I was ready  to write about going to see a Shakespeare production in Beaulieu and then KAPOW! The Lionesses worked their magic on Tuesday night and I cannot igore that. How to blend Shakespeare with women's football and why have I picked those topics? hmmm... here goes...

Sunday evening down at Bucklers Hard was a beautiful setting for an amateur production of "Much Ado about Nothing"  We sat on the bank with picnics and fold up chairs and enjoyed a really superb play. Everyone was word perfect and it took me back to my school days, learning lines for our school plays. (ME on the stage! I know! Can you believe?!). There is a real knack to not only learning the lines but also when to come in, where to stand and so on. I recall an interview with Dame Judy Dench on losing her eyesight and how she needed to find  a new way of learning her lines. Doesn't it go to show that with practise and repetition, we can achieve so much - in this case, hours of dialogue delivered perfectly.

In the Michael Mosley series I mentioned last week, one experiment was for ageing adults to learn 3 new things consecutively for improving cognitive function. It is so easy to write something off as too hard or too much effort, but if we actually want it, we can recondition and learn differently. So when you are trying a new exercise for example (or a new hobby or activity), stick at it.... it just needs repetition and practice, much the same as if you are learning your lines for treading the boards (or grass!). This will help keep our brains working and help with memory and cognitive funcion.

So to the Lionesses... I must admit that I am not that interested in football but this is different- this is women in sport and that is something I am passionate about. Not just that but look what these girls are doing for equality in sport and demanding respect for a job well done. So many young girls will be influenced by believing that anything is possible. So many boys will learn to take girls's sports seriously where perhaps historically it has been considered second rate. They show good sportsmanship, team camaraderie, friendship, hard work and a "never give up" attitude- they are a credit to us all and I so admire what they are achieving. Add to that a wonderful connection across the country, uniting people in a shared excitement.

So whether you are learning lines for a 3 hour play or training for a world class sporting challenge, the fact is that we can all achieve so much if we just stick at it and keep on going and give our precious grey matter a challenge to keep it working.