It is important to look after your body in retirement, but also your brain. It also needs exercise to keep fit. Obviously there are many ways to achieve this. The criterion is to make it active, not passive. The temptation is to indulge in passive viewing – TV and films. and passive reading of newspapers and books. To be brain active means to think and to be challenged. It’s time to learn a new skill, How about learning to play Bridge, or a foreign language? Do you complete the crossword in the newspaper or ignore it as a waste of time? How about writing your memoirs? Perhaps a grandchild needs help with home work. How about tutoring at your local school? Join an organisation and take on a role such as Treasurer or Publicity Officer. Work for the local branch of your political party. Join a Ladies/Men’s Shed. Tune up your reflexes by learning to play squash. Start to sing, And so on. The opportunities are limitless. .
Basically, to keep the brain active and to avoid dementia, it’s all about creating new pathways, and making new links between neurons. Adopt the attitude you had when a teenager – the whole world is open to you to explore and the whole of knowledge is open to your learning. The overall approach is to rediscover ‘wonder‘. Older people develop a cynicism about what is in and of the world. A lifetime of living and working has given rise to a lack of interest in new knowledge and a critical stance towards any new thinking. It’s time to open your mind again and rediscover the joys of argument and intellectual challenge. What do you think about the relative value of the myriad of religious beliefs and contradictory political stances in the light of what is being revealed in space? How important is it to cherish and sustain the enormous number of life forms on our planet? How could we ensure that all humans have a reasonable diet and regular access to health services? There are plenty of questions to answer – over to you.
Renaissance not Retirement 