AARP Rewards Community Learning & Earning Contest August 2022

I substitute at our local high school to keep the juices flowing, as well as puzzle and games online.

I am 68 and work full time in law. 

Hi everyone!  I talked it over with my kids.and they agree that to keep brain sharp ,active, and up to date is reading , reading, and eating right. Good healthy food is important.  Reading  is informative,  educational , and good for the soul. Happy mind is happy body and soul.  So go to libaray, or bookstore. Enjoy!

Hi

I  decided to leave my nursing career after 35+ years and thought I would get bored. To have the freedom of planning my life and not have to ask for time off. I read all types of books . I do bible studies . I volunteer at my church. I take daily walks. I feel physically, emotionally  ,psychologically  powerful. I start ad finish my day with prayer.

I read a few books each month and do word and number puzzles.,I’m also physically active - an avid walker and exerciser.,

I love crosswords and I use this to exercise my brain - I love the crossword puzzles on the AARP site.

I have a new word of the day.  Once identified, I look up the definition (there is typically more than one) and seek to use it throughout the day.

I am a voracious reader...mostly non-fiction, but I mix it up with modern romances and thrillers!

I keep my memory sharp by helping my grandkids with their homework and watching lots of game shows.  I also do a lot of reading in the bathroom. 

First became an AARP member in 2004 at age 50, to only get the latest info to care give and help my aging parents to navigate Medicare and long-term care options.  My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer and I vowed as a caregiver to take every preventive and proactive measure for myself.  On June 16, 2022, I took the AARP Staying Sharp Brain Health Assessment.  I assessed the parts of the test that I most needed improvements –  and set out to work on those areas.   Such as, remembering names.  As a poet, I developed a game where I now write an Acrostic from that person’s name embedding the place where we met in the poem and rhyme wherever I could.  It works.  AARP has brain fit exercises, weekly new quizzes, weekly exercise and meditation or yoga classes, monthly museum tours … all of which I do regularly.  I like the AARP online scramble more than the crossword puzzles.  Now, I do recall from an AARP magazine, that engaging in unfamiliar learning activities are the most challenging stretch for the brain.  So, I returned to university-level courses taking far-fetch and new, challenging studies like ancient Egyptian, Greek and Hawaiian mythology and history- - and then, running a hypothesis of the common and different elements of their origins, hieroglyphics or cave writings- - the reward is being able to read ancient manuscripts, thousands or hundreds of years old.   I constantly keep up with the latest in technology, but this was my career path for 30 years.   Learning ancient and foreign languages has been the most challenging.  Next year, I plan to learn Sanskrit.   Creative applications are, for example, working with a translation of an ancient Egyptian recipe for bread (OK but not that tasty…), translation of a Hawaiian chant to locate an old historical surfing spot where today’s surfer can surf and study its significance.  And finally, to keep my brain sharp, for the last several years I engage in weekly philosophical debates on Zoom with a group consisting of deacons, priests, psychologists, and astronomers.  We spin different topics each week.