Have you noticed the lose of an ability as you get older.

I can’t kneel on the floor any more. Knees do play up now and then. The rot started several Christmases ago, when I was kneeling on the floor for ages, wrapping presents. Why on earth I didn’t sit at the dining room table to do it, I don’t know - I dare say it was covered with a load of cr*p, as usual, and I was too lazy to put it all away.

I can’t see dust unless I put my glasses on, but funnily enough that doesn’t bother me at all (where’s the slut emoji??)

Nothing much different from when I was younger but then I never did do anything strenuous or adventurous!

I haven't been able to get in and out of a bath for a long time but am reasonably agile otherwise.
My joints are okay with running but my bladder isn't!
My hands are quite arthritic so opening jars etc. is difficult and my grip is not very strong.
I can do more now I am retired than when I was working. I was very stiff with sitting all day at a desk.

I can kneel down quite well. But I can't get back up very easily and have to sort of roll to one side and haul myself back onto my feet, a bit like a beached whale. Can't wait for my TKR op.

No agility problems, can still run, walk, bend, climb, touch my toes etc., but, my sense of smell has deteriorated and, like others, my grip is not too good, now have trouble opening screw top jars and bottles, probably due to having trigger finger - am awaiting hospital consultation, which has been postponed due to covid. But all in all, don't feel much different to how I felt in my 30s and 40s.

I used to be able to do cartwheels. No call for them these days.

Not the same when wearing "directoires" Urmston

merlotgran

I was amused to hear Joanna Lumley say how delighted she was when her doctor wrote 'Still cuts her own toenails,' as the result of a check up.

So can I but I have to sit on the loo to do it. It's the perfect height for a comfortable reach and focal distance!

Yes, I saw that, just brilliant!

I can cut them but painting them a lovely colour tends to result in nail varnish in unexpected places.

paddyanne

My handwriting's a disgrace,I used to have lovely neat writing now its a scrawl at best .That'll be because the only thing I handwrite is Christmas cards .Maybe I should give myself lines to copy every day to improve it .

I find the same, so perhaps it's a case of use it or lose it, paddyanne.

I have a mental picture of my various medical issues standing in a queue (certainly no social distancing here!) When each gets to the top, it reigns for an undetermined period, before going down to the back. Occasionally they all seem to have take a communal short holiday, but regrettably come back invigorated and often indulge themselves in a bit of queue jumping. During their holiday period, should I enjoy the respite and start doing various things that they would normally not allow me to do, the news of my activities obviously reaches them and they rush back greatly irritated to wreak vengeance.

I can't balance as well as I used to. I have to take extra care climbing ladders and trees.

I was told that how long you can stand on one leg, with your eyes shut, is a good test of fitness. I must be very unfit - can't do it at all!

I also struggle getting back up from kneeling when gardening (must stop kneeling, before I get stranded, I just keep forgetting).

I can get in the bath but I can no longer get out again. So shower it is.
I can kneel but have great difficulty getting back up again.
I can't open jars (basal thumb arthritis).
I can't run, it's a kind of wobbly, slightly-faster-than-normal walk these days.
I can't sing anymore
I can't get a solid night's sleep. Ever. It's always punctuated with trips to the lav. How I yearn to lay down my head and not stir for 8 hours!

But I can cut my own toenails!
And I can say the alphabet backwards

I recall reading that one of the criteria of youth is to be able to put your jeans on without holding on to anything. Can't do that anymore. Officially old.

That's me Bathsheba - I shall join you on the 'official' list

What a question! Where to start?!

It`s more a question of what I CAN do now, which is a lot less than what I can`t!

I can still touch my nose with my big toe (though why I would want/need to do that escapes me for the moment. ?)

I can’t get out of the bath and haven’t been able to since before my op, sadly it’s no better now and I really, really miss a good long soak! if the bath is a corner bath I can sometimes manage by squirming round into a kneeling position, and then pulling myself up with the bath edge. I don’t seem to have the strength to rise from lying down without pulling myself up. I struggle too with getting up from sitting on the ground eg a picnic and have to either pull myself up using a fence or tree! Or use an ungainly pose of kneeling then going onto all fours then pushing down with my hands and sliding my legs out and pushing up! Sadly this means that passers by get a wide view of my rear?
I can cut my own toe nails and I have no problem bending my legs up.
I still can still sit cross legged and do the lotus position which is great?

To suffer fools.

Did anyone hear of the time Rod Stewart was knighted? Prince Charles dubbed him knight by tapping his shoulders with the ceremonial sword while Rod knelt on the kneeler.

"You can get up now," Prince Charles said.
"That's easier said than done." replied Rod.
"It doesn't get any better," said a laughing Prince Charles.

Nice story Spangler!
?

Worse thing for me is that I don’t seem to have enough strength in my legs these days to get me up from either kneeling or squatting (rummaging about in low cupboards or the freezer invariably leaves me stranded). I have a kneeler with handles for the garden. Perhaps I should have one for inside! I have very little strength in my hands also, and my pinch grip is very poor now. No picnic, getting older, is it?

Thanks so much everyone, it's so hugely supportive to read threads like this and realise it's not just me! I raise my (insert drink of choice) to you all, bless you!

Well, I can't read magazines and books any more except for about 5 minutes at a time, because of neck issues. Or do sewing or anything where I need to look downwards. I have pain and soreness everywhere and I feel tired all the time. Luckily I don't think I have lost any of my mental acuity (yet) though I live in dread of it because my mother had dementia. I try to do all sorts of stuff to keep my brain in good order.

I can get one leg of leggings on standing on the other with no bother but when it comes to the other I find that leg is stiffer to lift and I can be a bit wobbly so stand near a wall just in case.
Diagnosed with a macular hole last year which was caught just in time. Surgery earlier this year but can still only see clearly with one eye. Old age problems definitely creeping up.