Accomplishing Goals: Part 6 (Active Mind)
Our 6th goal is to keep our minds active. As retired educators we strongly believe that education is a life-long process. According to Socal Empowered, studies have shown that people who engage in activities like reading, writing, listening to music, or even doing puzzles have better cognitive function as they age. Furthermore, these activities can help with maintaining mental sharpness, delaying the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s, improving memory, and increasing brain flexibility.
There are five things we are doing on a daily basis to keep our minds active during retirement.
Reading
When we were first married one of the things we did together was go to the library and checkout books to read over the weekend. Today we both have a Kindle Unlimited account and average between 1 and 2 hours a day reading. My favorite genres include apocalypse, historical, and financial. We also start our day reading and studying our Bible.
Writing
This blog is our number one way to keep our mind active through writing. It is also a great way to archive for our grandchildren what we did during our retirement.
Games/Puzzles
We are a game playing family. We play Sorry, Go Fish, Uno and other board and card games with our granddaughter. We have taught our grandsons to play Rook, Five Crowns, Chicken Foot (dominoes), and Monopoly. In addition to these games, we also have several puzzle/game apps on our phones that we play on our own each day.
Listening to Music
Most of the music I listen to involves selecting 50s and 60s era music from YouTube that we can use for dance practice. I also listen to acapella music while walking on the treadmill.
Researching Topics
I have always enjoyed researching various topics. Currently, my time is spent watching YouTube videos and reading blogs on the topics of national parks, successful retirements, and personal and retirement finance. My favorite national parks/travel blog is Earth Trekkers. My two favorite retirement blogs are Can I Retire Yet and The Retirement Manifesto. My two favorite YouTube channels for personal and retirement finance are Erin Talks Money and Heritage Wealth Planning.
Tammie has been doing research on new recipes and has tried many new ones now that she has more time for cooking and baking. I especially appreciate the new dessert recipes.
These five areas take up from two to four hours every day. Keeping our minds active is a major part of our retirement plans.
