Love is a four letter word…..it isn’t a word with a dirty connotation, or one that is derogatory in any way. It is a word of endearment and one that wields change of heart. It is a word that should be self-directed

“You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection,” a quote by Buddha.

I tell my clients to look in the mirror and repeat my mantra, that being-“no one can hurt me because I love myself too much.” It goes without saying that we must love ourselves, like ourselves and know ourselves before we can think about doing these things with and for another person. Love is a gift we can give unconditionally and one that makes our own hearts grow fonder and more receptive in the process. Love is kindness and respect. Love is listening without judgment… Love is tenderness and compassion. Love is empathy and humbleness. Love is belief in a higher being. Love is silence. Love is beauty in all things. Love is creation in any form. Love is knowledge. Love is touch of one person to another in a meaningful way. Love is helping and serving another less fortunate than ourselves. Love is giving your gifts away. Love is learning to be human. Love is…

Recent research on brain “plasticity” has shown that we can regenerate new brain cells with constant repetition of cerebral cortical stimulation through learning and relearning daily. Stroke victims, whose cortex or other brain parts may have inadvertently been damaged can help repair the damage through cerebral exercise. I have seen it work. The brain is an amazing computer; one that we don’t completely understand yet.

A terrific book to look at is one by Jill Bolte Taylor called “My Stroke of Insight,” where she describes, as a neuro-anatomist, every nuance of her own stroke at age 34 and how she recovered from in it with eight long years of hard work. The proof is in the pudding folks, so learn each day and keep your brains sharp and strong!