AARP Rewards Community Learning & Earning Contest August 2022

My husband and I watch less TV. During Covid we were sitting and watching too much.  We do Wordle, Phoodle and Crosswords instead.

  I read the Bible daily. And a Bible text for everyday to help me be a better person. I pray daily. I read the AARP emails to increase my knowledge. I weed and mow the yard. I read Dr MERCOLA and Dr Beckers columns for your health and my furry baby. If Ed my dog organic food I make. I do his grooming and nail’s myself. I do  crosswords and puzzles word games. I hand write letters, no computer. I add and subtract and do all math in my head. I play discover item games and spelling games and trivia, scrabble, hand and foot …I just stay busy and I read read read , especially cardiology updates.

I play golf. It is a game of concentration. My mind must plan what is the best shot in each instance and which club is the best to use. It also gets me outdoors in the sunshine and I have a great group of friends to interact with.

I do several things to keep my brain active & engaged. I exercise, eat healthy foods, try to sleep 7-8 hours per night, drink at least a half gallon of water per day, practice a second language through Duolingo, solve word & logic puzzles, play cards, socialize with friends, travel to new places, and read articles on topics that are unfamiliar to me (like quantum physics) so I have to actually work at understanding them. I also am in the process of signing up for an online class to--finally!-- learn how to better use Excel. I also participate in qi gong class & use breathing exercises to control stress. I'm a big believer that stress is detrimental to our brain function!

I subscribe to the NYTIMES online so I can stay up to date on national and world news. I also do the Mini Crossword and Wordle games daily.

When I retired I decided to go back to school and get a bachelor's degree.  Got it in Natural Health and graduated with High Honors.  Love it so much I went on for my Master's Degree in Herbology.  Thesis accepted on first submission, so I went on for a PhD.  At age 78 I earned my PhD in Natural Medicine.  Started writing the health column for a local newspaper, and when they reformatted the paper I wrote a weekly article for an online ezine (sometimes on health or herbs and sometimes on humor (they all start with the letter 'h' so they must be related, right?).  Publisher died and ezine went with her.  Up in the air for a while and now look for questions on which to write articles in the local newspaper.  Love to write. Also, every morning I do the Jumbles in the local paper after I come back from my walk.  Work in my garden which is next to my chicken coop.  So many fun and interesting things to do when we get older and no longer work.  Older?  On July 31st I celebrated my 83 birthday!!

I have been retired for 9 years.  I have a few disabilities that make it difficult to do much exercising.  To keep my mind active I play several video games, logic problems, word puzzles and watch game shows on TV.  I also play some of the "brain" games on AARP.  I am afraid of losing memory or thought process, so I try to keep my mind as active as possible!

The way that I keep myself actively well is by listening to old school music, watching comedies, reading the Bible to keep me spiritually balanced. I work part-time to keep myself culturally involved and weekly exercises for mobility.

I READ LOTS of non-fiction, historical fiction, ethnic fiction, & classics. I also watch documentaries. When I have the money, I travel.

Since I have a very nonverbal brain, I love to take free math classes on Khan Academy.  I have the app on my iPad, and I am very challenged and engaged with the different math problems.  Right now I am working on Algebra and Geometry.