Waiting for the start of this week’s Pilates class I chatted to my neighbour about how, in ten years of classes, I’d never progressed from the intermediate class. I added that while I would like to say ‘I loved the class’, but the truth is that it hurts. I added that the reason I keep coming back is that I know it is doing me good. During the short break between ‘terms’I find my joints stiffening up and aching each morning as I get out of bed – when the classes re-start the pain goes away.

Her response was insightful. As we age, she said, our focus should no longer be about ‘improvement’, but about stopping the decline. She is so right, in most aspects of life as we age our focus should be to find a way to keep going – principally because the alternative is not that attractive!