Column

*Near enough is not good enough when we are marketing health*  

About five years ago, while brushing my teeth in a hotel room at a conference, I looked up to see the back of a fat bloke bending over a sink.

It took me a couple of seconds to work out that I do not share my room with a fat bloke, so it must be me in the mirror behind.

I vowed that I would improve my physical fitness so that I feel I can get undressed with the lights on, which is why, at about 7 a.m., I can be found wheezing along the towpath of the Rhine, trying to look like I am enjoying myself, or at least trying to look as if I will make it out of sight before collapsing with a heart attack.

I have not set my sights on becoming a long distance runner; 5 km is about all I can manage.

Though having said that, my nephew, who is a very fit triathlete, has entered me for the Basel Run to the Beat in September. 

He just might have found something that will give me the impetus to push a bit harder. 

So on Monday, instead of counting the steps, I started to think about what went wrong. How did I let myself sink that far?

My days were always full; I do not do nothing well.

But something must have changed.

I know I have always been a good eater; it was one of my more attractive features when entertained by the mothers of girlfriends.

So perhaps my metabolism has slowed down, and I should moderate my eating habits. 

Somehow, that sounds like a cop out. It is more likely that I have adjusted to a comfortable lifestyle and begun the slow slide down until death.

I am reminded of Dylan Thomas: Do not go gentle into that good night / Rage, rage against the dying of the light

So I will not slow down. I will enter that marathon, even if I have to walk the last 30 km.

And I will finish a SWOT for the dermatology project I am working on, and I will make sure it is done to the best of my ability.

Near enough is not good enough when we are marketing health.