Inaction

Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation … even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind. – Leonardo da Vinci

If you doubt the truth of this quote, think back to your school days. How quick was your mind the first week of school after summer vacation? What about first period on Monday morning? Were you as bright and swift on the uptake as you were later in the year or week? Probably not. Few people came to school raring to go first thing. And if they were ready, they probably kept it quiet because the others would retaliate.

How about you right now? Is your mind invigorated? Are you feeling creative or inspired? How’s your memory? Your vocabulary? Your quick wit, the one that your friends always enjoy so much on Friday nights? Even snappy comebacks use your brain power. Do you need time in the morning to get started, kick into gear, shake off the weekend? Imagine that same sensation, but a thousand times harder as the years start to pile up and up and up, years of using “just enough” of your brain. How hard will it be to use it when you need to or just when you want to?

Your brain needs exercise, just like your body. Read, rather than watch TV. Talk with people, rather than go out to the movies. Do a crossword puzzle, rather than read the comics. There are dozens of ways you can work your brain every single day. Your life will improve for it.