The most frightening to me, are the numorous mental illnesses that are around like dementia and Alzheimer's disease. There are mental illnesses out there that haven't even been named yet. Scary, right?

* Senator Pete Domenici, from New Mexico (where I live) will retire from the U.S. Senate, after 35 years of service, because he has been diagonosed with an incurable mental disease which changes a person's personality. (See: Welcome to the Funny Farm/mental health)

* The unthinkable events at Virginia Tech in 2007, has shown us all that we'd better pay more attention to mental health issues, and work together to eliminate the stigma associated with mental illness. None of us are getting any younger.

* I knew nothing about dementia, until I was hospitalized in 2005. While here, one of the other veterans had dementia, and the nurse told me, that he was 48 years old, with the mind of a three year old. How awful! Some people have really been dealt a rotten hand in life! (See: Remembering Manuel...)

Many years ago, when I crossed the 40 and 50 years old mark...it didn't bother me. But, when I turned 60 years of age...it bothered me! To use a football analogy...I now have entered the 4th quarter of my life, and the clock is ticking down to the two-minute warning! Like it or not...the clock is ticking down for all of us to the two-minute warning!

All of us have to stay in shape, both physically and mentally, too. Not being a psychologist, how does a person stay in shape mentally? By staying active...and there are many places to visit on the Internet in this area, and listed below are just a few of them. From: Design For Strong Minds.com; Research has shown that like other muscles, brain function is a use it ...or lost it proposition.

The more aging adults challenge and use their brains, the more agile their brains remain.

From: Eldr.com; 
Brain exercises can help keep you sharp and help prevent dementia. Your brain is amazing! It only weighs about three pounds...and is small enough to hold in your hands, and yet it contains over 100 billion nerve cells that orchestrate every single aspect of your thoughts, your perceptions, and your behavior. If you take care of your brain, like other organs and muscles, it will stay strong and vibrant.

From: My Brain Trainer.com;
Contains short, fun, individual exerises designed to stimulate different parts of your brain. Just as regular work-outs in a gym improve your physical fitness, a regular mental work-out, inproves your cognitive function and brain processing speed.

Popular brain exercises include:

* Cross-word puzzles: I admire people who can do cross-word puzzles, because they have to have a large vocabulary. My vocabulary amounts to about 14 words... and that's up from 12 in 1968! Let me see...I need a three-letter word for a four legged animal that barks...m-m-m-m-m-let me think a moment...

* Ordinary puzzles: In 2005, I was in the hospital for three months, and during that time, I saw many patients take on those complicated puzzles, with more than 1,000 pieces. I don't have the patience to work on a puzzle like this. I might work on a puzzle that has...let's say...3 or 4 pieces, etc.

* Rubik's Cube: This kind of puzzle will stimulate your brain all right...right into a mental institution! This type of puzzle is suited for a seven year old, who can do it with ease, but not for us old folks. (who are you calling old?)

For me, creativity is the answer to keeping my mind active and to get the needed calisthenics. I've always considered myself to be a strong idea person...both good and bad ideas. We don't want to talk about all those stinkers, do we? Excuse my ego, but I've also considered myself a very intelligent person, and so this piece would not be complete, unless I showed you my credential. - Credentials:

Jerry Aragon, BS; MS; Ph.D; MD; KFC; BMW; IRS; CCR; TLC; GMA; CBS; ETC; ETC; ETC - Business card: I call this my "silly card," and it has the usual contact information and it's been around for about seven years. It reads: The Humor Doctor; Jerry Aragon, M.D. (Mentally Disturbed) Specializing in mal-practice; House Call -

Wood carving: As a woodcarver for over 25 years, I have carved over 200 original figures in wood, and all of this has taken patience, coordination, and concentration. Over the years, I've sold almost everything I have made at arts and crafts shows, galleries and gift shops, etc.

I've always loved the challenge of creating something that has never been done before. A few of my pieces include; Parents Running Away From Home; Flu Bug...sick in bed with the flu; a little black bear cub, sitting in a red and white high chair; a lion sitting in a bath tub; a VW with two front ends; a little wooden skunk, holding a sign, which reads, "Help Stop Pollution," and so forth. For over 25 years, this is one way, I have kept my mind active and stimulated, etc.

"Anybody can make the simple complicated, but creativity makes the complicated simple." Charles Mingas

Creativity is not an 8-5 job. For many of us, creativity is 24/7 and the mind works all the time...even while sleeping, etc. Some of my best ideas have come to me in my sleep, and I have to hurry-up and jot them down before I lose them!

* Writing: My mind shouldn't be stimulated and kept busy...it should be locked up in a ward someplace and the key thrown away! Take a look at some of the titles for my articles which include; Have You Ever Kissed an Ashtray? (pucker-up); The SpaMobile Has Arrived (beep-beep); Do I Look Like a Rocket Scientist To You?; My Dog Ate My Homework! (excuse-makers); Smoking Sucks: How I Quit Smoking; Here's the Skinny On How I Lost 40 Pounds; Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Laziness; The English Language is All "Greek" To Me; and yes...the miss-adventure continues.

Writing is therapeutic for me. Some hobbies are expensive, but with writing, all you need is a pencil, pad and bring your ideas and imagination and get started. Writng can be done almost anywhere...heck...when I was in the hospital for three months. I wrote over 100 pages for my book!

"All men (and women) who have achieved great things, have been great dreamers." Oisen Mander

None of us know what fate will bring. But, since the mid-1970's, my mind has been occupied with wood carving; photography; writing; humor; website building; writing site; article directory; display show (Whew!...24 hours a day is not enough!)

"Keep learning.  Learn more about computers; gardening; crafts...whatever.  Never let the brain idle."  George Carlin

Everybody's going to exercise their brain in their own way...whether it be from ordinary puzzles; brain-games such as Bumper Cows and Dress the Doggie, creativity or a cross-word puzzle, etc. I have quiz for you to stimulate your brain, and I'll give you a hint. What is a six-letter word, which begins with "i" and means "going bananas?"

SITE MAP For Hopelessly Lost Souls;
Copyright; 2008; Jerry Aragon/The Humor Doctor
Website name; humordoctormd
http://humordoctormd.homestead.com