Category: Wellness

Mary Ann

When my Sirius XM subscription was going from $5.00 to nearly $30.00 a month, I had to decide was worth it.  I basically listened to news and Christmas music.   Could I use the $360 annual fee in better ways?  Yes, I could.  It was time for a change.  

I then started to peruse the airways searching for a new home for my ears while I was driving.  I re-discovered National Public Radio.  I had listened to it once upon a time and always enjoyed the interviews and programing.  I decided this would be a good place to listen to the news plus all their other programing.

NPR prides itself to present the news as just the facts so at the top and the bottom of the hour, you get a snapshot of what is happening in the world.  The programing will get more into opinions and more in-depth study of many topics.  I have found that generally they will have guests on with opposing views, so you get a well-rounded perspective on most topics.  They give excellent information on the arts with great book reviews that include interviews with the authors or a good discussion on sport teams.  It is never boring from my perspective.  It is always educational, and I have learned so much about the most obscure topics which brings me to the title of this blog – Quirky Stories.

I absolutely love the endless stories on the wildest subjects.  I have found that I will sit in the driveway and finish a story on the history of banjos.  Apparently, finishing stories in the driveway is very common among NPR listeners.  I keep saying I need to get a radio for the house so I can finish a story in the comfort of my home instead of freezing or roasting in the car. 

Some of the stories are often science centered.  Sometimes I come in the middle of a featured topic, and I might not catch the title so please forgive me. These are some recent programs that I found rather fascination which may give you some idea how my brain works.   Here are some of the stories.  What Dogs Bring to Your life – I think anyone of us who had or has a dog could be a guest contributor.  Some Insects use Wasps as Bodyguards – so when I am avoiding a wasp, it may just be protecting a fellow insect. Really?   I loved the session on sperm whales – when they communicate with each other, they use grammar that is like humans.  The whales are probably more correct since texting has ruined humans’ grammar and spelling 

Recently, I listened to a program on What Footballers eat for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.  They had a session on a Ghost Story that was about the Golden Frogs of Costa Rica, and.  just his morning, I listened to a story about Buzz Aldrin using a ball point pen case to fix a circuit breaker on a space capsule– mission saved.  Remember these are not exact titles – it is just the flavor of a program.  Each time I drive somewhere, I truly look forward to learning something new about quirky subjects. 

You can often find topical NPR programs on your phone news.  It is in print.  Solo Agers was a recent and interesting article for our age group.  You can also go to the websites and listen to the programing there.    

If you are not an NPR aficionado, now is time to check it out.  I promise you will find some quirky stories.  It is good prep to be a future Jeopardy contestant.  You can join me with filling your mind full of rather useless information.  I cannot remember some important detail of my life, but I remember sperm whales are well-spoken.  If you become a listener, hopefully you will become a supporter.  NPR is free, but contributions keep it going.  Maybe that would be a good use of my $360 dollars? 

How many times have you gone to the doctor, already assured of the cause of what is ailing you? If you are like me, you enjoy doing preliminary research. You feel assured when you believe you are informed.

In the past we relied solely on the doctor for medical advice. Yet now, with so much information available to us, the doctor has become the one who validates what we already know. The doctor has the authority to prescribe medication or treatment. If you ask medical professionals, most will say that internet searches are their worst enemies as patients come into their offices, already having answers.

I have personally experienced this myself.  I went for a consultation before agreeing to an invasive medication, armed with a long list of questions.  The doctor was so exasperated with my questions that he actually walked out on me, almost slamming the door behind him.  In my defense, my questions were based on reading the results of a clinical trial that were published by the company that sold the treatment. I felt the doctor had “god syndrome” – that is, he believed a patient should take his word as gospel and not question his authority. Of course, I wasn’t questioning his authority; just his experience in administering the medication. Oh, well.

