Half way

I was chatting to my mum a few months ago as she was making a cup of tea and she told me that she always counts as she's filling the kettle. Isn't it odd that we can find out new things about the people we're closest, too, even after fifty years? I recognise that counting behaviour, myself, although I'm not certain I have any times now when I do it compulsively.

What I still find myself doing is counting off how long things will take or how much of something is left. In some respects, this makes swimming lengths the worst possible exercise for me in terms of enjoying myself because I count all the time! How my lengths I've swum, how many left to go until I finish. It's the same on long runs: three miles done, seven to go.

Psychologically, I always feel better once I reach the halfway mark: I feel like after that, I'm going downhill (even when I'm not!). The exception to this is my age. Even optimistically, I have to accept that I'm literally middle-aged now; I must be halfway through my allotted years, in fact, I have to hope I'm only halfway. This might sound a little morbid, but, speaking as a hardcore procrastinator, this approaching 'deadline' is actually motivating me; I need to get some things done!