I noticed my eyesight going last year at 44. I would struggle to see some small print, pushing things away and bringing them forward to try to read, say, the medicine bottle. Even when wood burning I’d notice it’s easier with my glasses on. When I asked the optician about this he said “That’s old age mate”, and he was right. It’s not gotten any worse but it’s not gotten any better. It’s not going to and I need to accept that. And I ended up having to get glasses. Extra glasses! Glasses to put on top of my contact lenses. This sounds mental but it’s true, and it does work, even with my £1 Asda glasses.
But, and this is a big but, I don’t feel older. I feel better. I’m moving more, stronger, which suits me now at this age. Most men get fatter as they get older not stronger. Bigger yes but weaker. I’m not looking at competing under 70kg anymore which after weighing myself this morning I’m 87.5kg and that’s after two sessions of bjj this week and feeling pretty dehydrated. So my old maxim of ‘I’m not getting older, I’m getting better’ still reigns true and I hope I can continue this. There is no reason why I can’t do jiu-jitsu at 70, 80 or 90 and if I want to, I will. Maybe I’ll move onto something else by 90.