All this to say, be discerning when turning to YouTube, websites, and social media for answers. Please understand, I am not blaming the social media platforms. Online health information can be helpful. It can also be misleading or even incorrect. Ultimately, talk to your doctor and hope s/he has the patience to answer your questions.

Following are some thoughts about searching for and using online health information.

Start With a Healthy Level of Caution

Remember that online medical content can be useful for learning basic information, but it should not replace individualized medical advice. Be especially careful with advice about diagnosis, medication changes, supplements, diets, procedures, or stopping prescribed treatment. Each person has a unique chemistry, lifestyle, and history. Work with your medical professionals to discern the best treatment for you as an individual.  Assume that any dramatic claims need verification before acting on them.

Check Who Is Providing the Advice

This is a big one! Look for the author’s name, credentials, professional role, and organization. Just this week I watched two online videos by AI doctors! While the information shared may have come from reliable sources, AI’s ability to filter those sources is still in its infancy.  Opt instead, for sources connected to government health agencies, major medical centers, universities, professional medical organizations, or established nonprofit health organizations. Be especially cautious if the content creator does not clearly identify her/his qualifications or uses vague labels such as “health expert,” “wellness coach,” or “researcher” without verifiable details.

Evaluate the Purpose of the Content

Ask whether the goal is to inform, sell, persuade, entertain, or build an audience.  Watch for sponsored products, affiliate links, paid memberships, supplement sales, coaching programs, or “exclusive” cures.  Be careful when fear, urgency, outrage, or miracle language is used to keep your attention.

Look for Evidence, Not Just Opinions

Reliable medical information should provide the source indicating from where the evidence comes.  Look for references to peer-reviewed research, clinical guidelines, medical organizations, or expert review.  Watch out for personal stories presented as proof, limited trials and studies, or claims that “doctors do not want you to know this.”  Check whether the information is current, because medical guidance can change as new evidence becomes available. How often have you seen information that is one, five, even twenty years old? Once information is posted online, it never goes away!

Searching for answers is a way of life these days. A wealth of good information is in cyberspace awaiting our perusal. It is great to have valuable information at our fingertips. The important thing is to be mindful, cautious, and discerning.  Then, search to your heart’s content!

Mary Ann

When you suddenly can’t remember a name or recall a word that is on the tip of your tongue, you begin to panic that you are getting early onset Alzheimers.  At our age, it probably would not be early onset.  It is just old age. 

It is frightening to think that you might be losing your mental faculties.  It is hard enough to deal with the aches and pains of aging and then be fearful that you will fall for a scam giving all your money away or be in a permanent brain fog.  So, what can you do about it?  

The experts would tell you to learn new things, get enough sleep, eat well, exercise, have social connections, and challenge your brain in novel ways.  Even in old age, the brain can adapt, learn, and build new connections between nerve cells.  This is called neuroplasticity. 

People with mild cognitive impairment can do many things to improve their mental skills.  They can “exercise” their brains with activities that require thinking, remembering, focusing, learning, and problem solving.  The secret is to challenge yourself.  There are lots of computerized cognitive games that you can do on your computer, iPad, or phone.  You can learn a new language or a musical instrument. Take up any new artistic endeavor.  Write a journal and read everything.  Take classes.  I Zoom classes all the time – a previous blog detailed this. The activity should be novel, test you, and be enjoyable so you will continue with it. 

Crossword puzzles are always mentioned.  However, I cannot spell so that makes it doubly hard for me.  I can look at a word and know it is misspelled, but if I must generate the word, it will take me several tries if I ever get it.  I have taken to doing Word Searches or Find-A-Word puzzles which I find relaxing.  After years of teaching, I can read words upside down and backwards which is necessary to do the searches. This comes from looking at students’ papers from the other side of the desk.  That learned skill has finally come in handy.  Who knew?  

I also like to do Hidden Picture Puzzles.  I guess I always loved the Highlight magazine’s Hidden Pictures that we found in the dentist office. The company Brain Games has a wonderful selection of all kinds of brain games.  The Scavenger Hunt books from them are challenging but lots of fun.  The Find the Cat books are hard.  Kitties are tricky.  

