Forwards and occasionally sidewards – everyday musings of life

Feeling fully energised, properly fuelled by a decent breakfast, and thoroughly motivated, my first table tennis match of the morning was against Kevin. Keen not to pick up where I’d left off yesterday, I got my eye in quickly and started racking up points, setting a solid tone for the rest of the morning.

In fact, I won every single game I played against a whole mix of opponents. I felt confident, enthused, and even keen to show off a few new shots and a tweaked grip

Crucially, I left before the tide could turn. I’ve become far more mindful that there is a precise moment when my energy—and physical fuel—begins to drop off a cliff, and that is the exact moment to pack up the kit bag.

Pleased as punch with the morning’s performance, I headed home to dog-sit Ludo, who is staying with us for the week.

Riding that wave of triumph, a mid-afternoon burst of energy saw me tackle a host of minor jobs around the house that had been quietly niggling at me for weeks. You know the type: small, fiddly tasks that technically take five minutes to complete, preceded by thirty minutes of hunting for the right screwdriver, clearing a workspace, or shifting half the contents of the room out of the way first.

Fired up from the morning, I felt entirely invincible.

Predictably, by 4:30 PM, I ran completely out of steam. I really ought to have applied my table tennis strategy to DIY and stopped while I was still ahead.

Still, it was a hugely successful day, and a proper milestone achieved on the table.