Old, tired, ill ... and the return of optimism

Tiredness has almost overcome me.

Is this because I'm old? 

I was wondering about the effects of age on my energy levels. Somehow I found working 50-60 hour weeks exhausting - although fencing continued to have an invigorating effect. I'm not very good at fencing but it's remarkable how cheering I find a couple of hours of consensual stabbing. There's something about swordplay - especially with an epée.

But for the last couple of weeks I've missed fencing. The first was for an entirely enjoyable event at work. It  involved poetry, which has its own considerable pleasures. That was fine, though I wish more poetry events were combined with swordplay. The second was not pleasurable at all. I was unwell - extremely unwell with what seems to be this year's  flu virus.

But flu brought a realisation about age, illness and tiredness. My colleagues also succumbed to flu. They seemed to suffer worse than I did. And I remembered that they had also been tired.

I've reached the stage in my career when my colleagues are all younger than me. And now I think about it, I realise that they have been tired too. So perhaps it's not the effect of old age that I'm feeling - just illness and a job which asks a great deal.

A modest degree of optimism returns. I'll try to blog a little more often.