I lie to my doctor

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 My GP asks about exercise at every appointment. I used to answer honestly. Then I worked out that honesty, in this specific context, creates more paperwork than insight.


The honest answer involves my left knee, four decades of sea service, and a Japanese pedometer company that invented the ten thousand steps target in 1964 as a marketing slogan. My GP has a laminated poster about it.

So I give her what the clipboard needs. Yes, getting out most days. Bit of a walk. Keeping things moving. Brief eye contact. Satisfied GP. Eight-minute appointment preserved for something we can actually do something about.

At 67, you understand that honesty is a principle, not a reflex. You deploy it where it matters. The consulting room lifestyle audit is not where it matters.

My blood pressure has been much calmer since I stopped telling the truth about my step count. The GP would call that ironic. I'd call it cause and effect.

More at http://theoldgreythinker.substack.com

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