To Improve What? Oh Yes, Memory!

How many times have you had the exact word you needed on the tip of your tongue only to have it tease and evade your memory? Who hasn't written a list to remember and then forgotten the list! Or perhaps you asked someone to help you remember and they forgot. Maybe you hid something from yourself in a special place you were sure to recall and spent weeks searching for the item because you forgot where you hid it. How many Easter eggs have been hidden, only to rot several days later because the person who hid the eggs forgot where they put them? What about that person you spent weeks secretly adoring, finally got the perfect chance to make their acquaintance, and then suffered a mental freeze?

Was a bill paid late because you forgot to make a note on your calendar, notes you try to remember to transfer from each month previous? Did you forget someone's birthday, someone like your child or parent or, Heaven forbid, your spouse? Did you forget to feed your dog, and then get angry because he's persistently trying to get your attention while you're busy with an important call? Was that you who were asked by your loving wife or husband to bring a drink on a hot day of yard work, while your loved one tolls away with their chores as you relax in the air conditioning? Oops! Sorry, honey. By the way, that silly doctor's office called, you missed your appointment you were adamant they squeeze into their busy schedule. Oh, dear, was that today?

Sometimes it seems that no matter what we do to try to jog our memories, they betray us at the worst possible moments. Children are forgotten at school, standing in the car pick-up line. The groceries are left to ruin in the back seat of the car because the phone rang just as you opened the front door. A bag is left at the store holding something you bought that shows on your receipt, but got lost because of the many bags you had to maneuver into the buggy while holding the crying baby. A cup is balanced on top of a vehicle, only to topple off as the driver pulls away.

Every day people somewhere complain about memory loss, mostly temporary and short-term memory loss. Many times it is simply a result of preoccupation and jammed, hectic schedules. Sometimes it is from lack of sleep due to illness of one's self or one's child, or a night spent in a hospital by a loved one's side.

Proper rest and relaxation are important for normal mental function. Harried families often neglect to even allow themselves relief on a vacation, often times returning more tired and mentally stressed than before their trip. Yet, the solution can be so simple as to be overlooked. What is the answer? Take care of yourself. Learn how much is too much and start saying no, whether to yourself or to someone needing just a tiny little favor that throws your whole schedule out of whack when you are already stressed enough.