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Thanks for visiting my blog. Hope you find some helpful hints for organizing your time and space. My passions are to help you make home a refuge instead of a crisis center, and to help you function in peace rather than chaos - at home or at work. I have switched my main blog to 1-2-3 ... Get Organized on WordPress, so please visit me there.



Friday, February 13, 2009

In a Winter Rut? Here's How to Climb Out!


I got to meet our new girl yesterday, showed her around the house, learned what she eats and does not eat (vegetables!!), and we're looking forward to having this house of girls join us this afternoon after school. In the meantime, have to attend a seminar on Communicable Disease and amend my menu!

On to our topic of the day:


In a Winter Rut? Here's How to Climb Out!

Are you bored with your life at the moment? Tired of the limitations of winter? You can do something about it, you know.

I learned recently that by doing something new or different, you are creating new neurological pathways in your brain. The result? Your brain stays more flexible, as it is like exercising your brain. Consequently, you have less chance of developing dementia or Alzheimer's. And doing something new lifts your spirits.

Something as simple as going to work a different way. Or one of my favorites is driving down a road just because I've never driven down it before and I want to discover what is there!

My parents are doing a great job of creating new neurological pathways. They read about little towns that seem interesting, and they visit them and explore. My sister has introduced them to organic foods, so they've found a couple of organic stores in their town and are trying out new tastes.

And they are eating foods at non-traditional times. For example, they told me they had navy beans for breakfast one day and a huge salad for breakfast another day! We even get in ruts about what we eat and when, don't we? Since breakfast is my least favorite meal of the day but the most important, I'm all for being creative!

We missed National Backwards Day on January 31st, but why let that stop you? I'm in the mood to serve dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner, and start with dessert first!

Sometimes when it seems there are few interesting entertainment options, we take the girls on a flip-a-coin adventure. One of the girls flips a coin. If it's heads we go right, if it's tails we go left. After three blocks we do it again (one block keeps you too close to home). We've ended up in horse country east of here, in the national park west of here, and all sorts of places in between. If we get thirsty, we stop for a drink.

If we find something interesting, we stop to explore. For example, on one of our trips we drove by the nearby Stan Hywet mansion, built by the Seiberlings, founder of Goodyear. The girls hadn't been, so we stopped and took a tour.

So, if you're in a rut, it doesn't take much to climb out - just do something new!

What do you like to do when you're bored and need a new adventure?


Blogs on similar topics:
Think Positively
To Do List or Not To Do List - That is the Question!
Why Time Off Is Well Spent