www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Reading, illness, & comprehending?

This may seem like an odd question, but

It seems in recent years, I have more and more trouble reading long articles that are very deep spiritually or long. I love to read them, but it seems that my mind becomes very tired. Then to read, I have to reread to comprehend. I have fought with this crazy body since it was injured in 1993, it gets tiring to say the least.

Does anyone notice the same/similar thing, or am I an odd ball. There are some excellent posts and discussions on here of late, and I just can't seem to stay focused on them. Oh well! Maybe it is just that I am LAZY

How much do you see your health struggles interfering with your studies of the Word of God and these wonderful writings.

"It seems that my mind becomes very tired. Then to read, I have to reread to comprehend. I have fought with this crazy body since it was injured in 1993, it gets tiring to say the least."

Do you have a weak short-term memory?

I have to do this too for new material. If the subject matter is new to me, if it is something I have not done a lot of reading in already, I have to re-read it or read a lot on the subject to then go back and comprehend what I wanted to in the first place.

I suffer from a short-term memory defect. I don't know how handicapped it is from what is normal, but I depend on my long-term memory when reading. It is not that when I read, I know everything I read before, but it is that I read and am reminded of similar arguments or examples.

I had a hard time dealing with this for reading comprehension, but I attacked the problem and read what interested me until it clicked. With poetry and literature, I wrote down stories, parts of novels, and poetry from masters verbatim on a scrapbook. I would read a portion, then think on what I read, and write it without looking at the text. That practiced my memory too, but after doing that and studying philosophy I began to "see clearly" what before would have confused me. Also by training my mind into organizing thoughts, it helped me write better too.

Now if only I could speak as well as I write. =)

Terry

Dear Pani Rose,

I struggle with mental laziness as I get older...it is kind of wierd...I prefer short clips of television to movies, for instance. Though if I force myself to start watching a movie, I am usually glad that I did.

I find myself not wanting to read long articles and posts...(sorry long post writers! LOL )

Although today I read all the articles in the Time Magazine issue of 'Man of the Year' about Russia and Vladimir Putin, but I had to discipline myself to sit down and do it.

I don't know what it is--maybe too much stress,too little time, or maybe getting older--who knows?!?

Alice

Dear Pani Rose,

While I'm fortunate in still having my health, much to my chagrin, I discovered that the warranty expires at 40. I live in fear of bifocals as I have noticed a greater difficulty in transitioning from near to far.

And I've had difficulty in comprehending the totality of the reading material in the links you sent me. Way too much to get all at once.

I don't remember who commented on new posters repeating old questions? I scrolled through a bit of the old part of the forum a few days ago, looking for a certain topic, and noticed that over time, many topics are repeated. It could be that you're having difficulty focusing because the material isn't new to you, despite it being a new discussion here.

Sometimes, I think maybe all of us just get tired. Especially when dealing with information that's been covered to death. When certain topics appear, I often think I will get back to the posts and read them when I have more time. Of course, I rarely get that time. And yes, Nan, both new and old posters repeat old questions. I find that I skip over posts about the energies and essence of God, correct Ukrainian liturgical socks, chant variations among the sub-Carpathian oompa-loompas, and let's not forget, The immaculate conception. On some topics, it is really hard to find anything new to say. As I mentioned, time is a critical factor. During my school-teacher summer vacation, I read nearly everything. BTW, let's not discuss bifocals - a curse from being thrown out of the garden, I'm sure.

but CHOCOLATE is always a welcome topic - one can't get tired of it

Amen!

"Especially when dealing with information that's been covered to death."

This is natural. How do you cope with that repetition as a teacher?

Besides the repetition, there are biological factors that can contribute to the loss of concentration. One that affects many people is if a person does not have a complete sleep cycle.

Aging might be a factor too...I sometimes wonder if I'm lazy now because I am unwilling to pull an all-nighter to cram, study, or finish a research paper. I don't find it productive and I'll reach a moment when my brain shuts down and adrenaline is the only thing keeping me awake.

Terry

That makes sense to me. I find some things are not worth wading through for the small benefit I derive from them. I say this from the age of 60, if that makes a difference. With teaching, the struggle is to present old information in a newer way. Hopefully, that will hook student interest. However, I have encountered the student who told me the Renaissance occurred in Egypt. So you see, on some days, nothing works.

LOL!

Indeed, I don't think that I have ever suffered mental laziness on that topic!!

I also would have to agree with the following post from ByzanTN, and thus, I might conclude that mental laziness has something to do with the redundancy of certain topics one has already studied and read, whether on this forum or anywhere else:


AGREED, while --LOL!!

Don't you just love Charles the ByzanTN--he is such a YOUNG sixty--no wonder I initially thought that 'ByzanTN' stood for him being a Byzantine TEEN!

Alice