Brain Matters - Use It Or Loose It

The Ad Council came up with the slogan, “A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste” back in 1972. Although the Ad was for the United Negro College Fund, the sentiments ring true today, particularly with our aging population.
Retirement brings a wonderful gift of leisure. One must watch that this gift doesn’t become the driving force by which we embrace retirement. As the body will atrophy without exercise and watching how we nourish it, so will the mind. As we challenge the body to keep it strong, we must do the same with our brain. Without a healthy active brain, our mind slips away from us. Yes, Brain Matters.
There are many ways to exercise our brain and keep it healthy. One of the more critical activities would be to reduce stress. We often put a lot of pressure upon ourselves that is unnecessary. We get a lot of enjoyment from our volunteer activities, but we need to know when to say that we have reached our limit, or at least need a change. To keep stress to a tolerable level, one might want to keep a good perspective on life, as Irwin the troll of Broom Hilda fame did each day. In a comic strip, Irwin was watching the rising sun in the east. He proclaimed, “I don’t have a clue, I never did, and I never will”. In the next frame, Irwin states emphatically, “I like to start each day with the ground rules firmly established”.
Many people get a lot of pleasure from doing the daily Suduko, crossword puzzles and others in the daily paper. Some folks like to follow the bridge columns. Of course, there are many web sites where you can play free games, or enter into friendly multi person games. Let’s look at some other activities that will challenge our thinking skills.
For the analytical thinker, there are online debates. www.onlinedebate.net is a good place to start. After registering, you can check out debates on topics such as philosophy, politics, religion, technology and social issues. At this site: www.controversialforums.com/ one will find forums and discussions on ethics, morals, addiction, science, etc.
Maybe you have always wanted to put your family history to paper. If you check out Cyndi’s List, www.cyndislist.com/writing - General Resources, you will find many links to help you begin your project, keep it moving, how to improve your style and finally how to publish the final product. While you are at it, also check out the following link, www.genealogy.com/74_sharon.html for advice on the way to write a compelling family history.
For a slightly different approach, check out this site: http://zenhabits.net/11-ways-to-expand-your-mind-and-recover-from-brain-rot/. Some of this site’s suggestions are: doing puzzles, reading, math problems, meditation and learning a new language. Maybe Bobby McFarrin had a good handle on calming the troubled mind with his song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”. In case you haven’t heard it in a while, check out this YouTube version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU For those of you who want to learn meditation or to at least become more acquainted with some of the benefits of this practice, go to this site: http://www.onlinemeditation.org/. There are countless studies that point to the positive mental and physical benefits associated with the daily practice of meditation. Give it a try.
There is no want for online games to increase brain power. www.expandyourmind.com/home/ is a site devoted to brain stimulation. Logic problems, science facts, philosophy, myths demystified, are but a few examples of their offerings. The activities work and are fun to do.
The Human Brain site which is found at www.fi.edu/leanr/brain/exercise.html offers their approach to mental stimulation with brain training games of memory, attention, focusing, computational speed, etc. Some of these exercises are similar to the popular Nintendo DS game “Brain Age”.
Another activity said to stimulate mental processes on many levels is the learning of a new language. http://www.word2word.com/course.html is a site where there are links to over 100 different language courses offered online. Some are conversational in nature, some more in depth. You will find that there are quite a few free courses. A computer microphone will be required to participate. They tend to be quite inexpensive.
On a side note, all this talk about brain training causes my mind to think about nourishing my computer’s brain by getting rid of useless files and scanning for malware and other infections. Spybot Search & Destroy is a good tool for this. (http://download.cnet.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10122137.html