Humans are created with two legs. We use them mainly for mobility and for balance. Medical Science has since found though, that legs serve a lot more uses than just mobility and balance. Certain ailments for example, can be suspected just by looking at the condition of one’s legs. Healthy legs can therefore indicate healthy hearts and by extension, healthy bodies. As basic as legs are to man, their uses are learnt unlike many body endowments.

Just as a child learns how to walk over time, an adult can also ‘unlearn‘ how to walk due to disuse for whatever reasons. It is a case of use or lose. The term, “Third Leg”, is hardly used except in certain circles and among certain age groups. There, the ‘third leg’ is a subject of ribald jokes signifying sexual virility. Thus, the prayer ‘May your third leg never fail you’ is more a joke than a prayer in these circles because it alludes to sexual prowess as a sign of masculinity and strength. But there exists another circle where this is actually a prayer. This is the circle of the aged; of the infirm. The third leg here is the walking stick.

When I was young, I saw a walking stick as a fashion accessory. Certain dress styles didn’t seem complete without them. The more ornate, the more desirable. I actually thought of buying one when I was in my 30s for an older friend when he turned 55. He was from the Niger-Delta and I felt he dressed well especially whenever he wore the traditional attire with the bowler hat. I thought an ornate walking stick would complement him. Something in line with The Great Gatsby style of the 60s.

Then I had a friend, another good dresser, who started using a walking stick when he became a traditional chief thus bringing a touch of royalty to his outings. Of course one also came across Military Officers of certain ranks who carried sticks as accessories – I hear they have multiple uses including self-defense and not just for swagger. Then we had a prominent Minister in the military era who was never seen without one. He in fact, had used it as an emergency seat at a public function – there were rumours that it was customized and could be lethal if an occasion warranted. It all helped with the swagger that a walking stick promotes. So fascinated was I that I soon had one, a beautiful, delicate piece.

Unfortunately, I lacked the courage to use it in public – the nearest I got to enjoying the swagger of a stick was an umbrella and that was during a threatening rain. Then I tore my Achilles heel at squash and my right leg was immobilized in a POP. I needed a third leg or rather a replacement leg so I could at least, hobble around. The doctor recommended a crutch which is a most un-dignifying way to be seen in public. The walking stick however became useful when the POP was eventually removed and I needed to strengthen my leg. It disguised my limp and adjusted my gait. That was when I discovered the true use of a walking stick.

From learning to walk with ‘a waIker’ as a child to having to walk with one as an adult, the generation to which I belong seems to have turned full cycle. I am now of the demographic bracket when walking sticks are no longer accessories but necessities. Everywhere I turn now, I see a friend, a colleague or even an acquaintance needing surgery on a hip, the lower back or knees. Many use walking sticks before surgery because they vacillated for too long before taking the plunge. Most use walking sticks during rehabilitation stages and sometimes beyond. There is also a growing number of people who don’t feel the pain in their aching joints is enough to justify going under the knife but still feel they need a third leg for support.

Then as the number of years grow on you, other age related issues also grow. One of them is balance. Getting up suddenly from a prostrate or sitting position can cause dizziness for the aging – many have fallen on their way to the restroom in the early morning. The usual balance in the ear can fail. Then there is vertigo which is often age related. A telling sight was that of a friend I met at the club leaning heavily on a walking stick. I asked him if he recently had a knee surgery and he answered in the negative. It was for balance he said. I was nonplussed because this guy was such an accomplished athlete in his younger days.

Aging is inevitable. And the mind has to accept and interpret what the body is telling it. If the body tells us to number our days, the mind should tell us to make the best of what is left. Too often, I see many regrets in people on their dying bed because they spent the best of their years chasing the wind called money. Wealth is good. But it is foolish to spend the best of one’s life chasing wealth because it is a wasting and divisive asset to leave behind. I doubt if it is even an asset. The true asset; the defining legacy, are the lives one touches positively and the impact of one’s life on the environment.

Those who are now using the walking stick as a third leg should know there is very little time left for them to make the kind of impact that would outlive them. And those who are young enough to still think a third leg means only sexual virility, should know their time would soon come because old age comes to even the best of us. While hustling might not be avoided in this rat race, it is important to be conscious of not building a life around it. Time flies and twilight soon descends. It is important to spend as much time and resources as possible on what is truly important to us. While delayed gratification is sometimes necessary for discipline, it is important not to forget what truly makes us happy. Not spending enough time in ‘our Happy Place’ when it was possible, can lead to a wistful regret or disillusionment at the time of physical incapacitation.

I am thinking of getting a walking stick again. Not because I need it yet and certainly not as a fashion accessory any more. It is listening to a doctor’s advice that it is good to have a sturdy stick as support now to prevent making it indispensable later due to a fall.

• Adetiba is a seasoned journalist and public affairs commentator