Dear LPG

My legs have finally forced me to admit that I have recently become less mobile than I have ever been before, and I am now really learning what it is like to be alone for big chunks of time.  I had no idea just how important it is to have a routine, until now, even though I have heard it said before.  Routine is one of the many things that so many of us take for granted.

The importance of time is something that we don’t really think about when we are younger, perhaps because we have so little of it to spare on such thoughts, because we have so much to do that there is no time to actually think.  When I first retired I thought I would have lots of time but the time that I used to work my way through each day soon got swallowed up with sorting out my home, meeting my friends and helping members of my family out.

I think that the things we do regularly; working, shopping, meeting friends, attending clubs or visiting the gym give our days and weeks a structure that they lose if you cannot get out to do them.  Even things like a hospital appointment or a visit to see the optician or dentist give our weeks the structure which I now really miss.  Because every day for me is like the next, I find it frighteningly easy to lose track of time.

But I have found the most unlikely new timepiece, one that we all have and should utilise perhaps a little more as we get older.  The television is the thing that I am talking about.  There is so much variety of education, entertainment and information to choose from these days that finding a channel that you like or a few programs that you can follow, is one really good way to keep up to date. 

There are many news and current affairs programs on in the mornings and I have chosen a favourite and use it to have my breakfast with. I often have it on one particular channel and even though I am not watching all day, I can tell the time roughly by what program they are showing.   The stations that show really old programmes have provided me with memories of programmes that I have not seen for years and it is nice to see them again and catch up with the episodes I missed the first time round. 

They usually come on at the same time every day, or each week, which can give a structureless day some structure if you find yourself unable to get out and about. 

When I was young I thought it a bit of a waste of time to spend hours watching TV, but I have to admit that my television is becoming a very important house clock these days. 

RS, Dulwich