How often do we hear this now trite expression, but yet so true in so many situations. More recently, in reading the AARP Bulletin (Feb. 2019), the table of contents featured, “People with untreated hearing loss have a 52% greater risk of dementia,” and an article on p. 4 followed.
Without reading the article (yet), the prognosis makes sense in this regard. If a person cannot hear the gist of what is going on in a conversation, how can they participate? How can they make use of their brain to process and assess what is being discussed if they are not following the conversation? Moreover, if they are not following the conversation, their brain is just sitting there idle, unused, and unchallenged.
The “use it or lose it” bromide is normally applied to physical activity, but just as physical exercise is important to keep your body functioning properly, mental activity is just as important to keep your mind functioning properly.
In a separate article, I’d like to share my personal experience in how I treated hearing loss, but here I want to focus on encouraging retirees to keep making use of their mental faculties.
All VCCCDRA retirees have an opportunity to play a leadership role (elections coming up in March) and/or to participate in any of its various committees, or communications vehicles such as the newsletter, the website and this blog.
I retired in 2004 (difficult to believe it’s been that long), joined the VCCCDRA in 2005, and in 2006 got a call encouraging me to become more active. I’ve been on the Executive Board since then and have participated in every committee except for a more recently established one. I decided we needed a website so I created one in 2006, and much later this blog, which I consider to be in its infancy. I’m also thinking of creating a listserv for retirees but that’s another story.
Because of my activity with the VCCCD Retirees’ Association, I credit it with helping me keep mentally fit. I noticed early on that words weren’t as readily available to me, but as time went by this diminished. My memory improved as well as my ability to express a thought. So I decided to become as involved as possible, not only with the VCCCDRA but with other organizations. There are all kinds of opportunities to make use of your faculties and to share your knowledge and experience.
Next week I start reading applications for scholarships through the scholarship committee of the Ventura College Foundation. This will be my third year of participating. THIS KIND OF ACTIVITY IS OPEN TO ALL RETIREES. GET INVOLVED! IT’S GOOD FOR YOU, AND IT’S GOOD FOR THE COMMUNITY!
If I felt that teaching at a community college was the best job in the world, I now feel that working in a community college setting is the best environment to work in because of all the great people involved, each with their own stories to tell.
Rene G. Rodriguez
REMINDER: This “blog” belongs to the retirees of the Ventura County Community College District Retirees’ Association. What better place to exercise your noggin than to share your thoughts on whatever topic is pressing on you.