This morning I decided to make a change to my morning routine. I realized that the thought of taking my normal walk with my dog Tuckerman was boring me. I was in the frame of mind to just get it over with.
I recalled a book I had bought recently at Barnes and Noble. One of those bargain books, it was called Keep Your Brain Alive (Katz and Rubin), and heralded 83 Neruobic exercises to help prevent memory loss and increase mental fitness. What I was recalling is something that I have known for a long time, which this book had reminded me of -- varying something that we do each day keeps our brains fit, and begins to create a new neural pathway.
So I weighed the pros and cons of a new walking route.
Pro -- new nerual pathway, stimulating memory, creativity, better task performance, interesting not boring
Con -- It will take more time
Now although there is only one con, it is a big one. I live in a neighborhood that was once farm land. The streets grew up in a rather haphazard way, perhaps following cowpaths, not unlike Boston. My current walking route is the shortest route. If I take another, I need to add at least 10 minutes onto the walk. In reality, I will need to add more than 10 minutes, if I consider that the Tuck will want to sniff every blade of grass along the way, it being a new route and necessary instinctively for him to 'learn' it in this way (The Dog Whisperer has great advice on this subject, but that's another blog).
I decided to take the new route. I have a busy day ahead of me, AND...no time like the present. 'If not today, when? If not me, who?'
Tuck did sniff every blade of grass. And for me it was a wonderful, if long, experience. I really noticed parts of my neighborhood that I haven't seen in a long time. I drive by these areas, but walking by them creates a completely different perspective. I also came home approaching my house from the opposite direction. It was like looking at my house for the first time. I am not sure when I actually SAW my house last. Not recently, I can tell you that.
So, I am running a little late, and that is okay. Because life feels a little fresher, a little more exciting. Well worth the change in routine that I committed to this morning. A little gift to myself.
Some other ideas that are offered by Katz and Rubin in Keep Your Brain Alive:
- Shower with your eyes closed
- Take a different route to work
- Go through your food store aisles in a different direction or pattern
- Sit in a different seat in meetings at work
When I look at the simplicity of this list, I realize just how much of my day is on autopilot. And just how simple it would be to change it up, and exercise my brain each day.
So take up the challenge with me. I plan to do at least one routine thing differently each day. Every day for 21 days. I plan to use a rubber band on my left wrist as a reminder. I'll write today's date on it. If I miss a day, I will move it to my right hand, and begin again.
It may be as simple as brushing my teeth with my left hand. Or something as big as wearing gloves when I am driving. (Apparently wearing gloves blunts your sense of fine touch, so that you have to use other cues to steer the car or change stations on the radio. Do this, unless of course you drive one of the snazzy cars that require you to wear driving gloves...in which case, you would take the gloves off!)
So the idea is this, each day will bring at least one new experience out of something that was once routine.
So, this is the challenge.
Will you step into this challenge with me?
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