Dear LPG, 

They say that one of the things we older people do best is think.  I am a veteran over thinker and, even though I have not yet reached seventy, I have no really worrying health issues and live quite a busy lifestyle, my friends have all helped me to realise that I am one of life’s pessimists.   I know that I spend far too much time thinking about the future like many other people and personal experience has taught me that you can definitely overdo worrying about the unknown.    I try my best not to and one way to do that is to find something to add to your daily routine for nearly every second of the day so that there is no time for all that brain exercise. 

For me, it is that half an hour between waking up and getting up which is the worst time of the day for finding something to worry about and, I have to admit that once I get started on a concern, coming back to reality can be a challenge for me. 

One morning not so long ago I was listening to the radio while getting ready for the day and the discussion topic was dementia yet again.  That discussion left me dwelling on the irony that, size wise, when just a relatively small part of the human body goes wrong, it can affect such a big part of one’s existence; and all this worry is focussed on something that has not yet even happened!

I don’t want to put a dampener on anyone’s day but let me just get the really depressing stuff out of the way first.  The brain is pretty small when assessed as a part of the whole body but we all know of the consequences when it goes wrong… 

I recently came across a related website which pulled me in.  It is not the most positive read but the internet tells that the leading cause of death in the United Kingdom is dementia according to the internet.  

When I first read it, I spent far too long thinking some really depressing thoughts.  I am sure that we all have been affected by some comment that we hear in passing on this subject.   But I think that the best thoughts needed have to be those that help us minimise the risk of it happening to ourselves.  

The internet came to the rescue again and, even though I have my doubts about just how much it helps, I have found some brain exercises, the practise of which may or may not be effective.  The one thing worth considering has to be, that at least working on some of these grey-matter activities will overshadow many of the depressing overthinking issues that we harbour to do with the bleakness of the future.

If there are any over thinkers reading what I have written today, my hope is that getting involved with a few brain exercises has to be a better use of your brains time and effort… 

WD, Erith

WD shares a few brain challenges to get you started...

(►►►)   (►►►)     (►►►)    (►►►)  

(►►►)     (►►►)    (►►►)