Wee! I’m old and happy!
The verdict was out. I stared at the screen in dismay as two digits splayed out in a big, loud fashion – 73. How could it be? How could I have degenerated so fast over the last few days?
According to the screen, I was 73 years old. But, barely a week ago was I only 63! So, what happened?
I couldn’t accept this fact. Depression overcame me as I slumped in the couch, pressing my knuckles and letting them sink deeply into the plush leather seat – my comfort zone – and reflected upon my own misery.
I can’t be that old, I thought. I had breezed through the tennis, smashed the bowling pins and almost had the pitcher flown away from the strong gush of wind created by the intensity of the ball I had hit!
So, how could I have aged 10 years in four days?
I sighed, and wallowed in misery even further.
But, deep, deep inside me, I know. Truth of the matter is, I’m not a sporty person. I mean, tennis? The ball isn’t even in my court! Bowling? That’s not up my alley. And baseball? Gosh! This, I should have scored since I do most of my running at home.
“It’s okay, you’ll do better the next round,” Stuart consoled me with a sly grin. Of course, he was at least 20 years younger!
A few rounds of self-reflection (those games aren’t my favourite and I’ve yet to find my forte) and self-motivation (at least I’m not a centenarian, there’s still room to go!).
Keeping fit has always been an elusive challenge for me. The minute I think of doing exercise, something would crop up and prevent me taking action. So, when this little white thing appeared in my life a week ago, and looked very promising to sort out my existing exercise regime, I decided to just give it a go. The selections available were tempting, and they were screaming and yelling to me to be pally with them. So I did! And very quickly, I was hooked.
Tennis, boxing, baseball, bowling. You name it, I’m game! Because all I have to do is press a button and I can play standing up, sitting down or even lying down on that soft, plush couch.
Welcome to Wii Sports. I bet you’d known what I was talking about if you already had one fixed in your home.
What’s the beauty of this game? Well, according to my observation and some active participation, it can be concluded that Wii Sports (or some other games) can be a pretty good tool for family and friends bonding. It lets two people who can be 50 years apart in age become the best of friends in just two seconds.
It lets two people who are in love to be either more in love, or to hate each other’s guts so much that they swear never to see their partner. Stuart had the cheek to beat me in boxing, so you can only guess how well-treated he was after that.
It lets parents step into the world of their computer-games addict children and learn to appreciate the fun of playing together as a family.
There was so much laughter, bantering and teasing going on while Stuart and I were playing with our niece and nephew. Later, when their mother joined us, we had our chance to tease back at her.
Now, if you were to add all our ages up, it would be more than a hundred. But still, we all behaved as if we were only 15. So there you go. We’ve easily and effortlessly closed the huge and ugly generation gap with just a touch of a button.