What do you do to keep your brain active and sharp?

Marie5656

Marie5656

SF VIP
Location
Batavia, NY
I am sure this has been discussed here before, but since we regularly get new members, I thought I would bring the discussion back. Is there any thing you try to do regularly to keep your brain active? Just to try to stay sharp as long as possible?

I read a lot. When I do watch television, I try to mix thought provoking things in with the entertainment. I watch forensic shows, documentaries and the like.

As well as socializing on line, I find that trying to learn new things is important to me. I also try to do fun things that also serve as mind challenges. I go to a great game site called Pogo. There are many fun games, and challenging ones too. I find I am on Facebook more for the games I play than the interactions. There are two things I like on Facebook. One is Cross Stitch World. It allows you to co cross stitch, and make some great pictures. Also there is a game called Criminal Case which has me totally hooked. The basic format of this game is it is a Hidden Object game. But the format is each "place" you travel to, you are a part of the police force and you solve murder mysteries, and you are searching for, and helping to analyze clues to find the killer. At the end of each individual story, you arrest the killer. I have played for 2-3 years and love it. You make friends, as your team consists of Facebook friends, you help you by sending you the energy you need to keep playing.

I also read several online newspapers and blogs to keep up with my interests.
 

i crochet do needlepoint-and i have a small knitting machine --i was making a lot of things for charity but got a little burned out on it right now--then i go into some forums on the cp-i dont really like playing games-i go into face book to see what my grand children are up to
 
Play golf 6 to 7 days/week. Compete in some regional tournaments.
Sudoku. I'll buy six or so Sudoku puzzle books at a time.
Crossword puzzles. Will go through a book of crosswords between each two to three Sudoku books.
Read library books. This goes in spurts. My wife will read 4 to 6 books/week. Some weeks I'll read a couple books. Then I'll go a week and not read any.
Google is my friend. If I hear of a town across the country I'm not familiar with, I'll find it on Google Maps and their try to read about it on Wikipedia. Medical terms... political issues... I try to learn something new each and every day. No matter how educated or how old, you need to learn something new every day.

What we try not to do, as we feel it dulls the senses....
Watch television. We catch local news and weather. We watch some of the veterinarian reality shows and some of the emergency room trauma reality shows. Other than that, the television is off.
 
I read a lot, I keep my Kindle nearby and anytime I hear or see a word I don't know the meaning of, I look it up. I am always trying to think of ideas to re-purpose items I have. I like to paint. Gardening clears my mind of all the junk that sometimes invades my brain.
 
I play alot of word games on My Computer. I can also read for hours online. I'm forever looking things up ,too - how to do this ,how to do that . I never want to stop learning !
 
Great answers. I have found a positive to my retirement I am able to get back to my passion of reading a lot. Plus, when the warmer weather hits, I can get back to something I have not done in years, sitting outside and reading. When I worked evenings, I spent a lot of time sitting out with a good book.
 
Just started to spend some time analyzing satellite photos to stop looting at archeological sites. It's free and up to you how long you want to spend doing it. Truly keeps your mind working trying to analyze what you are seeing. They train you for free and the site is totally free. here is the site: https://www.globalxplorer.org/ and here is the explanation video:
 
I love to write, illustrate, and read. Having seen the way the financial community typically ignores the majority of those who need advice, I'm on a mission to help Americans age 50 and older figure out how they can explore, plan, and do things that inspire them on a shoestring budget. I write down the tips collected then make them available as PDF downloads. I also like to encourage young people to read, so I'm working on a book for 8 to 12-year-olds, which includes creating the digital illustrations. That goal of writing and illustrating the book has really made me stretch to learn the appropriate writing style and illustration software. Bottom line, I keep finding things to do that inspire me, and hopefully, others.
 
Play Scrabble on the net, write poetry, answer folk from worldwide when they contact me for my true tales of WW2. I knit when my hands will let me due to the osteo arthritis. I belong to one or two forums like this and I also have a WW2 website that I neglected some time ago due to looking after my hubby who had Dementia. He died last year.
I make sure I keep my brainbox going.
 
