When The Sun Goes Down

There used to be a time when I was mentally exceptionally fast. I was reasonably active physically. Cycling 20-30kms was easy when i was 19. Cycling up steep hilly roads in cold (-20C) weather was quite easy and fun for me when I was 22. When I was in my early thirties I would ride by cycle to office, which was about 5km each way and of course then put in 8 fairly stressful  ours. Of late, I find my energy decreasing, both physical and mental. Things which were ridiculously easy earlier, now require an effort. Sit ups, cycling, walking seem a little difficult. Puzzles, which I could do very fast earlier, now take twice as much time. When I write something I realize I have made spelling mistakes, something which would rarely happen earlier. When I used the word "practice" I am not sure whether it should be spelled with a "C" or a "S". I lose my documents, keys fairly regularly.

The other day, I was meeting with a friend of mine in his room in the second floor. As I walked down the steps and was about to step into the road outside his house, I realized that I had forgotten to wear my slippers. I was barefoot. None of this is really earth shattering. It just made me think.

I guess I peaked too early in life. I never realized it then. Everything seemed achievable until a few years back. I guess I have aged too fast, perhaps burnt more fuel; too little of it left now.

Now comes the interesting exercise of managing life with low fuel. It’s like you set out to cross the ocean but didn’t realize that you were burning too much diesel with too little left to carry you across. The realization hits you when you find your boat is not going as fast as it earlier did. And then you realize you have a long distance to go and you better be more careful.

The fun now is in determining what is being “more careful”. How do you regenerate your diesel in the middle of the ocean?