor.  It is quite scary when you realise that you have almost lost the ability to do it.  I can manage getting up off the floor if I have a chair or piece of furniture I can crawl to.  I have recently made sure that there is such a piece of furniture available in each room.  I am now trying to reach a level where I can get up if helpful leverage points are unavailable, like for instance if I was walking across a moor and fell and there was nobody around and nothing to grab on to. 

The ability to leap up off the ground disappears slowly and suddenly without knowing it you've lost it. 

I am gradually getting fitter, realising that old age needs me to be fitter in order to keep going both mentally and physically.  They feed into one another.   I watched a video today about life after 80 being much worse than life after 70 (and that is bad enough).  The two things that are most harmful to the 80 year old plus person is giving up walking and stress.  Stress is extremely harmful to health and our bodies don't cope with it very well, recovery being slower than when we were younger.  Loneliness and isolation is very bad for old people, they start to worry and things get out of proportion and then physical health goes down, recovery in all things like minor colds and viruses takes twice as long.  Giving up on things like walking, going outside, meeting people, are all detrimental to health.  I saw this happen to my mother.  I don't know whether I will succeed but I am certainly going to give it all I can.  I do have to push myself already so God knows what I will be like at 80, if I get there.  It is all very well to take each day as it comes but I now realise that the physical exercises I am doing do mean that I am looking beyond that to the days ahead and I think I am serious enough about it not to give them up. 

Edit:  I have now achieved getting up without a piece of furniture being available.   I have to practice it every other day.  All the other exercises I do daily.