“Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.”
~ Bernice Johnson Reagon
I love reading Sheila Burke’s blog, Zen-Sational Living for over a year now. Although we’ve never met in person, we often find ourselves posting similar blogs and writing about the same ideas. I love her thoughts about challenging yourself. So enjoy this except from her latest book, Booyah Spirit:
Challenge your mind: Take on a challenge and step outside of your comfort zone. Do something that gets those juices flowing! If you are a shy person, introduce yourself to someone new. Volunteer somewhere, tutor someone, or be a mentor. A challenge can be big or small, but a challenge is a building block in life; working on a challenge is rewarding, it’s a step to personal success.
Challenge yourself each and every day, whether it is running an extra two minutes on the treadmill, or passing the ice-cream store without making a purchase. Step outside of your comfort zone.
Challenge, like change, is sometimes hard to do because it takes you out of your “norm”; it removes you from your routine. We feel as if we’re losing something by deviating from our routine, but in fact we’re gaining something from the new experience. Embrace challenge and embrace change, for you never know what you might be missing if you let these opportunities pass you by.
Think of a food you hated as a kid, but love now as an adult. At some point you challenged yourself to eat that food, and lo and behold you ended up liking it! Think of a child learning to ride a bike. Even though they are afraid to fall, they take the challenge and now ride that bike every day. New experiences are often frightening, but sometimes we benefit greatly from them in the long run.
Challenge your brain! Just like we exercise our mind and body, we need to exercise our brain and keep it healthy and alert! Whether its jigsaw or crossword puzzles, board games, reading, playing a game, or learning a new skill or trick – challenge your brain and challenge it daily! One great way to challenge your brain is to use the opposite hand; brush your teeth, comb your hair, write on paper, etc. with the opposite hand. Have someone tie your hands behind your back and learn to function without them for an hour or two. (Or you could try just one hand.) Walk around the house on your knees for a while: what do observe? (Other than painful knees, I mean! You may want to wear knee pads!) Try to complete a routine task while blindfolded. All of these will challenge your brain. There is never an age in which we lose the ability to learn.
All of our important brain activity, and how we perform mentally, come about from the trillions, yes trillions, of synapses in our brain. A synapse is the gap between two neurons, one that sends information and one that receives information. In these synapses are neurotransmitters that help the information along from point A to point B. As we age, our neurons and synapses fire at a slower pace, and will even diminish and deteriorate. They can also be diminished or deteriorated by stress, excessive drug and alcohol use, and things like pesticides and heavy metals. On the other hand, synapses can be strengthened and maintained by reducing stress, getting a good amount of sleep, challenging the brain, exercising, and eating a well balanced, nutritious diet! We can also create new synapses at any age in life. Maintaining a healthy mind goes a long way in maintaining a healthy body.
Be good to your synapses! Take them for a walk, nourish them with healthy food choices, let them sleep, and invite them to do a puzzle with you! Do something to challenge your self today!
Here are 10 things you can do right now to challenge yourself and your brain:
1. Do something that scares the heck out of you
2. Look for smiley faces hidden in every day objects
3. Learn Yoga
4. Learn a magic trick
5. Make a paper airplane
6. Learn to juggle
7. Take something apart and reassemble it
8. Do a somersault or a cartwheel
9. Try to identify constellations in the night sky
10. Research your dream vacation
A challenge can be found just about anywhere! What will you do to challenge yourself this week?
Sheila Burke is the author of Zen-Sational Living and Booyah Spirit. She also writes a blog at Zen-Sational Living. She lives with her husband and three kids in Ohio.
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Photo credit: Advanced Life Skills
Thank you Betsy! I hope everyone enjoyed this post and does something challenging for themselves today
Love your synapses and have a zen-sational day everyone!
~ Sheila
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Betsy Reply:
January 19th, 2012 at 7:47 pm
Thanks, Sheila, for being my guest poster!
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Loved this post, Sheila – so important NOT to be content. I like “Be good to your synapses” – that line puts a grin on my face!
Thank you Betsy – two great women on the same page – you and Sheila!
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Betsy Reply:
January 19th, 2012 at 7:48 pm
Thanks Vidya! I agree with Sheila… now there are three!
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Oh! Now there’s 3!
Thank you Vidya, you are so sweet! And yes, be kind to your synapses.
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Another amazing post! Thank you for all of your inspiration! Make it a great day!
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Betsy Reply:
January 20th, 2012 at 7:00 am
Thanks so much Danielle! So glad to have you here. Love your posts at Daily Geisha as well!
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So fun to see my Zen friends in one place!!!
I loved this part of Booyah! Spirit. Betsy thank you for posting as a refresher. These challenges are worth reminding myself about each and every day, especially the simple ones that help my aging brain!
Wishing you both a very beautiful, happy, peaceful, and harmonious Friday!
Love,
Jen
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Betsy Reply:
January 20th, 2012 at 7:02 am
Isn’t it? Your turn is coming!!
I agree about our poor aging brains. My memory has been bad lately!! I’m trying to do too much!
Happy Friday to you, too!
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@Danielle:
Thank you so much for sweet comment. I must go visit Daily Geisha, what a GREAT name for a blog!
