Uses of Our Mouth
l think as seniors we become more conscious and careful of how we use our mouth in our daily diets and our verbal and facial expressions.
Our mouth truly is an invaluable part of our human makeup and it is important to continue to use it well to optimize our health, our relationships and our enjoyment of life. I believe It allows us to perform three essential functions which include:
(1) eating and drinking to satisfy our appetites and tastes and take our prescriptions
(2) talking and exchanging views that allow us to convey such things as: – thoughts – emotions and feelings – accumulated knowledge – understandings and opinions – a variety of interesting news – an array of experiences – many personal values – and our personality
(3) influencing our facial expressions that complement our talking and convey our reactions in the form of smiles, frowns, pouts, funny faces, and our parade of conjured up expressions
However one important thing to remember is that we cannot take back many words we say. This means we should avoid saying things that will offend others and/or inflict bad feelings and responses that may wound and destroy relationships.
Put another way, “It’s when the fish opens his mouth that he gets caught”.
Uses Of Our Ears
Now it’s time to close the mouth and allow the ears their time to shine. Because aging sometimes handicaps our hearing, seniors generally try to listen more carefully in interpreting and responding to what we think we hear.
Our ears provide endless personal benefits in communicating with our family and social networks and maintaining our physical balance.
I believe our “internal ears” are also vital in allowing us to quietly tune into our brain’s abilities, stored knowledge and memories. Our external and internal listening allows us to:
- interpret and understand what we are hearing – guide our responses and behavior in thoughtful ways – soak up knowledge and improve our level of understanding
- contribute to our self confidence and behavior – enhance our mental health and general well being – demonstrate that we may be aging but we still posses our faculties
Memory Lapses
I believe seniors tend to experience a few more memory lapses than the younger generation. Sometimes while I am performing simple tasks an unrelated thought fills my mind and I put my physical coordination on auto-pilot. This sometimes results in mishandling and making a mess of a simple chore that requires
me to undertake clean up and recovery actions.
This phrase is very descriptive of my lapses “I came, I forgot what I was doing, I retraced my steps and I got distracted on the way back. I have no idea what’s going on and now I have to pee”.
When I experience these lapses I simply admonish myself with a smile and a chuckle and make fun of my concentration “slippages”. It always works and allows me to dismiss them and move on with my day.
