| My temples begin to throb and I can feel the | | | | frighten us. The simple tasks of living take |
| panic rising in my throat, as I sit in the | | | | up more and more of our time. Formal, |
| classroom. The minutes tick by and I still | | | | effortful learning becomes an ever more |
| don't know what he's talking about. I look | | | | distant memory. This really means that |
| around the class and everyone else seems | | | | proactive, self- guided, healthy change |
| calm. It's just me.I rifle through my | | | | becomes less and less likely. More of our |
| scribbled notes, race through sections of his | | | | time is spent passively responding to our |
| handout, and burn holes through the diagram | | | | environment rather than actively remaking |
| in the book. No help; I'm getting more lost | | | | it.To age healthily, the most important thing |
| and desperate. Heart pounding, my thoughts go | | | | you can do is to not smoke cigarettes or |
| NASCAR. I don't need this crap. It's Saturday | | | | drink too much alcohol. The second thing is |
| and I should be with my family; or giving a | | | | to exercise regularly. The third is to keep |
| lecture; not sitting in the back of the room. | | | | learning. Research has shown that our brains |
| I feel stupid, out of control, and childish. | | | | tend to shrink and our cognitive function to |
| A trickle of sweat runs down my back and | | | | decline as we age. The hardware of experience |
| finds my underwear. Great.As we age, | | | | lies in the nerve cells of the brain.Over |
| hopefully we feel more mature. We gain wisdom | | | | time, brain cells decay and network |
| from our experiences with the memories of | | | | connections are broken. But, every time you |
| decade's worth of success and failure to | | | | learn something, a new connection, a new |
| guide our decisions. We become a little less | | | | pathway is formed in the network of your |
| freaked out by what other people think; a | | | | brain. Some researchers believe that learning |
| little more comfortable doing it our way. We | | | | in older adulthood is the most important |
| settle into the familiar rhythms of our | | | | element in avoiding dementia or Alzheimer's |
| lives. If married with kids, we can view the | | | | disease. A learning brain is replacing |
| drama and machinations of young, single | | | | decaying neurons and broken memory |
| adults with a mixture of amusement and | | | | connections with new ones, healthier ones. |
| condescension. And some of this sense of | | | | It's better than Botox.You should be pushing |
| superiority is completely illusory.The truth | | | | the envelope and testing the boundaries |
| is that most of us are simply a divorce or | | | | throughout your life. On page 30 of my book, |
| spousal death away from that same drama. The | | | | Stepping Stones: Ten Steps..., I discussed |
| rhythms of daily hassle become the glaze over | | | | the Mastery Map, a hierarchical list of |
| life's uncertain, rough spots. Simple | | | | challenging, scary things that would be good |
| experience and the passage of time don't | | | | for you if you did them.On that list should |
| necessarily make us wiser or healthier. Just | | | | be simple learning:Sign up for a class.Find a |
| older.I started a post doctoral Master's of | | | | new hobby.Subscribe to a magazine outside of |
| Science in Psychopharmacology last month and | | | | your comfort zone.Go to a museum, exhibit, or |
| until spring we're studying biochemistry. I | | | | planetarium.Look through the adult education |
| haven't taken a class like this in over 20 | | | | catalogs you get in the mail.Read the |
| years and I am stunned to feel the same old | | | | weekend, calendar section of the paper for |
| angst, confusion, and panic that I did back | | | | coming events.Splash cold water on your face |
| then. The difference is that back then, I had | | | | and stomp the feeling back into your |
| more energy, more time, and more motivation. | | | | brain.Give yourself permission to wonder, to |
| I was kind of used to feeling confused and | | | | experience fear and awe again.Do you remember |
| panicky.In our childhood, teens, and 20s we | | | | why the sky is blue?It is 6:30 a.m. Sunday |
| are constantly confronted with novel | | | | morning and I just found out via e-mail that |
| experiences and brand new learning. We're | | | | I passed my first biochemistry test. The |
| reaching out, stretching the envelope, | | | | rusted, creaking machinery of my brain feels |
| testing the boundaries. The challenge of | | | | a little better oiled. Maybe the next time |
| uncertainty is around every corner; we still | | | | you or I challenge ourselves and feel that |
| believe in our dreams.As we progress through | | | | surge of fear rising, we'll know. I'm old |
| adulthood, we orient ourselves toward the | | | | enough to have purpose; and young enough to |
| familiar. Increasingly, we unconsciously | | | | feel passion. |
| avoid novel situations that challenge or | | | | |