Take it SLOW
KERRE BATTLES JET LAG AT WORK AND FINDS JOY IN A DAY OF LEISURE
Boy, it was back to work with a hiss and a roar after our glorious month-long holiday! I arrived back on a Tuesday and on the Wednesday, I was attempting to put consonants and vowels in the right order and make some semblance of sense on the radio while filling in for my colleague who had, in turn, taken himself overseas. For the first time in a very long time, I had shocking jet lag and my sleep still hasn’t really returned to any sort of normal pattern. But it’s a small price to pay for such a lovely time away.
I think, though, that whenever possible we’ll break our trips from Europe with a stop off in Hong Kong. I love the place so it will be no hardship, and I think I’m just too old to travel for 36 hours without a night’s stopover if I’m going straight back to work.
You have to be realistic about your capabilities. I remember interviewing a GP when I was writing a book about becoming middle aged, and along with all the (bloody ghastly!) physical changes I could expect as I aged, she warned me that I simply wouldn’t be able to do what I had always done in my youth. The injuries and burn out experienced by her female patients over 40 were all because they hadn’t slowed down and taken into account that they were getting older.
Just because you’re accustomed to jumping down from the deck to the lawn doesn’t mean you’ll always be able to. Lifting and carrying heavy objects – and yes, that includes grandchildren – might have been a breeze once, but you have to realise your limits as you age. And while flying across the world and going straight back to work might not have given you a moment’s concern in your thirties, in your fifties you need to take it easy. However, I made it through the week and a half without too many brain fades on air – I hope. Others might be a better judge of that.
Last weekend, I drove to Hamilton to visit my mum for the first time since I got back, chaired a discussion panel at a Waikato festival, then drove back to Auckland as I had my morning radio show the next day.
When Monday came around, it was utter bliss lying in bed and listening to the sounds of my husband heading off to work. I had all day to do nothing and the thought filled with me absolute joy. I decided to make it feel like a real day off and arranged to go and see a movie with a friend of mine who was also off work that day.
I caught the bus into town – since I wasn’t going to be rushing from one appointment to the next, I had the freedom to do that – and found the knitting and handicrafts shop in Queens Arcade that I’d read about online. I am determined to knit the next grandchild something so I can claim my real nana stripes, and the woman who owns the shop was ever so helpful. She found me a basic pattern and some beautiful soft wool, and said if I got into trouble, a group of clever craftspeople meet at the store twice a week and would gladly lend a hand. I wandered up Queen Street and, before I was due to meet my friend, I rejoined the library.
It was like being back in the ’70s. I travelled by bus. I picked up a knitting pattern. I went to the library and then to the movies. And best of all, just as I’d once had all those years ago as a girl, I had all the time in the world.