If you like numbers, there is sudoku.  I have a variation of the puzzle that is a wooden board with colored balls.  It looks easy, but it is very thought-provoking.  There is a game for every interest and attention span.  You just need to find something of interest to you.  You can sign up for expensive online courses or go to Dollar Trees and stock up on Word Searches. And of course, Amazon has endless brain games.

I start everyday with prayers, meditations, readings, and brain games.  I am hoping that it is all helping my brain.  At least, I am trying, and it is all enjoyable.  It is nice to kill two birds with one stone – exercising the brain and having fun doing it!  Join me in making a difference in your brain and in your life.   

As the temperatures soar, we may tend to slack off on our resolve to exercise. Yet there are so many ways to support our health in the comfort of our air-conditioned homes.  I was reminded of this yesterday, after I spent 45 minutes pulling weeds out of some flower beds that line the front walk to my house. The temperature was 80-something and rising when I stepped out with gloved hands and my trusty weed puller. The fifteen minutes turned into almost an hour as I worked my way up the sidewalk. At the same time, the sun felt more and more intense. I cooled down by sitting in the Urban Oasis (my deck) with a glass of iced tea and my current read.

Checking my steps, I found I had only 693 for the morning! What! After all that up and down, scooting along, and pulling, I felt I should have gotten more exercise credit than that! So after a shower and feeling somewhat refreshed, I pulled up a YouTube video and walked a mile. Well, at least an equivalent mile – 15-20 minutes of low impact aerobics with increased heart rate for about 10 minutes of that.

Next, I used my stretch bands to perform resistance exercises at three levels — 180 degrees, 90 degrees, and 45 degrees. Then on the floor to do lifts and squeezes with varying sizes of balls and clamshells with a resistance band. And always with a large glass of water close by.

When someone calls, I begin walking around the house, up and down the hallway, around the dining room table, through the kitchen to the family room and back down the hallway into each bedroom. I can get 2,000 steps in while talking to some people!

Even when I sit down to watch a movie, I can do leg lifts and arm lifts. Or bring my trusty little hand weights to the chair and add even more resistance.

My point is, I have no excuse to avoid exercising when the sun beats down and the mercury rises. The exercises I do are age appropriate. My sister reminded me one day when I felt low on energy that maybe a little exercise would lift my spirits along with my heart rate. She was right! Not only did I feel better physically, I was proud of myself pushing through.

As we age, arthritis begins to creep in. The best defense is movement. It’s easy to become stagnant, thinking tomorrow I will feel more like exercising. My 95-year-old aunt walks every day. She also naps. Her health, overall, is pretty good. Mary Ann inspires me, too. She makes herself go to the gym a few days a week, even when she isn’t feeling it! Way to go, girl! Keep Moving!

Mary Ann

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Superman!  I am sure that you may have played Superman or Batman or Wonder Woman as a child or that your children or grandchildren did.  I used to pin on a towel on my son’s shoulders every day for about a year as he faced the world and defended our home. He was only four, but he was sure he had superpowers.  I am lucky he didn’t try to fly by jumping off the roof.  

We live in a world of Marvel or DC characters in movies, TV shows, and books, and do not forget fantasy worlds where witches and elves have magical powers – superpowers!  We love them all.  Then there is the Harry Potter universe.  I am sure you have gotten lost in those worlds over the years.  Let’s explore this a bit more.

A Superpower means that you have extraordinary or paranormal abilities. I found websites that list 100 or more superpowers. There is telekinesis where you can move objects with your mind.  There is invisibility where you are cannot been seen with the naked eye – remember Harry Potters’ invisibility cloak?  You can have super strength, or you can   manipulate time that includes time travel.  You can be a shapeshifter changing from one shape to another – a person to an animal. You have the power to fly, or you can teleport traveling from one place to another.  You can have healing superpowers that can regenerate body parts and fight an infection.  Power negation sounds pretty good because you cancel all other powers.  Check out Pinterest with its extensive display of Superpowers!