This is my website below. I left it up for any students who were studying WW2 but as I said I neglected it due to looking after my hubby but its still being used by many students who e-mail me to thank me for the knowledge they had gathered from it.

I also had many folks coming to me for the book I wrote about the first 20 years of my life which takes in the war years and when I was evacuated.All proceeds from the book went to my local Childrens Hospice. I had SO many coming to me from worldwide about it I decided, after it had made a good sum for the Hospice, to put it on my website. It can be found in my poetry section titled "Yesterdays Child."

http://www.memorylanehf.oddquine.co.uk/
 
dollie said:
i crochet do needlepoint-and i have a small knitting machine --i was making a lot of things for charity but got a little burned out on it right now--then i go into some forums on the cp-i dont really like playing games-i go into face book to see what my grand children are up to
Click to expand...

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:) My wife crochets also. Amazing talent! No, if she would even have a passing thought of something like this..........
 
I like to play the games on the forums as well ,also we have a hobby of ballroom dancing ,we know about 140 different dances which all consist of a set of steps .

Every dance we go to, weekly ..the program will have 30-40 different dances we have learned, on the program ....but there may be some we have not seen, on a program for a while ,so it's a brain strain to remember them at times so it works the ole gray matter to remember the steps
 
Thank you, Maywalk. I'm captivated by your website and loved reading through the book. Within those pages, I felt your pain yet smiled at the glimpses of life (e.g., Chapter 6: The Tribunal) before and during the war. Given the value of your first-person experiences, I'm hopeful someone can help you preserve these memories and keep the website up and running. At a minimum, I'd love to see the web pages of the book turned into a downloadable pdf.

I tried my best to capture some of my father's memories of WW2; however, those snatches of what he shared with me pale in comparison to your vivid descriptions. Like you, my dad had his share of rough times. In fact, his life regrets served as the catalyst for my wife and me to do things that inspire us.

Now, we're on an endless quest that has proved to be an enjoyable adventure. Each week I try to capture a bit of the experience on my website: https://www.retirecrazygood.com where I've also posted a free book about our adventure.

Again, thank you. I sincerely appreciate the tremendous boost of inspiration your reply and website gave me!
 
Google is my friend! :D I've always been the curious type, and when I find myself pondering over something I jump on the internet for answers. I probably have information overload most of the time! When my head is too full of stuff, I walk the dogs or just sit in my yard and listen to the sound of the wind stirring through the pines. I also enjoy reading, and playing any kind of word game....Wheel of Fortune being my favorite.
 
Many thanks for getting back to me "dothingsthatinspire". I have had a rough tough life but I would NOT change it in any way shape or form. I have lived through SO many changes and I am more than surprised at the amount of folks who contact me wanting to know all my stories.
The book is already in print and as I said ALL proceeds after taking the printing fee out goes to my Childrens Hospice.
I can only urge folks to write down their memories for any future generation because it is all to do with history. I only wish my grandmother could have written down about her life because she was what is known as a seer. That is the grandmother in the book who I met when she was dead. Sounds crazy but perfectly true. It was a different world way back in 1936 when I was let out of the home.
 
I read a lot, different genres. John Gresham and the like, biographies, historical fact based fiction. Also do family research-genealogy. My DNA analysis has opened many new doors there. I also keep several needlework WIPs (works in progress) going. Best for brain is stitching miniature oriental rugs (for adult doll house enthusiasts). Fine gauge fabric means about 500 stitches per square inch. The patterns are intricate and challenging. Stitching a 4" X 6" rug would need several weeks work. 20/20 Monovision thanks to Lasik cataract surgery makes the stitching possible.
 
I read... do puzzles...play Candy Crush.. I am now on level 1969! I work out at the health club. Cook Garden, watch TV.. I'm not terribly interested in getting involved in anything taxing. I enjoy being an unemployed bum..
 

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