Power Up, BRAIN!

My precious mom would say to her doctor “Doc, some mornings I just don’t want to get out of bed at all!” His reply was always “The day you decide to do that, expect to be bedridden very soon!” In essence, he was saying “If you don’t use it – you’ll lose it!”

This is actually Part 2 of the post I made a few days ago “Use it. Don’t lose it.” I was referring to how to keep our bodies and minds going strong. So, to put my words to action, I actually hand-wrote out a long message of what a friend means to me in a birthday card. It took me extra time to find the just-right card, look up her address, write the note, seal it and place it in my “snail mail” mailbox, but I did it. And when I was writing the note, I had vivid memories of our kids playing together, even acting up in church and disciplining them for their over-abundance of energy. What fun to recollect the memories! My brain still worked! YAY!!

Continuing to “use” this brain of mine, I’ve been playing the Chinese game of Mah Jongg with friends once a week. I started at my community in Tulsa, but this group here in Frisco takes it to a whole new level. They are some serious players so my brain must be “powered up”!

It is said that Mah Jongg is an excellent mental workout that helps keep our brains in good health and the mind sharp. I should clarify that this is the 4 player game and not that solitaire version that you see online or on your phone. The game requires considerable mental finesse just to play it, let alone play it well. When I first learned the game, it was all I could do to keep track of all the rules and plan a strategy. That kept me so busy that I barely even noticed what my opponents were up to. If you can’t keep track of what your opponents are doing, you are at a significant disadvantage. You could literally end up playing straight into their hands. In other words, I need to “power up” my brain if I want to improve my game skills.

While I’ve been reading up on “powering up” our brains, I found out some things that can boggle our brains – one of which is all that multi-tasking that we do. While on our phones, we’ll be driving, eating, telling our kids to stop arguing, remembering another item for the grocery list, etc. Bottom line – being focused not only saves our brain’s power, but it also saves us for being distracted and having an accident. I read that a recent neuroscience research proved the human brain is unable to consciously pay full attention to two tasks at the same time. We can do simple tasks like walking and talking at the same time, but when it comes to true multi-tasking, our brain just can’t and shouldn’t do it. So, then what about driving and all those things we’re doing? Yikes!!

Another “powering up” our brains technique, is to get some physical activity going. Any form of cardiovascular exercise increases blood flow to every part of our body, including our brain. I’ve been getting lots of exercise – swimming, aerobics classes and in the fitness center.

“Powering up” our brain is also “powering down” our brain when we get the sleep we need. A sleep-deprived brain works harder, but accomplishes less. It becomes more difficult to concentrate, speak clearly, and make decisions. I’m making sure I get as many zzzz’s as I can to keep my brain powered up!

Back to the “use or lost it” mentality. A few days ago I posted about the mindless TV watching and mindless games we play on our cell phones. Rather than mindless activities, let’s keep our brains active by teaching ourselves something new – like learning a new technology or a new language or skill. That’s one of the reasons I’ve joined Bible Studies, taking a Spanish Class, learning to play better Mah Jongg, pickle ball and even learning to make some great new recipes.

And, “powering up” our brain is powering up our attitudes that cultivate good habits like, enjoying life, laughing often, developing an optimistic outlook and being sure to free our minds of stress and anxiety.

And above all – STOP saying, even in a “just joking” way “I’m losing my mind!” Instead, we should daily “power up” our brains by keeping our minds on God’s Word – even memorizing scriptures that help guarantee sound and healthy minds! Let’s give these kinds of affirmations from God’s Word:
~ I have the mind of Christ! (1 Corinthians 2:16)
~ My mind is renewed daily! (Romans 12:2)
~ His mind is in me! (Philippians 2:5)
~ My mind is in perfect peace because it stays on God. (Isaiah 26:3)
~ I love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul and MIND. (Matthew 22:37)
~ Daily, I think on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. Philippians 4:8

I’m in for the long haul so rather than my mind being used “mindlessly”, I’m “powering up” to be sure I live up to the best version of me that I can be! How about you?