Have you ever wished that you had a Superpower?   I sure do.  It would be nice to disappear at awkward moments or move my groceries from the car to the kitchen or better yet put them away. However, what I really want to do is animal communication where I would understand and communicate with animals.  Move over, Dr. Doolittle!  I have always been an animal lover.  You must know that from my blogs.  I would have loved to know what my dogs and cats were thinking.  Today, I would love to talk to the catbird who has taken over the patio garden.  He (I am assuming he) brings food to its mate and soon to his hatchlings.  He flits around the garden with his tail bobbing up and down exposing his little red patch on his tush.  He checks me out to the point that he looks in my windows.  I think he would like to talk too asking me what I am doing in my nest!  

Then I would love to hear what the butterflies and hummingbirds have to say.  Maybe thank you for the plants that I have planted for them to have a tasty snack.  I am sure the bunnies and the foxes have some tales – no pun intended – to tell.  Now, we just look at each other, and I imagine what a conversation might be.  

if you could have a superpower, how would you use it?  Let us think about it as we visualize some possibilities. I do believe that those of us in the winter of our lives, maybe the fall for some, could use a few anti-aging superpowers.  How about a superpower for better vision or hearing?  How about a supercharged healing power where we could rid ourselves of pain or fix a bad hip joint.  We could use an anti-fall power – on the way down, we would right ourselves immediately.  How about anti-wrinkle or anti-gray hair powers?  We could use superpowers for sleeping better or talking to our grandchildren by just thinking about them. How about superpowers to do all our cooking or laundry and give you back lost skills like skipping or hopping. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to recall that word on the tip of your tongue or remember where you put your glasses. We need some superpowers for that.

 I am sure this list could go on and on.  We have not been blessed with any real superpowers, yet we have some power at our fingertips.  We can be a great friend.  We can be kind and helpful. We can always have a smile for someone.  We can deeply love our family.  We can give to charities and help hungry people. We can appreciate the small treasures in our world.  So, you see you really do have power to be super to others!  

Mary Ann

Do you remember when you would get up in the morning and run a brush through your hair, brush your teeth, splash water on your face, and maybe a dash of lipstick or mascara and run out the door?   Do you also remember when you went to bed, and you only washed your face and brushed your teeth– maybe skipping the face washing if you were very tired.  Well, once you become old, those days are over.  It is time for daily rituals both day and night.

I must now plan my mornings and evenings to perform my rituals.  Each evening before bed, I set out my pills and eyedrops for the morning.  I then must do a 20-minute treatment with this heated eye gizmo for dry eye therapy.  I usually fall asleep while I am doing it, and I must do it twice since the longest it can run is 10 minutes. After the treatment, I clean my eye lids with eyelid wipes and top it off with GenTeal Tears, a Vaseline-like ointment that helps dry eyes.  This is the very last thing I do because you will be only seeing fog.  No reading when you can’t sleep.  This all works so you keep doing the protocol.  Then there are lotions or ointments for one thing or another that is acting up.  My back may hurt so I will put arnica on it which does seem to help. Most of this is not a beauty regime.  That was all done when I was younger.  I kind of chuckle when I see on TV, beauty regiments that are 4 to 6 steps. I would probably be asleep by step two.  So, I save time and money and only use moisturizer on my face.  Oh, I forgot that when I brush my teeth, and I must put my Invisalign retainers in to keep my teeth straight.   I guess if you have TMJ problems you are wearing those as well to prevent a sore jaw.

I have a friend with sleep apnea, and she has a whole host of things she must do to prepare the machine for action.  We need to be thankful that we have medical devices to help us with our many ills, but it sure does take a lot of time to get it all together.  

