I am spontaneous, and I am a creature of habit.  I love adventure and new discoveries, but I also find comfort in familiarity.  I have an early morning routine that I follow consistently but the rest of my day tends to be sporadic. Like most people, I have my own way of doing things, and I like what I like. I have a favorite fork that I eat with, and drink water out of a wine glass. I cross my right leg over my left, and I sleep ‘every which way.’  I prefer early morning travel and roads that are not busy. I have a favorite spot to watch TV in and a different one in which to read.  Lately, I have been reading a lot about brain health.  I learned how important it is to shake things up and do things differently, especially as we age.  I read that by turning off autopilot and mixing up how we routinely do things, we make our brains work harder.   We become mindful and more aware of what we are experiencing.

Darrel and I really mixed things up when we reorganized our clothes closets, dresser drawers, pantry, and garage. We really liked the results.  Even though it took a while to remember where things were, it was a great improvement.  The only major problem we had was when Darrel was looking for a tie a few weeks ago.  For years they had all hung in his closet but, there was not one tie to be found.  When I looked in a small storage box that was sitting on his shelf the mystery was solved. There they were all neatly rolled Marie Kondo style.

Recently, I decided to shake up this brain of mine by spending the day doing my normal routines differently. Starting with brushing my teeth. I am very right-handed.  This first task of the day proved to be challenging. Flossing dominated by my left hand was not easy.  Spreading toothpaste on my toothbrush was easy enough.  Brushing with my left hand was awkward to start, but then I seemed to get the hang of things. That went south when I walked away from the mirror. I ended up vigorously brushing the tip of my nose instead of my teeth. Ouch! It did not help that I started shimmying to music as I brushed. My hand, body coordination was off the beat.

I will be honest and tell you food prep and cooking with my left hand did not work out. I used my right hand all the way. Eating with my left hand was difficult but doable. I enjoy eating but my uncoordinated left hand slowed me down.  Cutting food with a knife in my left hand was hilarious.  Food dropped on the floor followed by a left-handed clean-up did not go well either. Marley, our cat, was not impressed.  She sniffed the mess, reminding me she does not eat off the floor as she sashayed away.  I had to give in and give the floor a right-handed touch-up as that was the only way I could get it clean.

As I headed out to my activities, I decided to keep the momentum going by driving a different route to the pool. Now it gets interesting.  I headed in the opposite direction I normally take, going past Can-Doo Park.  Going this way you encounter two circles on the way to Trolley Square. Guess what... I went around three circles. After that day, I thought about those circles long and hard. I have gone back that way numerous times, and I just cannot find that third circle. Do you think, in my effort, to mix things up, I over-did it and went around one of the circles twice?

At the pool during our volleyball game, I successfully used my left hand more than I normally would.  I had to concentrate harder, but it felt great being able to connect with both hands.  When it was time to swim laps, I thought I would mix it up there too.  I decided I would breathe to my right, for I only breathe to my left while swimming.  That was a big fat bust. I could not get the right side of my face far enough out of the water.  Instead of clearing for air, I was taking in more water.  Sputtering and coughing, this mermaid was about to go down. After that fiasco, I gave up on my little experiment for the rest of the day.  I decided I would start a little slower next time.

I was winding down for the evening, and I had my best idea yet. I decided I would sleep on the other side of the bed. We have been in this house for almost 20 years.  I have always slept on ‘my’ side.  I slid over to Darrel’s side of the bed, and I dug in.   My goodness gracious, why did I not do this sooner. This side felt like I was on a brand new mattress. This was luxury at its finest. I was very relaxed and felt as though I was floating.  I began having a deep conversation with Idris Elba. Oh my goodness, this man is flirting with me.  All of a sudden, the room started to shake. Were we just hit by an earthquake?  Nope, Darrel was rudely shaking me awake.   He was pushing me back over to my side of the bed. I sleepily tried to explain to Darrel that I was mixing it up.  I told him I had to sleep on his side of the bed; he laughed and kept pushing me over.

Early the next morning, I told Darrel that he had interrupted my time with Idris Elba.  Darrel laughed at me again.

Amanda

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