This is one of numerous articles I wrote for the Sunday News
(Tanzania) column "Letter from Butiama" between 2005 and 2011. Publication date:
4 June 2006.
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Children spend a considerable amount of time pretending they are adults. They
can be doctors, nurses, drivers, and even parents.
When they do become doctors, nurses, drivers, and parents, they sometimes long
for the days when they were children, without the responsibilities and
challenges of adulthood. And when they grow old, they long for the youthful
energy and vigour of younger generations.
I recently pretended to be “old”, as old as a grandfather of about seventy
years of age, and someone who is a grandmother reminded me that I was far from
even being considered joining the senior citizens’ club.
I find myself increasingly preoccupied with growing old because of the frequent
signs I get that I associate with ageing. If I were a car I would probably be
approaching the reconditioning stage. New is out of the question.
In the recent past, whenever I misplaced my cell phone and could not find it, I
would dial my number using another handset and when it rang I would unearth it
from a pile of books or clothes. Recently, I misplaced my handset, called my
number, and it rang from the pocket of a trouser I was wearing.
Science is yet to conclusively establish how human memory functions, but one
thing that is certain is that older people are affected by memory loss. The
good news is that it is a gradual process. We do not suddenly go from having
normal memories to none. We begin by forgetting where we left the house keys,
and progress to more serious memory deficiencies.
Fortunately, there are many aids that can help to counter the effects of age
and memory loss. When I once complained to someone about my poor memory, she
told me that glucose intakes improve memory, but I have a problem remembering
to buy the glucose. I am not a doctor so you may want to consult one if you
consider that option.
Frequent participation in memory exercises also helps those who are affected
with memory loss. Some of these exercises involve looking at a large list of
names or numbers and then attempting to recall as many as possible.
Improvements to electronic gadgets and accessories may also help to reduce
incidences of forgetting. Cell phones and computers contain personal reminders
that will remind us of an appointment next year as long as we remember to feed
in the information beforehand.
I have other suggestions. If you happen to be one of those people who remember
the right thing at the wrong time, such as remembering that your birthday is
next August, but actually forget it is your birthday on the day itself, then
what you probably have to do is get used to carrying a small notebook. The
procedure is that each time you remember some errand, task, or appointment you
note it down on the notebook and later transfer it to a diary.
If remembering is crucial to your daily activity it is quite helpful and
convenient and will save you from a lot of disappointments. One important point
is you have to develop the habit of opening that diary first thing every
morning before you begin work; otherwise, whatever you record will be of no
use.
A common problem I encounter is forgetting an item I have to carry out when I
leave in the morning. To remember I place that item at the door in such a
manner that the only way I would leave the room is to step on it or over it.
If you have stick-on papers they are extremely convenient as reminders. You jot
down your reminder and place them where you cannot miss them: on the monitor of
your computer, on your desk, on your bedroom mirror, on the toilet door, or on
the first bottle of your favourite beer when you sit down to relax with your
fellow “stakeholders” of the beer industry. Normally, one’s memory should not
be affected by one beer.
There are some memory problems that may not have immediate solutions. I once
opened a file to inspect some documents and placed my car keys on the open
file. I believe I turned over a few pages of the file, forgetting to remove the
keys, closed the file and returned it to the shelf. I discovered the keys some
years later on opening the file again. I do not remember the file subject, but
I suspect it was my employees’ pay rise applications.
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