Then, the sun is up.   It is time to rise and shine.  So, the prep from the night before is ready to go for the morning ritual. One pill must be taken with no food and with a full glass of water.  You can’t eat for 30 minutes.  The eyedrops are timed 30 minutes apart so they are absorbed correctly.  The next pill must be taken with food so that is saved for breakfast.  The final pill cannot be taken anywhere near the first two pills, or it will affect the potency of those pills.  I haven’t even begun to discuss the vitamins and supplements which I may or may not need – maybe I am just the middleman between in and out???

When I am too old or when my memory goes, and I must be taken care of by others, I think I need to write down my procedures for various times of the day, so I am properly cared for.  I have a notebook with my name on it that I am going to put all my instructions and where to buy products to support those rituals. I will put it with my Comphy Box which I wrote about in an earlier blog.  I did put a tin of tea in with the night gowns and fuzzy socks, but I didn’t leave instructions how I like my tea made for example – Paris Teabag, some half and half, and some organic Stevia. There are many things that I like but no one else really knows.  I need to take responsibility for this while I still able to do so.  

Do you ever think about this kind of thing?  You prepare for dying with burial instructions or financial matters.  But do you prepare for living well when the time comes when you can’t independently care for yourself?  In many ways all the rituals are funny, however, necessary.  I am sure with the coming years I will probably add more to my daily routines.   It is best to figure out some systems now, and it may make all the difference later!

I have mentioned before that I’m having some back issues. I join approximately 75.8 million adult Americans who experience low back pain, and 28% of those have chronic pain. It seems back pain is one of the most common and disabling health conditions globally. At least I am in good company.

I have had x-rays and MRIs and several different doctors have reviewed the films. I have had Dexa scans and echo-light scans to determine the density in my skeleton. All those fun things our doctors order because that’s the thing to do.  The process has been interesting to say the least.

Recently I met with a neurosurgeon. His staff was attentive, asking me to turn my legs this way and that and to twist and bend to the best of my ability. When the doctor came into the examination room, he pulled up the MRS and told me I had mild-to-moderate arthritis which probably caused some scoliosis. He recommended physical therapy and pain management. Surgery was not currently necessary, thankfully.

I had just finished six weeks of physical therapy and continued to do as many of the exercises at home as I could. Next, I met with the pain management doctor.

Once again, the pain management doctor reviewed with the MRI. He, however, painted a much gloomier picture. After setting out a plan of action, heavily influenced by health insurance, he started out of the room. On his way out he commented, “You are doing great! Looking at your MRI, I expected to see you in a wheelchair.”  What?! How did I go from “mild-to-moderate” to needing a wheelchair?! Which doctor was closer to being correct?

The experiences reminded me that the most important person in one’s health regiment is oneself. Each of us must decide which recommendation to take. In the case of back pain, there are a few things you can do to prevent or to lessen the pain as you get older. The CDC and others recommend tips to help. Following are some that have helped me.

Maintain a healthy diet and weight (for everything, not just your back!)

Remain as active as possible, under your doctor’s supervision

Avoid prolonged inactivity or bed rest; movement lubricates the joints

Warm up or stretch before exercising

Maintain proper posture

Always listen to your doctor. Ask questions. Discuss solutions.  If your doctor is not open to having conversations with you about your health, you may wish to seek out a professional who will. You are in control of the solutions you ultimately use. No one knows you, better than you.

*This post is the opinion of the author and should not be construed as medical advice!

Mary Ann

When I look back on my life and was faced with life challenges, I always found that books saved me.  I could have been depressed or discouraged, but somehow, I escaped to an alternative world or enmeshed myself in stories about different people and places.  Books were a great bridge to better times. 

When I learned to read, phonics was taught.  It is an excellent way to teach children to read, unless you are a sight reader which I was.  Beginning phonics was a foreign language to me.  I never understood what I was learning.  I must have faked it well because my report cards don’t mention any problems.  I asked my mother if teachers ever mentioned that I had trouble reading, and she said no.  So, I read Dick and Jane, but I did not enjoy it.

