You met some interesting people recently. Now just a few days later you can’t remember the name of even one of them even if your life depended on it. Don’t be too hard on yourself because you’re not alone. As we get older memory takes its place among the faculties that begin to decline. It is one of the things we just have to work harder at maintaining if it’s important to us because it’s part of the aging process. The bit of good news in this scenario is the reminder that all worthwhile things will take some work. That old saying about losing it if you don’t use it is truer than you can imagine and very noteworthy for those who desire to keep their memory at its optimum performance. If you value your memory you will have to nurture it in a variety of ways that will push or encourage it to improve and excel. The human mind is simply amazing and will perform as it was designed to, far beyond what we imagine it could when given what it needs to operate.

A MIND NEEDS NUTRITION

Just as our bodies require nutrients to grow, function and maintain themselves, our mind needs a healthy balanced diet that includes lots of fruits, vegetables, dairy, fish, poultry, grains; especially those foods rich in B complex vitamins which especially nourish the brain.

A MIND NEEDS REST AND EXERCISE

The mind benefits and responds remarkably when given regular rest, sleep and physical exercise. Neglect any of them and the mind is usually the first to suffer from the neglect whether you think so or not. Don’t believe it? Take a moment to ponder the many unwise choices you’ve made on an empty tank of rest, sleep and exercise. Dare say we mention the implied repercussions of a lifetime of this type of neglect.

A MIND NEEDS TO LEARN

The mind has a need to be active and always learning. It needs to be challenged. Our minds are capable of much more than the daily and routine tasks we ask of it. Our mind was created to be used extensively but few of us actually do that in our entire lifetimes. Coupled with that, as we grow older we seem to gravitate more towards home, towards safety and the familiar. Many are prone to become home bodies. It’s not a bad thing in itself except that the tendency also lends itself to a lot of romanticizing of the past. Don’t misunderstand; reminiscing definitely has its place as we laugh, share and pass down to our loved ones our exciting family histories. The concern is that people wind up spending too much time in the past, so much in fact that they are out of touch with the present. Incredibly, the price one pays for living in the past is difficulty remembering what’s going on in the present. A common and immediate rebuttal dismisses this view arguing that it sounds too much like symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, but it is not. This view instead offers a viable and often overlooked solution that is simple and can be used by the majority.

A MIND NEEDS AN ACTIVE LIFE

Want to remember more? Then get out and live more. Fight that urge to stay close to home and to play it safe. In short you need to live and not just a little. Live like you used to when life was fresh and new and everyday was an adventure. Think like a kid. There’s still more adventure out there. It’s critical that you become as fully involved in life as you possibly can; with family, friends and your community. Try some new things. They could be as simple as new foods and restaurants, movies, games, travel –even to the next town or maybe new technology. You’re not dead yet, so don’t act as though you are: giving your body signals that you are on your way out this world. That’s like giving it permission to start shut down procedures. Surely that’s not your intention. Get back to living life. It’ll give you new things to talk and think about. It will keep you in the present and it will do wonders for your memory.