Many individuals see the advantage of physical exercise to enhance their well being, but fail to consider the importance of mental exercise.
Just as muscle atrophy occurs with disuse, so our mental facilities weaken and grow sloppy without regular exercise.
One needs to consider also that muscles are strengthened and stamina is increased when challenged in a healthy manner. Mental gymnastics can accomplish as little as brightening our outlook or as much as aiding in the improvement of our self-esteem.
The following exercises may assist those wanting to strengthen and develop their mental muscles.
• Exercise your power of observation and short-term memory by recalling recent events. What did you eat for lunch three days ago? How did you spend the day on Saturday of the previous weekend? What did your spouse wear yesterday?
• Flex your long-term memory muscles and give them a workout by recalling such things as the name of your favorite high school teacher, picture again your favorite childhood vacation, think about the circumstances surrounding your fifteenth birthday.
• Stimulate your creative juices by closing your eyes and imagining yourself lying on a secluded beach while listening to the waves, smelling the salt and feeling the warm sand beneath you.
• Plan an imaginary activity and mentally rehearse the components.
• Increase your word power by practicing with cross word puzzles, reading difficult and unfamiliar passages while comprehending its meaning, playing Scrabble or other word games.
• Enroll in a course at your local university or college. Pursuing a degree plan is not necessarily the agenda you need to follow. Immersing yourself in a new learning activity should be the goal. Adult continuing education allows anyone to learn a foreign language, indulge in creative writing or master new technology.
• Volunteer your services as a teacher. Pick something where preparing a lesson and researching the subject is necessary. Again, encouraging yourself into a thinking, creative mode so that exercising your mind is the end result.
• Join a discussion group which meets regularly with a challenging agenda. A philosopher's club, a study group, or any society or literary guild can provide intellectual stimulation and mental exercise. Your special interest can guide you in the selection of the topic for interaction with your peers.
Consider making mental exercise one of your goals or objectives for 1993. If you are already active in this endeavor, then keep it alive and continue to flex your muscles. Mental exercise should be a pursuit for everyone who is interested in quality of life issues.
Copyright c 1993 Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D.