Mind and Body
Taking Good Care of Both of Them
“The connection between health and body is somewhat like a computer: Your system can crash at any time. The older it gets, the more likely the problem. Thus you need to do backups in the form of mental preparedness. Like virus software for your computer, the right mental mindset will be your insurance against future disasters.” – Barbara Brabec
TABLE OF CONTENTS
• 15 Interesting Things to Ponder instead of the News. Writing and Word Usage, Tips for Better Health, Stunning Statistics, Time out for Fun, and an Inspirational Story you may have missed.
• Accidents and Liability Insurance Issues When You Fall on Public Property. A fall on black ice in 2010 led Barbara to some scary discoveries about medical liability insurance and the financial pitfalls of falling on public property—plus the knowledge that she had a benign brain tumor called a meningioma.
NEW: The Aging Brain: The Latest Scientific Research on Forgetfulness and Memory Loss. Barbara’s research from leading scientists and experts on how our brain works, memory loss and forgetfulness in aging brains, latest brain supplements guide, and humor about the "wretched road to decrepitude."
• Are You Getting Enough Sleep? Good sleep is more important than you may realize. Here’s how to get all you need, with special tips and resources for insomniacs.
NEW: The Brain Connection between Writing and Remembering (Write it Down to Remember it!). How a message from Dr. David Jeremiah, Turning Point Ministries, put Barbara on a new path of discovery in how to train her mind to remember things she could never remember before.
• Breast Cancer: What Women Need to Know [PDF]. A special 1993 report on Barbara’s breast cancer experience with inspiring comments from survivors in her network. Revised in 2021 to include latest resources and updates from those who contributed to the first article; plus a bonus feature.
• Breast Cancer Returns after Twenty Years [PDF]. Barbara’s continuing journey with breast cancer first reported in 2013. Revised in 2021 to include latest resources and Barbara’s current and positive breast cancer update.
• Childhood Amnesia: Lost Memories of a Paper Doll Collection [PDF]. Barbara writes about the paper doll collection she didn't remember she had as a child and then ties this discussion to her research on the realities of “childhood amnesia.” (An excerpt from Barbara’s memoir, Marcella’s Secret Dreams and Stories.)
• Do You Live Alone or Know Someone Who Does? If so, your life or theirs could depend on you having a plan to get immediate help in a medical emergency if the phone is out of reach.
• Eating Wisely to Improve and Maintain Good Health. You are what you eat. A study of nutrition changed Barbara’s life, and what she learned could change yours too—if you follow her lead.
• How Music and Exercise Benefit Your Brain. How to keep your brain healthy and engaged as you age, with resources to help you improve your memory and increase cognitive ability.
• Harnessing the Power of Your Subconscious Mind. Are you using all the information and ideas your subconscious mind has been storing all your life? You know more than you think you know.
NEW: How Your Attitude Affects Your Life. Each of us has a choice about how we perceive our experiences in life and how our mind and body will respond.
“The healing of old wounds comes not from pushing tragic memories away but from remembering them, filtering them through love, to transform their distinctive brand of pain.” – Jane Kirkpatrick, The Memory Weaver
• How to Enrich and Empower Your Brain as You Age. Get the latest research on aging brains, learn why the "wisdom of age" is real and what was learned from studies of Albert Einstein's brain; plus the brain benefits of eating more veggies and having a little red wine too.
“The mind is tricky. We don't know when something useful will pop into our minds. I find that if I think carefully about something, solutions will occur to me unpredictably within a few hours.” – Gary North, economic historian and Christian author
• How's Your Memory These Days? Do you sometimes feel you’re losing it? Do you remember details about the past, but often wonder where your short-term memory has gone?
NEW: The Life-Changing Consequences of a Bad Fall. Lessons Barbara learned after her second bad fall, products that helped her recover, and her strategies for getting help.
• Stress and Blood Pressure: What Stress Does to You and What You Can Do About It. How Barbara dramatically lowered her blood pressure by identifying the one thing that was causing most of her stress. (Includes perspective on stress and the Pandemic).
• Technology and the Importance of Lifelong Learning. If you want to keep your job, or survive in your own business, or simply enrich your personal life, the learning can never stop.
• Tired of Being Fat? How to Finally Lose that Unwanted Weight [PDF]. The life-changing weight-loss secrets Barbara learned from eight months’ experience on Weight Watchers may be just the push you need to finally get serious about a diet and stick with it. After that, she went on to create her own weight loss plan and lost 50 pounds.
“You are what you eat, said a wise old man.
If that's the case, I'm a garbage can!”
– Victor Buono
A Widow’s Thoughts and Advice: An Uplifting Series of Articles for Widows and Other Grieving Hearts [PDF]. Three months a widow, Barbara began a ten-year series of articles in which she shared her widowhood journey and advice while reporting on conversations with other widows and their mutual strategies for dealing with grief and loss and moving on.
• Why Creative People Are Sleep Deprived and What to Do about it. Barbara's experience, coupled with that gained from her interviews with many creative people.
“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.”
– Henry Ford
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