15 Fun Activities to Keep Your Mind Sharp

You’re working hard at a rewarding career. You’re settled, more or less, in a longtime relationship, and enjoy a fulfilling social life. Life in general is going great. Or is it? Could it be that your mind is stagnating?

The brain is an organ and, as such, it requires oxygen and exercise. Feed your mind and you’ll feel emotionally and physically invigorated. It may be too soon to succumb to middle-aged worries about “using it or losing it,” however, it’s still critical to focus on keeping your brain in shape.

By continually engaging in the right activities, you can increase your memory, improve your problem-solving skills and even boost your creativity. Here are some fun ways to keep your mind active.

1. Grab a cue and play pool.

Rack ‘em up, grab a cue and contemplate on your strategy. Billiard players must focus on the immediate, blocking out distractions as they plan their next moves. Strategic planning increases mental clarity. Concentrating on the immediate helps keep your mind sharp. Additionally, this game of angles demands that players think in terms of physics, something most of us rarely do in our everyday lives.

2. Calm down with yoga.

You might be surprised at how demanding yoga can be. Beyond the physical demands that give your entire body a workout, yoga has great calming and relaxation qualities. Yoga forces you to focus on controlling all your muscles and your breathing. You’ll let your worries slide away, giving your mind a rest from stress.

3. Play golf in the fresh air.

Escape to the links and spend a few hours in the fresh air counting birdies, bogeys and mulligans. Golf is a social sport and a great way to network and loosen up at the same time. Golfers get mental stimulation using their decision-making skills as they plan stroke strategies. As the sport involves the control of repetitive movements, it instills mind-body discipline.

4. Lace up your running shoes.

Lace up your jogging shoes and get moving. Even if you never plan to run a marathon, it will get both your body and mind in shape. Running will boost the levels of oxygen in your brain and flowing through your body. In turn, your body will release more endorphins, which will make you feel energized while producing a sense of pleasure and well-being.

5. Challenge a friend to a game.

Challenge a friend to a game of chess at lunch. Invite colleagues over for an evening of cards. Besides the social aspects, such activities will keep your mind active. You’ll use your memory and expand your powers of recall. You’ll also test your mathematical skills and logic.

6. Subscribe to a daily newsletter.

Whether it’s a “word of the day,” “quote of the day” or “this day in history” newsletter, receiving new information each day will add data to the HD (hard drive) in your head. The mental stimulation will increase your comprehension skills. The added knowledge will also make you sound more worldly and bright.

7. Pick up a book.

Choose from classic literature, science fiction or self-improvement books and give your brain a boost. Pick up a novel before your next business flight or vacation. On top of the cerebral benefits, the escapism that comes from reading can be very refreshing. Reading helps you exercise your cognitive skills and increase your vocabulary. Do it regularly and you’ll be amazed at the information you absorb, which will make you a more interesting conversationalist.

8. Take a course.

Learn something new. Sign up for a cooking class, register for karate training or enroll in a wine tasting seminar. You’ll be challenging yourself to assimilate new concepts, information and ideas, and you’ll hone your retention skills through memorization.

9. Learn a new language.

Attend classes, listen to tapes or date someone with whom you can converse in another language. Instead of watching the same TV programs you always do, take in a foreign language movie with subtitles. Learning a new tongue keeps your brain flexible and your mind sharp, helping to reduce the slowing of the thought processes that comes with age. It can also make your next vacation or business trip easier if you know the language.

10. Grab the controller.

As I mentioned in previous articles, believe it or not, playing certain video games really can be good for your health. The operative word here, however, is “certain” — choose games that involve strategy or problem solving. Playing GTA may be stimulating, but it doesn’t do much for the mind. Problem solving and role-playing games will help you practice strategic planning. You’ll also improve your hand-eye coordination.

11. Rent a classic movie.

Rent Shakespearean adaptations or other language-heavy period movies and treat them as an exercise; watch them with a dictionary and thesaurus in hand and make a point of understanding all the dialogue, even if it means pausing the movie chronically. Some options: Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet.

