Being in my sixtieth year is a good place to be. Many of my contemporaries will disagree but it can be the time of your life where there is still much to enjoy and look forward to without the anxieties that use to keep me awake a couple of decades ago.

I had the conversation that is often played out as to what age would we like to go back to. Those of a certain age tend to default to around thirty. In the past I would have agreed but this time I thought no. I’m happy with where I am today. If I time traveled back thirty years I would be fretting over the security of my job, the size of my derrière, and what other people thought of me. Plus retirement would be a distant dream. Three decades on those anxieties have melted away through the passing of time and some heavy lifting. And retirement is just around the corner. Of course when I talk about retirement I am referring to leaving my full-time job and getting my pension. It will then be a time to take some chances.

Last Sunday I trotted along to Sweatlife 2018 billed as the ultimate fitness festival. An opportunity to try fitness classes with a range of strange names and join workshops on fitness related subjects. I had planned to do a combination of both but in the end stuck with the workshops.

I kicked it off with a talk from Steve Ingham, a sport scientist who has supported sporting greats such as Steve Redgrave and Jess Ennis Hill. Where Jess was concerned the challenge was to apply science to getting her to a position where her endurance event (800 metres) was just as formidable as the six preceding power events. He succeeded. And I bought his book.

Second up was a workshop on starting your own wellness business. I actually found myself putting up my hand when asked who wanted to set up their own wellness business. My mind started buzzing with ideas. I even had a crazy notion that I could go into partnership with my daughter. She is studying to be a therapist. Who knows.

I finished off in a session which questioned the notion of the expert. With social media awash with celebrities giving advice on health and fitness how do you work out what is right and what is just the latest reality star making money promoting some dodgy product. One of the panel advocated a tick system to be awarded to those organisations/ people who had proven credibility. I did point out that his idea was somewhat flawed when you consider how the NHS and other revered commentators advocated a low-fat diet which was based on fairly flawed research and has resulted in an obesity epidemic.

All in all a day well spent. I will be going back next year where I intend to join the odd class or two.

My week ended up at the theatre. Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. I’ve been there on a number of occasions but this time I went a bit more high brow. A production of The Turn of the Screw. But I failed to note when booking it that it was the operatic version. A minute or two in my error was blatantly obvious. I then had to endure two hours of incoherent screeching. Even after the interval with the benefit of purchased lyrics (is that the correct term?) I was still none the wiser. Fortunately my friend had read the book so filled in the gaps. Plus I had a glass of wine in my hand to get me through.

I can now say that I have done opera and will not be doing it again.