Balancing Activity Against Stress

At my age, I try not to compare myself to others as far as what I should be able to do, to accomplish each day. Each of us has different limits. These limits are determined by age, by health, by inner stamina levels, and by many other factors. So I look instead at how I compare from this year to last year, or a few years ago.

Currently, I've upped my activity level quite a bit. With the possibility of that re-piping under the house, and the moving of stuff inside here to allow access to the pipes inside the walls, I've been very busy. I've been lifting, toting, carrying, packing, sorting, and even donating.

Along the way, I'm gifting some things to a dear friend, others to a local charity, and tossing stuff that should have been tossed earlier.

Add to that the fact that everything revolves around water usage. I have a neighbor who keeps filling up water jugs for me to use. But that means carrying them in, two at a time, every other day. It means pouring water to rinse my dishes and to wash my dishes; it means pouring water for drinking. Veggies and fruits need to be rinsed. And of course there are normal bathroom concerns. It is all reasonably easy to do, but there is so much of it. We take our water usage for granted, and it is something I will never do again.

My concern is that I do not want it to get so stressful that I make myself sick. That will not help me down the line. I have enough active brain cells left to know that much.

So I will try to be wise and not go overboard. I had a taste of that when I fell the other day. Thankfully, nothing was broken. But it was enough to remind me that aside from eternal happiness, our health is one of our biggest responsibilities to ourselves.

Yep, I will keep on keeping on, but I will be sensible about how much I pressure myself in doing so.