After 40 our Brain Cells must have all dried up!

I am laughing my head off as I returned home from what I thought was my Visiting Teaching visits.  My partner and I had appointments this morning and arrived at our first appointment and proceeded to the front door.  We rang the doorbell, and waited.  We rang it again and waited.  Then we decided that if they were in the basement, that she might not be hearing the doorbell, so we should knock.  After a very loud knock, and still no answer, we decided to go to our car and give her a call on my cell phone. 

She answered after only a couple rings, and she was oh so apologetic.  Says she totally forgot, and that she and her husband were on their way out of town.  I began to laugh, and I could only think of one things to say..."Thank you", you make me feel so much better.  That may sound like a bit of a strange reply, but in actuality, it was one that made me feel like I am not the only one who forgets things.  I have determined after about age 40+ our brain cells must be all dried up.  I have become so forgetful, even when there are post it notes, pasted all over my house... I still forget.  So here is my confession... When I was assigned to Visit teach this very woman who just forgot about our visit today, I forgot the very first appointment to visit her some months ago.  I was so humiliated that I forgot, as she had not lived in the ward for very long, and I was really looking forward to getting to know her better. But I forgot. Guess what... I almost forgot the second appointment.  Gee willikers... I can be pretty dense at times!!! Now can you see why I told her Thank-you?  I was so glad to be in the company of others who forget things too, and it makes me feel alittle more normal, even minus the brain cells.

So my story isn't over.....  We wait for the 45 minutes until the time to go to our next appointment, and my partner and I just waited at my home and chated for the interim.  Finally it was time to go, and as we pull up to the 2nd sisters house, her garage doors were open, and she was sitting in her car, ready to back out of the garage.  Her rear brake lights went on once she spotted us and she stopped.    She turned off her car, and came out the door toward us, and I simply couldn't  hold back the laughter. To totally busted up and said, "Looks like you forgot we were coming."  She said that she had programed in her telephone a reminder of our Visit for today, and had even set the alarm to remind her as well.  The alarm didn't go off, and she was on her way."  We all laughed together, and I said, "Well I don't remind myself with an alarm, but I have post it notes pasted on my bathroom mirror, my computer screen, my refrigerator, my purse, and still I forget things.  I told her how grateful I was that I wasn't the lone ranger and the only one whose brain cells were drying up!  We laughed again. 

Obviously we didn't get any of our intended visits in, but we did get to have a light moment of laughter and forgetfulness!  Sometimes we just need to let things roll off of us, and enjoy the moment and this happened to be one of them.  Now.... when will I be able to find the time to go back and visit these sisters again this month?  Who knows, and I must add that I had already visited them briefly delivering a Valentine Surprise on Valentine Day.  That's ok, and I am just grateful that we can all humor and appreciate each other, in spite of the lack of brain cells.

Now I thought I would tell you my brain cells theory.  Obviously it isn't in any medical journals, or spoken by anyone who is an authority on the subject, but because I must be the queen of lost brain cells, I have theorized what happens after about 40+.  (by the way... this is suppose to make you laugh)  I have done my homework, and evidently the general consensus is that a woman's brain weights about 2.8 lbs, and to make you feel even smarter, Albert Einsteins brain only weighed  2.71 lbs.  Anyway the average guess from the different websites that I did my research on .....is that the human brain contains about 100 billion cells on average. We lose about 10,000 brain cells a day after adolescence,  through a variety of different ways.  Some of the ways are listed here: http://4mind4life.com/blog/2008/02/22/50-things-that-kill-brain-cells/  Now women also lost a few more brain cells giving birth, so as I figure, I have had 5 children, and so I have that many less brain cells.  Right?   Stress can really cost us brain cells too, and women are the worlds best at being stressed, aren't we?  Gratefully for all of us, we have so many brain cells that when we lose a few, it doesn't matter... we just become a bit more scatter brained. 

Anyway, to sum all of this up, we are all the same, and we all have lost some brain cells or two thousand, but one thing is for certain, that no one is exempt.  We all need to just laugh about it, adjust ourselves, and let a whole lot more roll off of our shoulders.  We need to smile and laugh a lot more.  Everyone makes mistakes, and as I well know, some make more of their share of mistakes than others. (that would be me.) 

I did do some more research on the Internet and found that there are also some things that make brain cells grow including.... meditation, an enriched Environment, the act of learning, exercise, and even eating blueberries.  After reading that, I wondered just how many blueberries I needed to eat to get my brain cells back into a more normal range. Once again, I am laughing.  Wish we were alittle more like robots, and could plug ourselves into the power supply on the wall, and let the brain cell regeneration begin!

You know when you hear..."Laughter is the best medicine?" .....well maybe there is something to that after all!  Laughter reduces stress, and thereby, reduces the amount of brain cell loss!  Laughter boosts your immune system, and even lowers your blood pressure.  So there you have it from Dr. Katie... NOW go out and have a great day!!! 

Enjoy!  Katie G.

P.S.  How many blueberries did you say you ate today?  Oh and another piece of food for thought, and yes punn was intended.... If anyone wants to do the math, times our daily brain cell loss by the age we would like to live to, and subtract that from 10 billion, and that should give you a ball park number of how many brain cells we will have left by then.  Maybe it is a good thing that we all die oneday so we can go back and live with Heavenly Father to regenerate!