Somewhere around 4^th grade, something clicked and suddenly in the middle of an Old Mother West Wind book, I was reading and roller coasting over words I didn’t know. However, I knew what was happening, and I loved it.  A flood gate opened, and I was constantly reading – maybe that was the reason I got glasses that year?  I read the entire Bobbsey Twins collection and then on to Nancy Drew.  It was easy reading with the same format – a great way for a beginner reader to get a foothold on books.   I even won a reading contest in 5^th grade for reading the most books.  Truly, how could that have happened when I was flailing in the early primary grades?

By the time I entered Junior High, the forerunner of Middle School, we were reading classic literature.  If I had a kerfuffle (isn’t that the greatest word?) with some catty girls or a dispute with my mother, reading Jane Eyreor The Count of Monte Cristo or any other timeless classic, I was relieved to come home and be whisked away to imaginary worlds.  My parents would say that I always had my nose in a book, and I did!  A perfect summer day for me was to lie in our hammock being gently rocked by a breeze and read a book by a favorite author.  I would read until dark.  

Then you go to high school and college, and you are so busy that finding time to read was a real challenge. Of course, you had assigned literature to read from your classes. Thank Heavens!  So, I often would read myself to sleep catching a bit of a pleasure book, and I would always carry a book with me so I could steal moments to read.   

After those rather carefree years, you enter adulthood.  You then might spend more time reading Good Night Moon or Where the Wild Things Are to your children instead being deep in a steamy romance novel.  It is all part of growing up, really growing up.  I can remember being in grad school, teaching full-time, raising young children, and running a house, and my only reading was the People magazine once a week as I soaked in a bubble bath.  The time was precious. 

Life becomes very real when you get a divorce.  It is such a sad time.  I was reading a lot of self-help books trying to figure myself out and understanding the pain my broken heart was enduring.  I have written before how the right book always comes, and it did.  I am so thankful for that gift.  It made all the difference.  However, I missed reading books for pleasure.  It was reading to survive. 

When my children were on their own and had left the “nest,” I spent a year or so reading reflective, inspirational books.  They all helped me heal my soul and allowed me to move forward to embrace the next phase of my life where a new, independent chapter awaited.  At midlife, it was truly a foundational time.

 At work, there were always professional books to read on teaching and learning treads.  All deepening my knowledge of children.  I would read fiction on the weekends and holiday vacations, but there was never enough time to really dive into all the stories I wanted to read.  

With the passing years, my pile of books to read and my lists of new titles grew and grew. Then one day you retire.  For the most part, you must grow old to retire, and therein lies the gift of aging, you have time to read!  Thank you, Thank you!  You may need stronger glasses or bigger font to read.  They do make large print books. However, before you is an endless supply of books to read.  I have taken full advantage of this gift and enjoy reading every day.  I often have three books going at once – the nonfiction I am reading with Lisa, my nature book for book club, and whatever I find of interest on various websites or a recommendation from a fellow reader.

You know that I love books.  My blogs this month are all about different aspects of reading.  I feel blessed.  I do know that a day will come when this will all slow down.  I may have to switch to audio books should my eyes fail or turn up the volume on the various audio book if my hearing goes or I might forget what I read the day before.  I once knew an elderly lady in her 90s who told me she forgets what she reads each day but still enjoys reading it again.  I think that is a great attitude to have and just keep reading.  It might be time to get the children’s books out again, so I can read the whole book in one setting.  Maybe there will be a great-grandchild to read to as they begin reading, and I will be ending my reading.

Mary Ann

A few months ago, I found this Japanese proverb – Down 7, Up 8, and I thought it summed up what life is all about.  My mother always said, “Life is Hard, “and indeed she was right.  Life in one way or another is always knocking you down, and you learn early on that you must get yourself back up.  Look at a toddler.  They fall down all the time, and they for the most part (even after tears) bounce back up.  

