Recently, I was watching the morning news when a doctor came on, reporting that one of the down sides of isolation from friends and family during this pandemic has been a condition called “brain fog.” I have noticed some subtle difference in certain friends of mine during this pandemic, and I thought I needed to learn a little more about this condition. If I understood the doctor correctly, brain fog is identifiable by a dulled memory and lack of focus.
This knowledge didn’t help me, since that describes almost everyone in my age group. More than half of our conversations begin with “Do you remember what’s-his-name? You know, the kid who rode his bicycle to school every day? The one who had two older sisters?”
“OH! I know the one you’re talking about; the kid who lived next door to the grocery store.”
We are all nodding our heads. We know the kid being described; his name is on the tip of our tongues, but after about a half-dozen head nods and a couple of “hhhmms,” none of us have enough brain cells connecting to come up with a name. The conversation quickly switches to another important topic: “Where would you like to eat?”
“Oh, I would love to go to that place with the great senior adult luncheon special. You know the one I am talking about, the one down on Main Street. What is it called?”
“Bob.”
“No, it’s not called Bob.”
“Bob is the kid who rode his bicycle to school.”
And everyone suddenly remembers.
“Yeah, yeah; that’s it!”
Just an average day of conversation with my peers.
The doctor went on to say that this brain fog will have you feeling unlike yourself and unable to think clearly. I am not a hypochondriac, but as soon as they were describing these symptoms, I knew I had brain fog. I thought it was just being a senior adult, the byproduct of getting older. I am sure glad that we have identified the culprit that causes my dulling memory, lack of concentration and feeling unlike myself. As I try to figure out how long I have had this condition, the more I think about it, the more I realize: I had it before the pandemic.
This condition began when my wife and I started having children, and the more children we had, the more pronounced the brain fog. You can see it in every parent’s life: the digression when brain fog takes over.
First Child: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and sterilize it.
Second Child: When the pacifier falls on the floor, your squirt if off with some juice from the baby’s bottle.
Third Child: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.
First Child: When the child swallows a coin, you rush them to the hospital and demand x-rays.
Second Child: When the child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass.
Third Child: When the child swallows a coin, you deduct it from their allowance.
First Child: You take to your child to Mommy and Me play time, Gymboree Play and Music classes and Baby Story Hour.
Second Child: You take to your child to Mommy and Me Play Time, Gymboree Play and Music.
Third Child: You take your child to the supermarket and the dry cleaners.
First Child: Parents start reading and studying my book, “Rite of Passage Parenting,” learning how to raise capable, responsible, self-reliant adults.
Second Child: Parents finish reading my book, “Rite of Passage Parenting.”
Third Child: What book?
Sooner or later the brain fog will creep up on you. It could be children; it could be the loss of a job, a death or just getting older. The fog will come.
No one can see into the future; we don’t know what tomorrow will bring, let alone the next minute. In the blink of an eye, your whole world can change, and without guidance, these changes can leave you with brain fog. But Jesus knew these times would come into all our lives. That is why He came, so we can have light. He gave His Word as a lamp to guide us. Here are three verses to help you.
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:103, NASB).
“I am the light of the world: he who follow me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life” (John 8:12).
“I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.” (John 12:46).
Got fog? Take Jesus and His Word, and you will have light.
