“Yir pallie-fittit, auld an dwaible, use ma skateboard man or ye’ll nivir mak it hame alive.”

Translate:

pallie-fittit: one with a damaged, delicate or stunted foot.

“You are troubled with an injured foot, old and a weakened person, use my skateboard man or you will never make it home alive.”

perspective.

The downside of age is that old injuries become more bothersome.

Strength decreases if you do not work to maintain it. The same goes for brainpower.

But worst of all, is the insidious robbery of ability – busy bodies full of good intentions who start doing the hard things for you – robbing you of the ability to be resilient in your old age.

If you have become dependent overmuch on others then it is not too late. Start doing tiny bits more for yourself now. And build up.

As part of a research project in 1979 Ellen Langer took a bunch of decrepit oldies and put them in an environment that mimicked what they were used to living in twenty years in the past. All forms of help that they’d become used to were removed.

They rose to the challenge, did more and enjoyed life more. Afterwards both the physical and mental abilities of the people involved showed marked and permanent improvement.

Read a full overview on the BBC here.

Use it or lose it.

If you’re a young freelancer sitting on your butt chasing a deadline, the time to start is now.

The Scottish Word: pallie fittit with its definition and its meaning illustrated and captioned with the word used in context in the Scots language and in English.