We must be resilient to survive.  Ask any cave man!  Our downs in life are not saber tooth tigers, but they can be just as dangerous.  There are many losses in life.  Divorce or any breakup with a friend or lover can be overwhelming.  Chronic illnesses or a death of a love one can tragically break your heart.  Watching your children suffer in any way is like having the same suffering yourself.  The loss of a job or a financial crisis can be devastating. There are always challenges in life, and we must accept and adapt to them.  We must be resilience.

Resilience is defined as the ability to mentally or emotionally cope with a crisis or return to pre-crisis status quickly.  I have been down and out many times in my life for one reason or another, and I am sure you have been there as well.  Sometimes it was very hard to get back up, but really there was no other choice but just do it!   You must adapt to handle the situation, and hopefully, the challenges will help you grow stronger, so you are ready for whatever is next. 

I strongly believe that most problems have a solution if we put the time and energy into solving them. That is resilience in action.  Look how resilience the natural world is.  Nature is always teaching us lessons to live by.  After devastating wildfires, tiny green shoots fight their way through the ashes to survive. We need to fight our way upwards again as well.

For thousands of years, humans have been falling down and getting back up.  I guess it is part of the human condition, and we humans have documented it with the written word in proverbs, sayings, and quotes.  The ancient Japanese culture captured the essence of resilience in just a few words. – down and up.  In ending, there is another quote that I also thinks captures the meaning of resilience – If you are going through hell, keep going.  I can identify with that.  I am sure you can too. 

Mary Ann

I imagine when you were young that you were a member of the Cub Scouts or the Brownies.  As you grew, you then became a Boy or Girl Scout.   During those years, you earned Merit Badges in areas that you wanted to learn new skills or to develop a new interests.  I often wondered what would happen if we could still earn merit badges into adulthood.  What would that look like?

There would probably be badges for good parenting or kindness.  You might earn one for excelling with finances or cooking. The possibilities are endless.   I wonder if we would wear them with coordinating sashes to match our outfits or attach them to our computer cases.  People would be bragging about their earned badges on social media.  There might be reality shows with competitions to win them.  Maybe earning badges would change the world for the better because you must be a good person to receive one.

So, what does it mean to be a good person?  I think a good person is a kind person and a kind person is a good person.  Kindness is the quality of a person who is friendly, generous, considerate, caring for others and oneself, empathetic, courageous, uplifting, and a strong desire to make things better without reward. If you live those qualities – walk your talk – you are a good person.

Now, if we had grown-up merit badges, there would have to be a list of requirements to earn it, just like scouts do.   Let’s look at some possible badges to see what we would have to do to achieve it. 

Good People for People Badge –

SMILE

Donate to Charities

Volunteer

Do Small Kindnesses for Others (like holding a door for someone)

Feed People

Help Children and the Elderly

Good People for the Earth – 

Support Clean Air for all

Support Clean Water for all

Protect Endangered Animals

Drive Electric Cars

Use Alternative Energy – Wind, Water, and Solar

Recycle Everything 

Eliminate Land Fill and Floating Ocean Trash

Love Your Country by caring for it

Good People for Yourself – 

Exercise

Eat a Balanced Diet

Hydrate – 8 Classes a Day

Practice Meditation and Mindfulness

Socialize 

Be a Life-Long Learner

All the requirements are good things for all people. It is being kind to everyone, the Earth, and yourself.   I think this could incent individuals to be better people for the best possible world.  We really don’t need merit badges, but if that would help to encourage people, let’s go for it now!

Note – There is an actual company that makes merit badges for adults. Winks for Days (winksfordays.com) has an array of badges for every big girl and big boy to show-off their accomplishments.  The badges are $10, and they created pins as well.  Do you need a badge for flossing or taking your vitamins or watering  your plants?  Winks has them and many more.  Check it out.