Kansas City residents tried for 26 years, unsuccessfully, to identify their Secret Santa, who turned out to be Larry Stewart, a wealthy 58 year old business man. Larry’s handouts of $100 bills to people down on their luck - came from a personal experience when his own luck ran out and he ended up living in a car.

Check out the stories at CBC Radio and Staulkvalley.com to see how it all started when Larry lost his job and stopped into a diner for breakfast after two days without food. He claimed to have lost his wallet when the check came. Suddenly the diner’s owner came to his table, stuffed a $20 in Larry’s hand, and asked… “Drop this?”

In 1979, and after he’d landed work, Larry handed a young waitress a $20 at a car hop and her tears of gratitude “almost ripped his heart out,” he told reporters 26 years later. The serotonin that shot through Larry’s brain through that handout - brought him to the bank for $200 in $5s and $20s, and the Secret Santa drove around looking for people who could use a break.

Eventually reporters caught up, and Larry had them swear to keep his anonymity, through what amounted to handouts that totaled $1.3 million - to strangers in need during Decembers. The neuro and cognitive sciences tell that whenever we give to others unconditionally, we increase the serotonin hormone for well-being in our own brains.

An organic neurotransmitter, serotonin enhances our health, holds back stress, raises the immune system, as well as helps memory, moods and sleep. What’s equally as impressive, those who observe or receive our kindness,  often experience similar shots of serotonin that bring that added euphoria.

After 26 years of serotonin benefits, this year Larry faces a recent diagnosis of cancer and he decided to tell his story as a way to inspire others to give when he is gone. His life inspires us to try a few random acts of kindness of our own over this holiday season.

I think I’ll  adopt Larry’s  anonymity and mix in my own creativity- because the Secret Santa  showed how serotonin, and holiday handouts  - bring their own unique rewards. How about you?

When I read Japan Today’s news item, ‘Brain training’ goods top Japan’s 2006 merchandise list, I decided to check out the Brain Boomers Festive Store, located at the top right of the Brain Boomer site. I was curious to see if these brain games were listed there.

Sure enough, I found an Electronic Sudoku Touch Screen PDA Handheld Puzzle Game. The additive brain game looks like an interesting edition - especially for travelers. Do you play?

Back to the Japan Today news article that led me to the Brain Boomer Store in the first place. Dentsu Inc., Japan’s major advertisement agency, said that second spot went to large screen flat-panel televisions. Quite a shift from a brain game….

Hopefully the Sudoku Mind Puzzle will grow back any dendrite brain cells that I know will be lost if that large screen television wiggles its way in to make it a passive day.

It’s not major surgery - but it’s surgery nonetheless. Brainlifts can leave an aging brain in both quicker and sharper condition. Dr. Katrina Firlik said in her new book, Another day in the Frontal Lobe, I usually do these procedures on Friday and my clients are actually back to work by Monday

A brainlift is even easier than getting a facelift - and is slick enough to hide bruising. Hair parting is used rather than shaving and stitches are hidden. Ready to sign on the dotted line? If I decide for a brain I plan to contact Dr. Firlik, whose brilliant book I just completed. She said…

This is not brain surgery per se. We map out your memory network based on functional MRI - that’s completely painless of course. Then we take you to the OR and you’re put under general anesthesia…. We make a small incision - half an inch - in the scalp overlying each major node in the memory network, create a small hole in the skull, and insert a neat little metal plug, similar to a watch battery, that contains both a stimulator-electrode and battery. We close everything up with fine absorbable sutures, and that’s it.

Another advantage of a brainlift? It’s nearly impossible for anyone to tell you even had surgery.

The low grade stimulation delivers constant help to your brain’s operation. Batteries are charged every 3 years through the scalp, in the doctor’s office - without need for surgery.

Questions continue to arise about the ethical outcomes of cognitive enhancement, in much the same way that debates raged about the ethics of plastic surgery. Balance perspectives have yet to emerge through all the chatter - and Firlik maintains…

Brainlifts will go through the same cycle as plastic surgery: they’ll gain broader acceptance, the debates will eventually die down, the procedure will become more commonplace.

My question is … “Will they become affordable to even the middle class?” Hey, maybe some folks we work for out there, would be glad to ante up for a few brainlifts, simply to see more finely tuned minds at work. After all, we’re not just talking a tighter face here. What do you think?

What am I going to do with the rest of my life? Richard Fein asked in, “The Baby Boomer’s Guide to the New Workplace.” And millions of boomers are asking the same question, but they’re not always looking for high paying jobs, or power positions. Many successful boomers  pursue new professional adventures, according to Fein, and I agree. 

Dr. Tammy Lenski threw in another question that would help people to get more of what they want, ”What would love do now?”        

While some mid-lifers feel forced to start a new career with a pink slip or a phased out career, others are on a new life search.  Tammy asks about love to grab and hoist herself up, and for many boomers similar questions turn life passions into more contentment and fulfillment. 

What question would you ask to land rewards you may have missed in that fast paced, earlier career? Helen Keller spoke apocalyptically about how the human brain works for change, when she said…” When one door of happiness closes, another opens. But often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

Both Richard Fein’s and Tammy Lenski’s questions open doors into new opportunities. Both also require one small step forward, though, before any rewards spill over into an adventure. That’s because the brain is shaped by what we actually do in a day.

If you are an expert in anything at all, for instance, and if you enjoy mentoring others you may embark on a wave of online adventure. Check out this invitation to teach your own course online. To make it brain based, your question could be, “How can I discover as many new ideas about my topic as learners I teach takeaway? Since the best teachers learn alongside their own students, so the mentorship could be a major milestone in your life to recharge a life passion. 

Did you know that a person retains 90% more of what you teach - at the same time you are learning it yourself - or tweaking your own insights with new facts? In the November ‘06 issue of Popular Science on page 98, an article on teaching online at www.UniversalClass.com, caught my eye.

They are looking for people who have experiences that others could use, to teach what they know for a fee. How do you teach Online for the Network? Check out the answer to that question at this site. That’s just one idea to recharge a life passion … you likely have even better ideas. What are you doing with the rest of your life, and how will that change what you do tomorrow?