Wednesday, July 23, 2014

6. Quality Sleep

Quality sleep.  

You need it.   

We've written about it before, but good quality sleep is one of the most effective mechanisms for keeping your body and your life on track.

And you might want to check out this article about surprising signs that you're sleep deprived.



Friday, July 11, 2014

9-1-1 friday fun

You know the emergency number.  But how did it BECOME the emergency number?

Here's a fun article from gizmodo about how 911 became our national emergency line.

In the meantime, some facts:

  • The first call to 911 in the United States: Haleyville, Alabama on February 16, 1968. The person who placed the call was Senator Rankin Fite.
  • Nome, Alaska, established the country’s second 9-1-1 emergency system only a few weeks after Haleyville
  • Great Britain was the first country to establish a universal emergency number (999) in 1937
  • An estimated 200 million calls are made to 9-1-1 in the U.S. each year.
  • 99% of the population is covered with 9-1-1 service

9-1-1 calls should be reserved for true emergencies.  Otherwise, you might end up here or here.



<- or here.

 




Wednesday, July 9, 2014

5. Keep mentally stimulated.

Learn to play a musical instrument, a new skill, a new language.

Keep actively engaged with learning new cool things.  It's now well documented that staying engaged and lifelong learning can stave off cognitive and memory decline.


Watching TV doesn't count.  It's got do be doing something where you participate, engage, get involved.  

So no, TV doesn't count...not even if you're throwing things at it.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Music.

Yes, another post about music.  And it won't be the last.

I take it as given that when music no longer moves you, you've lost something irreplaceable.




A friend of mine volunteers in his community by playing guitar in a hospice.  This article is from a friend of his also working with the elderly and music

If You Had Dementia, What Songs Would Be on Your Playlist?

So pick up that instrument you played in Junior High.  Or pick up another.  Or just sing.

If nothing else, turn off the tv and turn off the talk radio: that stuff isn't helping you.




Turn on some music and let your soul fly free.