Mental Test
Took a mental acuity test as part of my annual wellness physical. I passed. The nurse said I was as sharp as a tack. Not sure that’s a real medical definition, but it felt good. The test gave me pause. Learning three words. Repeating them back after performing another test. Writing a sentence. Folding a piece of paper. Putting it on the floor. Drawing two geographic shapes. Spelling words backwards. And the big one, counting down from 100 by sevens. I felt painfully slow. But I succeeded. And here I am with a clean bill of mental health.
I found the counting backwards test interesting. After the test and while waiting on the doctor I practiced. I was best when I closed my eyes. I could visualize the numbers. But I still couldn’t go as fast as I liked. And the sequence never jumped out at me. Too long, I guess. On a practical note, I sometimes count backwards when I’m trying to fall asleep, especially when I’m ruminating. It gives my fevered brain another, less onerous task. I do it by one and it can take a while, and that’s the point. A slow, repetitive task.
It feels as though I’ve been sleeping well lately, partly because I quit fighting it. I just take what Morpheus gives me. And when he doesn’t give me a lot, I take a nap and try to avoid critical decisions. He does give me dreams. I had dreams last night. Populated by friends. It was nice to see them. I always take dreams as a good sign. Not sure why. I guess because they make me feel good. And that’s it for today, let me know how you do counting backwards by seven.