12. Learn an instrument.

Pull out your old guitar, sign up for piano lessons or rent a trumpet or a clarinet. Trying to understand how music is made will stimulate your creativity. Reading music provides mental stimulation. Playing an instrument requires powers of recall as well as concentration to maintain tune and tempo.

13. Build a model.

Remember how excited you were as a kid making model airplanes and ships? Recreate that by building a miniature model. Following all those written instructions sharpens your powers of concentration. Focusing on the task at hand will also be very relaxing.

14. Do a crossword.

Stick the newspaper crossword puzzle in your briefcase, then get to work on it during your commute or while you’re waiting for an appointment or a meeting to begin. You’ll improve your cognitive skills and creative thinking as well as your word power and vocabulary.

15. Engage in a debate.

A lively discussion can be invigorating. As long as you avoid letting it digress into an altercation, you can have a lot of fun debating the pros and cons of an issue with a friend or colleague. You’ll practice your quick-thinking skills, logic and creativity. Developing convincing theories on the spot will help you in your career and in your personal relationships.

Use your cognitive skills, test your powers of recall, improve your memory, and challenge yourself to be more creative in your thinking. You’ll reap great brain-boosting benefits by keeping your mind active.

“The mind is like a trunk: if well-packed, it holds almost every thing; if ill-packed, next to nothing.”

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10 Benefits of Owning a Pet

When thinking of ways to moderate stress in life, usually techniques like meditation, yoga and journaling come to mind. These are great techniques, to be sure. But getting a new best friend can also have many stress relieving and health benefits.

While human friends provide great social support and come with some incredible benefits, this article focuses on the benefits of furry friends: cats and dogs!

Research shows that, unless you’re someone who really dislikes animals or is absolutely too busy to care for one accordingly, pets can provide excellent social support, stress relief and other health benefits — perhaps more than people! Here are more benefits of owning a pet:

1. Pets Can Add Structure to Your Life

All of us need some amount of structure in our lives. Pets are entirely dependant on their owners for exercise, food, and health care. So having a pet will undoubtedly instill structure into the owner’s life and will set a steady rhythm to each day.

Morning walks are a good example of how pets keep you on your toes. The last thing you want to do is to come home from a long day at the office and find a “surprise” on your oriental rug or that your sofa has been converted into a chew toy. So you do what’s best for everyone and get out of bed to walk your pal.

This, along with regular feeding and general care for your pet, will give you just enough responsibilities to put you up to par with the rest of society. But obviously, if you have too much structure in your life or if you’re just plain lazy, it might be best for you to just get a fish.

2. Pets Are Date Magnets

Dogs are great for making love connections. Forget Internet matchmaking — a dog is a natural conversation starter. When we’re out walking, having a dog with us can make us more approachable and give people a reason to stop and talk, thereby increasing the number of people we meet, giving us an opportunity to increase our network of friends and acquaintances, which also has great stress management benefits.

There are more than 700 types of pure bred dogs in the world. They were first domesticated by cavemen in the Paleolithic Age. Here are some interesting facts about dogs.
10 Interesting Facts About Dogs

This especially helps ease individuals out of social isolation or shyness. People ask about breed, they watch the dog’s tricks. Sometimes the conversation stays at the “dog level,” sometimes it becomes a real social interchange.

3. Pets Can Improve Your Mood

For those who love animals, it’s basically impossible to stay in a bad mood when a pair of loving puppy eyes meets yours, or when a super-soft cat rubs up against your hand.

Studies support the mood-enhancing benefits of pets. A recent one found that individuals with AIDS were less likely to suffer from depression if they owned a pet. According to researchers, people with AIDS who did not own a pet were about three times more likely to report symptoms of depression than those who did not have AIDS. But people with AIDS who had pets were only about 50 percent more likely to report symptoms of depression, as compared to those in the study who did not have AIDS.

4. Pets Encourage You To Get Out And Exercise

Playing with pets is in the top ten physical activity choices for children and families; owning a dog may encourage children to exercise and help reduce childhood obesity. Also an American study showed that those patients who owned a pet had a much better chance of surviving for more than a year after a heart attack — a difference that could not be explained by the extra exercise the dog owners enjoyed.

