Kathy Lette: The best way to stay young and stave off dementia is outside of your comfort zone

WHY had I pushed myself out of my comfort zone? At my age, I should be sitting at home knitting my own bus pass, right?Wrong. Research shows that the best way to stay young and stave off dementia, is to learn new skills and to challenge yourself, writes Kathy Lette

CLEARLY my midlife crisis has started without me. As I stood in the wings of the theatre, wracked with nerves, gnawing my nails up to my elbows with anxiety, it seemed the only explanation as to why I was performing a one-woman show at the Edinburgh Festival. Or perhaps I’d undergone some kind of brain seizure? Talk about delusions of grandeur.

As I fretted there in the dark, what was really worrying me was that there might be more people on the stage than in the audience! The danger of doing a one-woman show is that it’s so easy to fall out with the cast. By the time the curtain went up, I was barely talking to myself.

But, in the end, the audience laughed, the show was well reviewed and, after 10 more gigs, I was floating so far above cloud nine I had to look down to see it.

Now, the Edinburgh Fringe is not my natural habitat. My natural habitat is a library or a local deli or at my desk putting pun to paper.

So, why had I put myself through the whole stressful ordeal? Why had I pushed myself out of my comfort zone? At my age, I should be sitting at home knitting my own bus pass, right?

Wrong. Research shows that the best way to stay young and stave off dementia, is to learn new skills and to challenge yourself. Which is why, with my 60th birthday approaching, I’m carpe-ing the hell out of diem like there’s no tomorrow. I mean, if not now, when?

And it’s a good motto for us all. When was the last time you tried something new? Or set new goals like learning a language or a musical instrument? Mastering sudoko or running a marathon?

The only thing I run up are bills, but I have started taking on more physical challenges. Two weeks ago I walked the Fife coastal path with a group of middle-aged girlfriends. We walked 190km in five days. When I tell you that my walking companions were the comediennes, Sandi Toksvig and Arabella Weir, you’ll believe me when I say that our lips lost weight from the amount of laughing we did. But, as well as having fun, we also raised $60,000 for a charity, Their World, which helps get disadvantaged kids into education.

And walking on the wild side (literally) whet my appetite for more adventure. Instead of heading home when my gigs finished, on impulse I’ve diverted to Loch Ness to try my hand at kayaking.

Scotland’s a funny place. They eat sheep’s stomachs – of their own free will. They toss huge tree trunks through the air – for fun. Party invitations read “trousers optional”. Yep, the men wear skirts without tights, in such windy weather! Plus they have the world’s biggest monster – though nobody’s ever really seen it.  One thing’s for sure, Nessie is a monster of marketing – a legend in its own Loch time. I may not find out if Nessie is merely a fishy figment of imagination or the world’s most mysterious aquatic enigma, but I’ll certainly have fun trying. The whole tale reeks of red herrings. I mean, there may have been 1067 sightings – but there’s also 1067 whisky distilleries nearby…

Of course, one needs to drink a lot of Scotland’s famous whisky to stave off hypothermia. (I love the Scottish summer – it’s my favourite day of the year.) And too much Glenfiddich can be the only explanation as to why I found myself attempting to master reeling last night.

Scottish dancing is really more of a contact sport. “Highland fling” actually refers to how you get flung about on the dance floor.

But it’s also the most incredible fun.

In fact, psychologists say that on the happiness scale, a caleigh rates as the most fulfilling and pleasurable activity on Earth – even more satisfying than sex. So you can guess my next aim – to have sex AT a caleigh! Don’t worry. I’m not really going to put the tart into tartan. But I do think it’s vital to live life to the full. For the sake of your mental and physical health.

So don’t put things off for another nanosecond. Take that tango lesson. Book that bungee jump. Learn Latin, sky dive or wrestle in jelly.… A “comfort zone” is not just a boring postcode, it’s also a step too close to the grave.