Solving puzzles and playing word games brings inner peace

Over the years I have enjoyed working on crossword puzzles and doing word searches. I’ve also found peace and contentment by playing Solitaire on my phone. I have noticed during the past few years that such activities help me focus and gives me a sense of inner peace. I have also taken notice that when I check my blood pressure after such activities that it is always significantly lower than before. I love choosing a word and then trying to find as many other words from the letters as possible. For example, I will use the word Christmas.

From these letters I found about 25 additional words including I, Sat, his, mast, cat, is, it, cast,trim, and tar. I think you get the picture. I also made up my own activity which is listing words where you can get two additional words from the letters. An example would be stable from which you get table and able or smart which yields mart and art. Most people probably knit, sew, create crafts, or draw in their spare time but I enjoy word searches and games. An additional benefit is that brain skills and cognitive function increase. Some people might find this activity frustrating and bringing in anxiety so I acknowledge this is not for everyone.

I do believe that I am not the only one who gets pleasure from this activity. My husband used to relax himself by doing the crossword puzzles in the daily newspaper. Once we were at his mother’s house and he decided to work the puzzle in her paper. The text of us were having a conversation and when his mom asked him a question he did not respond. She called him again and when he did not answer she took off her bedroom shoe and threw it at him. My children and I laugh about it to this day.

My spouse was so involved in that puzzle that he tuned us all out. We began buying him books from Dollar Tree with crossword puzzles inside. Society makes us believe we need to go on cruises and travel in order to relax. During the pandemic, this was not an option and many people struggled because they did not know how to relax. Word searches crossword puzzles and word games are a wonderful way to calm down, decrease stress, lower blood pressure and bring inner peace. The best thing about it is that you don't have to spend money, leave home or need a partner.

While we were sheltering in place my husband would be sitting on one side of the bed working his puzzle and I would be on the other side playing word games. He enjoyed Solitaire on the laptop while aI enjoyed it on my phone. Sometimes late at night when I cannot sleep I work word search puzzles and games on my phone to help me relax. There was a slogan years ago that simple pleasures are the best and it’s true. If you are unable to have a SPA day don’t stress yourself. Find an activity that you can devote at least 10 minutes a day to like puzzles and word searches.

I also made up another game but it does not yield as many benefits. I try to find human names within a word and as an example, I will use Christmas again. I found the names Chris, Trish, Trisha, Sam, Tami, Cam, Sami, and Tim. This is such a fun way to stimulate the brain and some research indicates it will lower the risk of dementia and improve short-term memory. An added bonus from downloading games on your phone is that you earn points and prizes.

On the word search games and puzzles, you go from level to level each time you complete one. Music plays and you are congratulated or told you did a great job. I find this to be very motivating. You can also do tasks to earn coins that can be used to give you hints if you have a hard time finding a word. Whenever I feel stressed or my mind wanders to sad or depressing thoughts I get out my notebook, laptop, or cell phone and play a game. You can also come up with your own ideas and reward yourself.

One night decades ago I was working a night shift job and while on a break I began doodling on a piece of paper. I had a mental block and could not recall how my husband spelled his nickname so I wrote it 3 different ways. They were Shaky, Shakey, and Shakie. As I looked that the third spelling I realized that the letters also formed our daughter's name Kiesha and I was thrilled. I later found out, however, that the first spelling is the correct one but I was still overjoyed at making that connection to our daughter and her dad's nickname.

Another game you can play is to find all the names that you can from the names of television shows or movies which gives you more words to locate. One day I might use old westerns or movies such as BONANZA, CIMMERON STRIP, CAT BALLOU, or THE SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST. On a different day, I might try the titles of soap operas or popular sitcoms. One thing that is important to keep in mind is that some words yield fewer results than others so don't become distressed as this defeats the purpose.

I usually take a look at the word or phrase that I am using and estimate how many additional words I will obtain from it. As a personal challenge, I will number my paper, usually from 10 to 25, and see if I can get that many or even go over. I hope this has been beneficial to the readers and now that you know, get out the paper and pen, cell phone, or laptop and start having fun.