5. Pets Control Blood Pressure Better Than Drugs

Yes, it’s true. While ACE inhibiting drugs can generally reduce blood pressure, they aren’t as effective on controlling spikes in blood pressure due to stress and tension. However, in a group of hypertensive American stockbrokers who got dogs or cats were found to have lower blood pressure and heart rates than those who didn’t get pets. When they heard of the results, most of those in the non-pet group went out and got pets!

6. Pets Can Improve Family Bonds

Anyone who owns a pet knows that a pet quickly becomes a member of the family. As such, the family addition under the dinner table has tremendous benefits for you and the whole family.

Pets are great stress-busters in domestic situations — a good Sheppard dog will intervene when tensions rise. In addition to teaching compassion, responsibility and nurturing behavior, pets also make great playmates for the kids. Ultimately though, at the end of the day a pet won’t judge you for watching the entire Super Bowl, and that’s what makes them truly wonderful.

7. Pets Are Allergy Fighters

It was once thought that kids who were raised up in a home with dogs and cats were likely to develop pet allergies and asthma. However, a growing number of researches have suggested that kids growing up in a home with “furred animals” — whether it’s a pet cat or dog, or on a farm and exposed to large animals — will have less risk of allergies and asthma.

Scientists analyzed the blood of babies immediately after birth and one year later. They were looking for evidence of an allergic reaction, immunity changes, and for reactions to bacteria in the environment. If a dog lived in the home, infants were less likely to show evidence of pet allergies — 19 vs. 33 percent. In addition, they had higher levels of some immune system chemicals — a sign of stronger immune system activation.

Some pets are dirty animals, and this suggests that babies who have greater exposure to dirt and allergens have a stronger immune system.

8. Pets Stave Off Loneliness and Provide Unconditional Love

Pets can be there for you in ways that people can’t. They can offer love and friendship, and can also enjoy comfortable silences, keep secrets and are distinguished snugglers. And they could be the best antidote to loneliness.

Actually, studies show that nursing home residents reported less loneliness when visited by dogs than when they spent time with other individuals! All these benefits can reduce the amount of stress people experience in response to feelings of social isolation and lack of social support from people.

9. Pets Can Reduce Stress — Sometimes More Than People

While we all know the power of talking about your problems with a good buddy who’s also a good listener, researchers found that spending time with a pet may be even better! Recent research shows that, when conducting a task that’s stressful, people actually experienced less stress when their pets were with them than when a supportive friend or even their spouse was present! This may be partly due to the fact that pets don’t judge us; they just love us.

10. Pets for the Aged

Researches have shown that individuals with Alzheimer have fewer anxious outbursts if there is an animal in the home. Their caregivers also feel less burdened when there is a pet, especially if it is a cat, which normally requires less care than a dog.

A dog is the only thing on earth that will love you more than you love yourself.

Walking a dog or just caring for a pet — for elderly people who are able — can provide exercise and companionship. One insurance company, Midland National Life Insurance, asks clients over age 75 if they have a pet as part of their medical screening — which often helps tip the scales in their favor.

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It's All About Words: A List of 30+ Word Facts

It is said that words, when used skillfully can be more powerful than actions! Words make actions possible and they can give meaning to actions which the latter is incapable of expressing vividly. No wonder why people always resort to words. This article brings you not just to actions but to great enlightenment of certain facts about some English words.

The white part of your fingernail is called the lunula.

The term "dog days" has nothing to do with dogs. It dates back to Roman times, when it was believed that Sirius, the Dog Star, added its heat to that of the sun from July3 to August 11, creating exceptionally high temperatures. The Romans called the period dies caniculares, or "days of the dog."

Nice once meant silly, lazy, lecherous, and strange. Back in the 1300s, if a man told a woman he was "a nice guy," the lady was liable to slap him and run the other way.

Facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in the correct order, as does arsenious, meaning "containing arsenic."
"Polish" is the only word in the English language that when capitalized is changed from a noun or a verb to a nationality.
The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.
The verb "cleave" is the only English word with two synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate.
The highest scoring word in the English language game of Scrabble is 'Quartz'. This will score 164 points if played across a red triple-word square with the Z on a light blue double-letter square. It will score 162 points if played across two pink double-word squares with the Q and the Y on those squares.

