I know for most of us, this time of year can be very taxing. There are books to be balanced, books to be closed, and then of course, books to be opened for the new year. Sometimes with all of these duties we need a little “boost” for our brains.

I just read an article about ways to rejuvenate our brains and I want to share of of them with you.

1) Learn new information and skills during your entire lifespan. This helps keep your brain strong even in the later years of life. The things that challenge you the most have the most value for your brain.
(Side note: The new accounting system we started using 3 years ago should have made me an absolute genius by now!)

2. Exercise regularly. Exercise has a positive effect of enhancing successful aging. Exercise can improve our energy levels, and we all could use that!!!! Exercise can also reduce the risk of depression and anxiety, and who in a district office doesn’t go through periods of depression and anxiety!
3. Share time with friends.  See why the CLASS meetings are so important!  You can all tell your superintendents that you just have to enroll in CLASS for the 2010-11 year so that you can recharge your brain!!!!!   What superintendent doesn’t want a clerk without a recharged brain!!!!!
4. Take control of your health and make sure you are in control of your body.  Talk with your doctor, open communication can help your physician make sound decisions that are best for YOU!
5. Leave time for relaxation and a time to process our environment. Our brains require time to process information, in order to gain more benefit from our daily experiences.  I know this one is very hard to most of you.  Keeping up with family, work, church activities, and home is very challenging.  However, please try to leave a little time for relaxation, you deserve it!
6. Don’t retire from life. I know several are retiring this year and there are several more retiring during the next couple of years, so we need to remember that when we retire from our “business office jobs” we are not retiring from life.  We need to maintain a strong sense of purpose in life and remain actively involved in daily route as it is beneficial to our lifelong health and well-being.  For most of us this won’t be a hard because after we retire our lives will be filled with grandchildren, travel and hopefully #5 (relaxing).
7. Reduce and eliminate smoking, drinking and other drugs. Of course, we all know this information, but it never hurts to hear it again.
8. Have a well developed plan for financial security.  You will feel more in control if you keep tract of your expenses, and know where your money is going.

9. Adopt a nutrient-rich diet. That is a very hard one, because for me it it tastes good, it’s probably not very good for you, however, we do need to be aware of high calorie food.  Understanding why we eat and what we eat is one of the most critical things we do for our health and longevity.
10. Communicate and interact with others is critical to maintaining a strong connections. Isolation has been shown to reduce our over all health. Two more points for enrolling in CLASS for next year!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK so that is my wisdom today. I want to wish each of you clear sailing as you work diligently to meet all of your deadlines.  Keep these 10 items in your mind and try just a few of them and let me know how it works for you come October at our first CLASS meeting.

Have a wonderful summer!