kenlassblog

I recently read about an experiment to improve brain function in an AARP article. The study of around 2,800 people indicated that it’s not so much we lose memory as we get older, it’s that our brains grow weaker in the ability to retrieve information. Put simply, it’s harder to think faster. The study found that folks who engaged in testing and activities that forced them to make quicker decisions actually showed a lower risk of developing dementia.

According to the article, doing things such as playing pickleball or tennis, which requires you to quickly react and think where you want to hit the ball, is an example. Another is learning to play a musical instrument, which forces your mind to quickly think about how to perform the next chord in a song.

So take comfort in the fact you are probably not losing your memories and knowledge. They’re just hiding in a closet and the door is getting more difficult to open. We’ve got to keep tugging on it.

Write it down. That has become the mantra of my life. I can no longer rely on my short term memory. It seems to have packed up and left. So I am never further than arm’s reach away from my little notebook and pen. I write down names of people I need to contact, phone numbers, so many phone numbers. Often I forget to scribble out whose phone numbers they are, which renders them meaningless in a few days.

I write down new passwords, ideas for blogs and columns, bible verses, appointments, honey-do’s, birthdays, shopping lists, and really anything I want to remember. Basically, my life is in my notebook. When I go back and browse through it, it actually amounts to a fairly good summary of the quality of how I spend my time. Sometimes I am surprised at how much effort I spent on silly things.

Maybe not a bad idea for you. Take a moment to write down anything you want to keep in mind. Then go back and review it after several weeks. You may find you are spending too much time in non-productive pursuits. The notebook doesn’t lie. Unless you are lying to yourself.

In a track meet, occasionally you get a restart. In the sprint events, if somebody comes out of the blocks a tad early, the race is stopped and you start all over again. But you only get so many restarts before you are disqualified. At that point, your race is over.

I like to think of waking up every morning that same way. Every day I am given the blessing of getting out of bed it amounts to a restart. I feel blessed with another chance to accomplish something I have yet to do, to correct a problem or a failure on my part, to be a better person, to show love for others more unselfishly.

But just like those track athletes, you only get so many restarts before your race on this earth is over. So make today a better race than yesterday. When you go to bed tonight, do so feeling you have won the day. And even if things didn’t go well, you get to look forward to another fresh start tomorrow.

Sometimes you just need to take a break. A short break. It can do wonders. I was recently trying to assemble a nightstand for my bedroom. No matter how closely I tried to follow the instructions, I just couldn’t get a few of the pieces to fit properly. After several attempts I got so frustrated I started yelling and stomping around the house.

My wife Sharon just smiled and told me to take a short break. Relax and forget about it for an hour or two. I took her advice. A few hours later I returned to the project, and amazingly, I got everything to fit properly right away. Easy peasy.

I’m not sure why this works. Maybe your mind and your eye-hand coordination work more efficiently when you are fresh and calm. The same probably applies in relationships. Before you say something you may regret to someone, take a break. Cool down. Back off.

Turns out building a relationship is not that different from building a nightstand.

Have you ever been lied to? Anyone ever looked you in the eye and told you something that turned out to be untrue? You never forget that, right? That person has probably lost your trust permanently. From that point on, you likely take everything that person says with a grain of salt. You may never take them seriously again.

It doesn’t take much. Just one lie does irreversible damage to your credibility. Consider politicians. They have a reputation for spouting so many falsehoods, exaggerations and half-truths that no one believes them anymore. “Politician” has become a derogatory term.

We should always remember that trust is a precious and fragile thing. Once lost, it is near impossible to regain. We all need to be loved. But no one can love you without first trusting you. Think before you speak. Instead of lying, it’s better not to speak at all.

I am addicted to pickleball. I play three or four times a week. But there is one person in my group that drives me crazy. We are all just playing for fun and fellowship, but this individual is bossy and critical, and when this person starts losing, becomes hyper-sensitive about rules and starts calling out folks for extremely minor things the rest of us just ignore.

Sometimes I get so frustrated with this individual that I start to play badly. Recently, another one of our players put his arm around me and told me to just relax, just tune troublemakers out. Ignore them. Don’t give them the satisfaction of ruining your fun and joy. Don’t let their issues become your issues.

That’s pretty good advice in all aspects of life. Try your best to focus on the positive and the productive. Let the naysayers, the critics and the malcontents wallow in their own pessimism. There will always be those who would rain on your parade. Let their rain fall only on them.

I’ll be repeating that to myself the next time I’m on the court.

Is your life on a schedule? Are all of your days controlled by the clock? Most of us find it necessary to plan and schedule our daily activities in order to accomplish what we want to get done. Life can get pretty busy whether you’re retired or still working.

Nothing wrong with sticking to a schedule. But try to include down time. Give yourself a portion of a day, or your week, when you have absolutely nothing planned. A time when you can choose to just entertain yourself with a hobby, or by watching a little mindless TV, or by doing nothing at all except relaxing. Maybe it could be a few moments set aside to just talk to God and to listen for His reply.

Even school kids get a recess period to play and take a break. Give yourself a recess. You’ll be much better equipped when the bell rings to return to your daily endeavors.

Why is it that, when we want to know somebody’s age, we ask them how “old” they are? Why don’t we ask them how young they are? After all, the word “old” conjures up all manner of negative connotations. It’s as though every moment that passes by makes you less new, less fresh, less useful, less healthy. No wonder so many folks suffer from depression.

We have no use for old things. We throw them away and get new stuff. Sadly, our culture tends to feel the same about senior adults. When folks get to the point where their bodies and minds begin to falter, we label them “old” people, and tend to push them aside.

Just because you have lived a lot of years doesn’t make you “old”. If you think young, stay active, eat right and get proper medical care, there’s no telling how long you can sustain a high quality of life.

Next time somebody asks how old you are, tell them you’re not.

My wife and I are blessed to spend a good bit of time keeping our four young grandkids. I’ve always found it interesting that, the minute they get the least bit bored, they sing out “I’m hungry!”. Apparently, this is how we human beings are wired. When we have nothing else to do, we prefer to eat. Funny though, when we keep the kids entertained with puzzles and coloring books and board games, we never hear complaints about being hungry.

There’s a lesson in here somewhere. Idle minds will gravitate toward things that are usually not good for us. I remember an old saying that goes “Busy hands are happy hands”. Another one is “Idle minds are the devil’s workshop”. Anyway, you get the idea. If we don’t stay busy with positive, healthy activities, our thoughts will likely turn to non-productive endeavors. Like overeating. Or worse.

So stay active and constructive. Make a list of positive things that need to be done around the house, or in service to friends, or at your church or gym or library.

Or if you can’t think of anything else to do, I could use some help with four grandkids.

If you spend any time typing on a computer, chances are you have been misrepresented by autocorrect. Times when you meant to write the word “funeral” and it was changed to “funnel”. Or you meant to write “intend” and it came out “Nintendo”. Whoever invented autocorrect probably started out with good intentions, but it can backfire in some comical ways.

Like the doctor who tried to text his wife “I just delivered a baby in a cab.” But it came out “I just devoured a baby in a cab.” That could be disturbing.

Sometimes we have our own internal autocorrect issues. We try to express ourselves to someone, but it just doesn’t come out right. It’s always best to give some thought to what we are about to say, rather than just blurting out whatever pops into your head.

After all, you don’t want to hurt someone’s feelers.