The English word with the most consonants in a row is latch string.
The word "robot" was created by Karel Capek. It came from Czech/Slovak "robotovat," which means to work very hard.
The only word that consists of two letters, each used three times is the word "deeded."
A hamlet is a village without a church and a town is not a city until it has a cathedral.
The word "karate" means "empty hand."
The word "girl" appears only once in the Bible.
Switching letters is called spoonerism. For example, saying jag of Flap an, instead of flag of Japan.
"Rhythm" and "syzygy" are the longest English words without vowels.
'Strengths' is the longest word in the English language with just one vowel.
The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. It is a a pneumonia's caused by the inhalation of very fine silicate or quartz dust. The only other word with the same amount of letters is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses, its plural.
Alma mater means bountiful mother.
No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, and purple.
The language Malayalam, spoken in parts of India, is the only language whose name is a palindrome.

The words 'sacrilegious' and 'religion' do not share the same etymological root.
The phrase "sleep tight" originated when mattresses were set upon ropes woven through the bed frame. To remedy sagging ropes, one would use a bed key to tighten the rope.
The word denim comes from 'deNimes', or from Nimes, a place in France.
"Freelance" comes from a knight whose lance was free for hire, i.e. not pledged to one master.
The term "devil's advocate"comes from the Roman Catholic church. When deciding if someone should become a saint, a devil's advocate is always appointed to give an alternative view.
When two words are combined to form a single word (e.g., motor + hotel = motel, breakfast + lunch = brunch) the new word is called a "portmanteau."
Avocado is derived from the Spanish word 'aguacate' which is derived from 'ahuacatl' meaning testicle.
The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.
Lucifer is latin for "Light Bringer". It is a translation of the Hebrew name for Satan, Halael. Satan Means "adversary", devil means "liar".

There is a word in the English language with only one vowel, which occurs six times: Indivisibility.
The letter W is the only letter in the alphabet that doesn't have 1 syllable... it has three.
"Bookkeeper" and "bookkeeping" are the only words in the English language with three consecutive double letters.
There is a seven letter word in the English language that contains ten words without rearranging any of its letters, "therein": the, there, he, in, rein, her, here, here, ere therein, herein.

"dream t" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".
There are only three words in the English language with the letter combination "uu." Muumuu, vacuum and continuum.
The oldest word in the English language is "town"
The word "Boondocks" comes from the Tagalog (Filipino) word "Bundok," which means mountain.
There are only four words in the English language which end in "-duos": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
The word "samba" means "to rub navels together."
The word "set" has more definitions than any other word in the English language.
The word "queuing" is the only English word with five consecutive vowels.
The shortest French word with all five vowels is "Roseau" meaning bird.
Pinocchio is Italian for "pine head."
The infinity sign is called a confiscates.
The only word in the English language with all five vowels in reverse order is "subcontinental."
A poem written to celebrate a wedding is called an hypothalamic.
Cannibalism, eating human flesh, is also called anthropology.
Rhythms" is the longest English word without the normal vowels, a, e, i, o, or u.
The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called eaglets.

Truly, the facts above are really fascinating. It's really more than intellectually satisfying to delve deeper into the world of words.

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Beautiful Construction Paper Kaleidoscope Art

Triangle



Mold Study



Coriolis Effect



>Point of Exposure



Paper Anomaly



Piece of an Infinite Whole


Assorted Explosion


Burst



Circle


Circle Half Cut



Cylinder

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Cool Spiral Optical Illusion

Here is another spiral illusion - this time in Snail-o-vision! Interesting fact about this optical illusion, is that when people encounter it for the first time, based on their previous experience with illusions, they presume it has something to do with perpetual motion. At least that is what I presumed. I thought the only illusion happening here is “seemingly moving” spiral painted on our little snail’s shell, and not the best example of that type at all! If that was it, I wouldn’t be much excited, and would probably forward this photo directly to my recycle bin. And A Cool Optical Illusion video But then I read the email that was companion to this submission. It said something like: “Is the snail shell really a spiral”? I looked at the shell more closely, The spiral is actually composed of many concentric circles. Very good!

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