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Jerry Lewis

Beach Fanatic
Mar 19, 2010
368
110
Meditation is the key to peace. If only it were taught to all kids. It isn't hard. One of the keys is to sit quietly and practice without making a big deal out of it or "overthinking" it. Forget the different methods. Just read a little about it and keep it simple. With practice it gets easier. Be consistent and patient with yourself and do not get discouraged.
 

DD

SoWal Expert
Aug 29, 2005
23,870
460
72
grapevine, tx. /On the road to SoWal
DD...seriously sugar? At best, I have the attention span of a gnat. My mind isn't cluttered. It's a landfill!

I love you for such a thought provoking thread. What was the question again???

I'm so glad I'm not alone. Love you.
 

Teresa

SoWal Guide
Staff member
Nov 15, 2004
30,643
9,473
South Walton, FL
sowal.com
it is overload of information and everything else. At one point I had to start writing everything down, then that didn't help because I didn't ever refer to my notes (because - like you DD - I didn't care). so I just wing it.

it is also hormonal.

have a wine.
 

Rita

margarita brocolia
Dec 1, 2004
5,207
1,634
Dune Allen Beach
It makes life so much easier if you don't care, wing it, and laugh at yourself! Ha!

Have you seen the Univ of Tennessee's girl's basketball coach on the news recently? She has developed early onset alzheimers and is quite the role model in how she is approaching it.

I watched an interview with her and her son. It was so inspiring!..:love:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UK7675pVOhE


.
 
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Pat Summitt's situation is more serious that anyone would know unless they've been through it with a loved one. I have a dear friend who is about two years older than I am. About 5 years ago her husband started accompanying her to the store. He'd talk to me, but she didn't. I thought she was mad at me for some resaon. Then about two years ago I saw them at a restaurant. Her daughter had to help her go to the bathroom. She has been in assisted living for over a year. I've heard that she won't last long.

My Mom has dementia. Most people think it's just memory loss. It's much more than that. The first clue was that Mom in her early 60s forgot how to cook things that she'd done from memory for many years. Shestarted getting really mean and saying really mean things. She acted inappropriately in public. She'd drive somewhere and forget where her car was parked (that's when we took away her keys). She started giving away her money to people who came to her door or called her on the phone, doing crazy things like signing up for a subscription for Highlights for Children when all of her grandchildren were too old for that. We took her checkbook and credit cards away. At that point we hired someone to stay with her from 10 AM-10 PM (she has always slept late). Then in 2007 she fell and broke her hip during the night. After surgery and being in a rehab facility, we moved her into assisted living. She got to the point that she had to be told to chew her food and had to be told to swallow. She couldn't talk. That was the absolute worst and most unbelievable part of the dementia. She had a blood clot in her heart that almost killed her in 2009. She was in a nursing home for almost a year, and then all of a sudden, she started talking and begged to get out of "this prison." It was a prison. So we put her in assisted living. She has her bad days, but she has her good days ("Take me out to dinner. I'd like some shrimp."). She doesn't remember that we went to Australia this month even though we showed her a bunch of photos. But she remembers our names. She's incontinent, can't bathe herself or do her hair or do her makeup or dress herself anymore, but she wants to put on lipstick when we take her out.

More than memory loss ... like Mom's doctor said, typically it moves from the frontal lobe (which explains the inappropriate behavior) to the back, but Mom's seems more random. It's like something takes the brain and randomly kills brain cells. Those of you who have parents and grandparents who still have their cognitive skills when 70 and over should feel blessed. One of my best friend's Dad died this year at the age of 90 while playing golf (he played every day). He fell on the course and got a blood clot which killed him. Yet until that day, he could carry on intelligent and witty conversations, danced all night at his granddaughter's wedding, was able to drive and live in his own home, and take care of his wife who has Alzheimer's. Hubby says that if you gotta go, being on a golf course is the best.

Sorry this is so long, but you can't play down dementia. Like I said, it's more than memory loss. It is a slow, dehumanizing death sentence.
 
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My head used to be a mess - ADHD, years ago. That's all in the past for me because I train, mentally, every day. As part of my business, I've taught and trained thousands of people online to resolve that type of issue, but there's nothing easy about doing so - simple, but not easy, because the brain simply will not go quietly into obedience.

The average mind is like a team of wild horses (thoughts, feelings, impulses & urges) strapped to a wagon (you). Every single horse wants to be in charge and yank the wagon around in one direction or another. The willful effort of reining them in to quiet them down and get them working in one unified direction is the most challenging, enlightening, and life-changing pursuit a human being can engage in, because doing so affects every single area of life - mental, physical, spiritual, financial, social, and personal relationships.

If you want to begin getting your mind to slow down - get your thoughts to be more organized, even develop the ability to set aside thought and enjoy moments of quiet inner peace even while in the midst of being productive, learn the skill to remember without having to constantly think, then simple mental exercises (well-practiced with an objective for mastery) will do the trick.

The techniques should be centered around "Attention Control" skills, and can be as practical as spending 30 to 45 minutes a day combining useful approaches such as sitting in a quiet place and pouring every ounce of your attention into experiencing every breath you take (fully, evenly, in and out) while dismissing and refusing to participate in any thought that arises on the stage of consciousness.

The second half of the mental training routine can be something like taking a candle and placing it about arm-length away at eye level or slightly above (psychological/neurological reasons for doing so) and investing every single bit of attention into the flame, refusing again to participate in any form of thought, self-talk, or external distraction, ensuring that the only thing that matters in the world is your visual and mental connection to the flame.

Eventually, you discover the nature of Attention - that it will obey your command; the nature of Thought, that the voice and pictures going on in your head only SEEM like you, but are merely conditioned, rambling reactions conditioned into your brain like a broken record; and you'll discover the truth that, since you are NOT your thoughts (literally and experiential), there's a different, higher way to go about daily life without their constant harassment.
 
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