Swan Song
Apparently swans mate for life. This may be a case of not having another option as you rarely see a big bunch of swans hanging around the water cooler. Once they have paired off, with giddy haste at finding another swan at all, the hissing and wing beating begins soon after as familiarity brings the ubiquitous contempt and they loathe the sight of each other. Still, stuck together they are, so they get on with it through gritted bill and sheer determination not to let the legend down.
As the years move forward we do not remain the same person but grow and change with circumstance and age. This means that our other swan may not always be as thrilled with us as they once were and vice versa.
There is not a person in the land who has not imagined a large weight falling out of the sky, à la Tom and Jerry, to render their partner flat as a pancake. This is a normal occurrence and should be embraced, as it is a cartoon fantasy and not a reality, which of course would be far messier with much worse consequences.
The soaring divorce rate is not as shocking as it seems. People got fed up with each other long before such statistics were published regularly but they tried harder or led separate lives without separating.
We could examine today’s discontent by looking at the role of women in the work place and their increasing financial independence and therefore freedom since the First World War but that would take a book.
It seems the limited attention span of couples today leads to temper tantrums and storming out to start again with someone else, where once the honeymoon period is over, the same thing will happen all over again. Staying power is not considered an attribute anymore.
There is nothing wrong with working at something. In the vows of for better or worse etc, we do kind of promise to give it a good go and not fall at the first fence. However this does not mean that you are not allowed to change or grow or become something other than what was on your CV before.
When someone tells me, with a certain amount of pride, that they have been wearing the same skirt for twenty years, since the age of nineteen I do wonder what their life has been about. We cannot avoid changing physically even if we can put our hands over our ears and drown out the noise of a fast moving world.
As we all know, the inside bits and the outside bits have been changing since we arrived in the delivery room. We may not be as aware of detrimental internal changes until it’s too late. Eating healthily and exercising may be touted as being all about appearance with DVDs, books and creams being promoted by celebrities who tell us that with ‘just five minutes a day’ we can look like them. Really we should be looking to the health of our internal organs, maintaining flexibility and keeping our minds sharp. Anything good happening on the exterior is a bonus.
Starving yourself to be thin is not clever and is doing untold damage to your liver, kidneys, heart and more. Exercising manically is putting strain on your joints and muscles and sitting for hours at a screen does not enhance your conversational abilities or lead to opportunities for socialising.
Looking at the big picture shows us that a simple amount of upkeep will behove us later in life.
Some of the most important organs after your heart are your bones. Did you know that bones are counted as rigid organs? Ones that move, support and protect your other organs. Your femur is the biggest of the 206 bones in your body.
Bones are alive, they grow and change all the time until you reach about 25yrs then they stop growing larger. You will have all met someone who has shrunk, with age, in a shocking manner – don’t let that be you.
Bones are in a constant cycle called remodelling, with the construction of new bone occurring as the old bone breaks down to be reabsorbed into the body. The bones not only act as your support system, the skeleton, but also as a storage facility for minerals. When other body tissues require these minerals the bones can provide them.
You need to build bones by exercising. Any load bearing exercise will do. Take the stairs and avoid the lift. Lift weights (they don’t have to be heavy ones!) in the gym. Dancing, playing tennis or just plain old brisk walking will suffice. About 30 minutes a day of this kind of exercise will do you the world of good and keep you standing tall.
As we age bones become brittle and can snap like a twig, with the accompanying noise. When you are younger they bend and spring back. If you break a bone later in life the healing time is increased and the break may not mend neatly leaving you with a visible lump or bump.
Calcium is a bone’s best friend. Calcium is found in, amongst other things, nuts, broccoli and dairy products such as yoghurt and cheese. If you don’t like the taste of milk make creamy sauces and eat ice cream while comforting yourself with the notion that a bowl of Rocky Road is to benefit your health.
Vitamin D works in conjunction with calcium to stop bones becoming thin or brittle, or as we age, fights osteoporosis so plenty of sunshine and time spent outdoors is essential.
The nerves, muscles and the heart also rely on calcium to function. The body does not produce calcium so we need it in our diet. If there is not enough in the body to satisfy the needs of these tissues the bones will break down to provide it, resulting in thin brittle snappy bones. If you can’t be bothered to keep an eye on your diet just take a pill everyday.
Loss of mobility is annoying and ageing. Start doing gentle exercise to maintain ease of movement such as yoga or pilates. Yoga is easily done at home, with a DVD or even a book. Pilates is better in a class where the instructor can adjust your positions so you get the most out of your efforts. You can regain an astonishing amount of mobility so do not think it’s not worth giving it a go.
It is never too soon to start preventative exercise and eating thoughtfully.
Oh, by the way, a bunch of swans is called a bevy or a lamentation and swans in flight formation are called a wedge – learning new things keeps you young so exercise your brain too.
Happy Trails, Readers, Happy Trails.
First Published August 2012 By The Dart
