Accepting my Elder-Limits

Less than five years ago, I can remember having a lot more stamina than I have now at 73. Back then, it was nothing for me to hit five or six stores in one trip, catching various sales. Add to that, back then I was filling five 5-gallon jugs of water and had no trouble bringing them in the house.

These days, it seems my limit is three stores, and I'm more comfortable with just two. And I've downsized the water jugs from 5-gallon size to 3-gallon size.

This morning, I had to add another limit to my current stamina level. It seems that I'm going to need to take a brief rest after I bring everything home, before putting it all away. I'll put away the perishables into the fridge and freezer, but I'll let the rest go until I relax for a half hour or so.

What made me realize this? Well, this morning I came home after two stores, brought in two 3-gallon jugs of water and two 20-pack cartons of soda and 10 pounds of potatoes. I immediately began putting it all away. In the midst of stashing the half gallon of OJ into the fridge, I thought I'd do myself a favor and fill up a little jar we use for a single serving. The bottle fell from my hands in mid-pour and sloshed all over the kitchen floor and under the fridge. I almost cried.

Cleaning up sticky OJ is not one of my fave pastimes. I had to get Frank, in all his pain, to wiggle and "walk" the fridge out far enough for me to clean up under it. I had to get a bucket of water and some rags and, well, you can imagine the mess.

The hard part was that at that point, the sloshing point, I was already realizing I was beat and should sit for a few minutes. I went just one step too far.

After the cleanup and washing the little throw rugs from the kitchen and the rags, I realized that I do need to change my routine just a bit from here on in.

I know that Frank can easily bring those things inside for me, but I need the activity. I just need to space it out better. Most of what I do is sitting down - the computer, my blog, my Etsy shop, my crafts. So I like to move when I can. I absolutely hate, hate, hate housework so that is not a motivating exercise for me. If I had the money, I would gladly pay someone to do that for me. So, for now, grocery shopping and lugging the stuff inside and putting it away is a welcome break from all that sitting. Except, of course, that nowadays, I'll take a break after putting stuff into the fridge and freezer, before I stash the pantry things.

Sweet Jesus, thank you for helping me with the fortitude and stamina I needed this morning to clean up my mess. And thank you, too, for the wisdom to know how I need to adapt to my gently aging body which the Father has so graciously lent to me.