Puzzles

These aren’t just for kids anymore.  Today we have a wide range of puzzles around for our enjoyment.  I think mind games help with dementia and other brain diseases.  It’s so important to keep our minds sharp.

My mother suffers with dementia.  She seems to be getting worse with her memory as the weeks go by.  I’ve done a lot of reading on dementia and Alzheimer’s since her diagnosis.  One thing I know for sure is that I don’t want to get it.  I do my best to exercise my mind daily with reading, writing, puzzles, or anything else that will make me think.

My youngest sister does a lot of board puzzles.  She loves the most complicated ones with a thousand pieces.  These are probably her favorite puzzles and she has even framed a few of them.  I’ve known other people to put together and frame those big puzzles too.  They make beautiful wall art.

I have another sister who likes the crosswords.  I enjoy the ones full of random letters where you have to find the twenty words hidden in those letters.  I try to do several of those a week. 

I’m not sure if anyone in my family does the Sudoku puzzles with all the numbers.  I’ve done them, but they really are quite challenging.  I imagine, as with anything, one gets better with practice.

I don’t think anyone of us wants to end up with dementia or Alzheimer’s, but who knows what the future holds.   If it’s inherited, perhaps we’ll get it anyway no matter how much we use our minds.

Staying healthy as we age

Of course we’ve all heard this many times.  Exercise regularly.  This includes walking, which is good exercise.

Stay socially active with friends and family.  If you don’t have family nearby, you could volunteer at various things in the community where you live.

Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet.  Dump the junk food and include greens in your meals.  Salads are very good for you.  We need to think about eating enough fiber, eating foods that are low in fat and also low in cholesterol.

Of course we all know that drinking too much or using drugs is a bad thing, as well as smoking.  There are many health issues attributed to smoking, so if you smoke quitting should be at the top of your list for a healthier lifestyle.

I always say everything in moderation is probably okay.  I would never give up having a glass of wine once in a while.  I don’t think anyone should do this daily, or get behind the wheel to drive anywhere if you’ve been drinking. 

I exercise daily; eat moderately and also as healthy as I can.  It helps keep the weight down, which is also another health issue.  Drinking enough water daily is also another important consideration.

One should also keep their mind active too.  This is a new focus for me, not that my mind isn’t active enough to run away with itself all the time anyway, but since my mother was diagnosed with dementia, I feel it’s doubly important to exercise your brain daily.  You can do this by reading regularly, doing puzzles and word games, writing, playing card games, or any other thing that‘ll make you think.

We may as well be healthy, old people instead of ones with numerous issues to deal with.  I think old age is hard enough anyway without adding on other problems that maybe we can control now.

Be thankful everyday for all your blessings

I really can’t stress this enough as we enter the frenzy of the holiday season.  Things may not always turn out the way we think they should but things can ALWAYS be much worse.  Most of us can see, hear, have our wits about us, walk around unaided, and drive to where we want to go.  All these things are blessings because there are many people who don’t even have these small overlooked luxuries we all take for granted.

I try to be mindful daily and not just during the holiday season when it’s more prevalent to think in this frame of mind.  We never know when some of these things will fail us down the road making us dependent on others for our daily needs.  My mother comes to mind.  She has dementia and is now living in a nursing home.  I always wonder if I’ll end up that way, but then I see people that age that are my co-workers and they are spry and full of life and have all their wits.  I would never know they’re as old as they are because there’s nothing wrong with them in mind or body, only gray hair giving them away.  So how did my mother end up with the short straw?

I don’t know what makes a person susceptible to dementia and then eventually Alzheimer’s.  I imagine the genes you inherit are partially to blame.  I make sure I exercise daily and use my mind to read, write, work puzzles, etc.  I’m too independent to end up at the mercy of others in my old age.  My mother is lucky to be well taken care of with lots of family visitors, but I still don’t want to see a nursing home in my future.

I’m always reading up on all the latest research I can find on keeping your mind sharp.  I don’t know of any other relative that had dementia so that leads me to believe that maybe it’s lifestyle that’s part of the culprit.  My mother had a rough life.  All of my siblings will agree with that.  I wouldn’t have wanted to be in her shoes for all the money in the world.  But she always made the best of the situation and instilled that in all of us.  Even in poverty there are good things and lessons to be learned.

Some very famous people also ended up battling this disease.  So maybe lifestyle is a wrong choice of words.  Look at Ronald Reagan, an actor and then our president who ended up with this and also Robert Falk, the actor who played Columbo in the TV mystery series.  I’m sure neither of them had to raise a big family on a remote cotton farm making due with the bare necessities of life.

So everyone out there be thankful for all your blessings however small they may be.  If you have your health, a roof over your head and clothes and food, what else do you really need?

Happy early Thanksgiving to all.  Please take time for this important holiday that seems to be overshadowed by Christmas this year.  The Yule decorations go up earlier each year.  It makes me want to scream, “What’s the matter with all you people?  How dare you put up a Christmas tree before Thanksgiving.”

I was in a thrift store last week and they had a Christmas tree covered with decorations and lights.  I was appalled and told the girl it was shameful to put that up before Thanksgiving.  She told me “everyone else does it” to which I replied. “Does that make it right?”  I guess I’ll never understand this way of thinking.