Have a Zen-Sational day! ~Sheila
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@Jen:
Thank you Zen Jen! It’s so wonderful to hear how people put my book to use and are enjoying it! You guys make me feel all warm and fuzzy!
Have a great weekend, Ladies!
~Sheila
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First off, Sheila rocks! Great guest post selection. I’m glad that she directed us your way, as well.
I like #4 especially –”learn a magic trick”. I know my kiddos would like that!
Traci
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Betsy Reply:
January 20th, 2012 at 3:00 pm
Hi Traci,
I do know that Sheila is a great guest to have! We’ve been blogging friends for at least a year now… maybe more! So glad you stopped by.
I do magic tricks for my preschoolers and they love it. It’s a great way to get a bunch of rowdy kids to become completely quiet.
Hope you keep coming by and I’ll check out your site, too!
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@Traci,
You always make me smile! Thank you for stopping by! And to everyone who might be reading this, Traci has an amazing blog!
And of course a huge thanks to Zen Mama Betsy for having me at your wonderful blog! I am so honored. And, of course… I love that you do magic for your preschoolers, that is SO cool!
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Betsy,
I think I’m doing so each time I turn on my computer…all technology challenges me.
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Sheila,
About a year and half ago – I started taking a yoga class (which also scared the heck out of me at the time). Now…it’s become a weekly thing, this yoga class – and something I really look forward to. And the thing is – had I not challenged myself and went to that first class – I would not have experienced the great peace (and a bit of sweat!) that’s come from that.
Hmmm….time to do something else that scares the heck out of me…
You inspire me!
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*snort* Oh my gosh Tess, that’s funny, LOL! I think it’s so funny how now a days kids who don’t even go to pre-school yet can work a computer better than I can! I don’t know what I’ll do when my son goes to college in the fall! I better get Skype. lol
Have a great night, Tess!
~Sheila
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@Lance
Thank you for your nice compliment, that is such a wonderful thing coming from you!
Yes, yoga is challenging when first attempted. At least it was for me, a person who didn’t exercise. But wow, I know what an amazing feeling throughout the mind and body!
I do stuff that scares the heck out of me allllll the time. I think it’s just in my blood. My husband and I are actually opening another business (we currently have a window cleaning biz for the last 15 yrs, and he also has a synthetic putting green biz) THIS time, we’re taking a big plunge and opening a brick and mortar store. For starters we’re opening a resale shop… and then we’ll open a zen store. We’re so excited, but at this point we’re used to jumping right in for another challenge!
Thanks for reading Lance, have a great weekend, and give your synapses a hug!
Sheila
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Sheila,
WOW….what a great way to start my day. I always ‘do’ a lot of things in a day…most of which I love. But on a daily basis, I don’t think of challenging myself. Thanks for the great ideas.:) Fran
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Hi Betsy, I love the part about remembering foods you hated as a kid. One of mine was Mexican food. Yes, just about all Mexican food. I didn’t like green vegetables, and all Mexican Food seemed to be was HOT GREEN VEGETABLES! Oh, and did I mention they were hot?
Then a few years ago, my wife and I moved to a town in Oklahoma where there was nothing BUT Mexican restaurants. So I figured I could either learn to like it or starve.
Today, I love Mexican food.
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@Fran,
Thank you, I’m glad this inspired you! As a fellow “many hats wearer” (lol) I can relate! Take something challenging with you if you go to work, it’s great to bust stress on a lunch hour!
Have a happy rest of the weekend!
~Sheila
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@Bryan,
I couldn’t help but chuckle at your green veggie story, lol! I wasn’t a mexican food or veggie eater either when I was a kid. Peas were my nightmare too! My mom used to make peas allll the time. I used to take a mouthful and spit them into my glass of milk and then leave enough to cover the peas in the glass and asked to be excused from the table.
Then my dad started making me drink all the milk in the glass. And I LOVE PEAS now, lol.
Have a terrific rest of the weekend!
~Sheila
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Super suggestions for challenging the brain. Thanks for sharing! I hadn’t thought of some of these and will have to give some of them a try.
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I love the idea of challenging yourself! What great suggestions, except for the somersault / cartwheel — that could put a blogger in the hospital.
Thanks, Shelia. I’m off to challenge myself, well maybe in a few hours–it’s 3:30 am now.
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@Terri,
Thank you for reading, I’m glad you enjoyed my challenging post!
Have a wonderful week!
~Sheila
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@JennyBean,
LOL! I challenged myself once by doing the “wheel” as a yoga pose. BAD mistake for someone not that advanced in yoga, lol. I shredded a couple arm muscles and pulled another in my back.
Hope you got some sleep! Have an awesome week, Jenny.
~Sheila
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This is great … I love the idea of looking for new challenges! I’m a fan of doing 30-day challenges: http://raisingfigureskaters.com/2012/01/13/it-isnt-too-late-to-set-goals-and-challenges/. I really should do some daily challenges as well, though, like doing something that scares me or looking for smiley faces. Awesome thoughts and reminders!
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@Deb,
Thanks!
I love the idea of looking for smiley faces, that’s pretty cool.
And no, you’re right, it’s never too late!
Thanks for stopping by today!
Sheila
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Love, love, love this Sheila and Betsy! And I love the reminder that: There is never an age in which we lose the ability to learn!
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