appreciation Archives — Page 3 of 6

25 Quick Tips To Help Right-size Your Diet, Exercise And Health

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Responsible

The Gottbergs coming home from a hike in Idyllwild.

A couple of years ago Thom and I came up with the word “right-sizing: to help define our new lifestyle. By simplifying our home, managing our finances, focusing on what gives purpose and meaning to our daily experience, and eliminating the unnecessary, we have gradually right-sized almost every area of our life. It was only recently that I realized that in many ways we have also right-sized our diet, our approach to exercise, and our overall health. And while I don’t consider myself an expert, I do feel that as a student of SMART I’ve learned a few things along the way.

With that in mind, here is a quick list of 25 things we believe are beneficial broken down into three areas: [Read more…]

Ten Awesome Benefits to Growing Older

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Meaningful, Thankful

Good friends and inspiring role models who are 89 and 90!

Just about every day I read a post on Facebook or one of the many blogs I follow about getting older. And while many of them poke fun at the experience, most of the time the posts subtly (or not so subtly!) talk about the drawbacks to aging. But, when you think about it, every single day each of us is getting older—and thankfully so! Consider the alternative. So instead of thinking of life as a gradual decline, maybe it is time to start thinking of how life gets better as we go along—and that the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. And even though I’m not facing a significant birthday for several months, I decided a good way to prepare was to start focusing on the benefits long before the day arrives. [Read more…]

7 Ways To Keep Fear & Worry From Hijacking A Happy Life

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Responsible, Sustainable, Thankful

Me in 1995 preparing for my first tandem sky-dive!

Last week I noticed a very suspicious looking blemish on my cheek, and I started worrying. I was especially nervous because when my mother was my age, she developed skin cancer under her right eye. Then several years ago my sister Ann had an angry looking sore on the back of her leg that wouldn’t heal for months. Even though hers turned out to benign, the experience made for some anxious times. So it didn’t require much imagination on my part to convince myself that my blemish could require a big chunk to be cut out of my cheek, scaring me for a lifetime. Or worse.

Finally, after waking up in the middle of the night with worry on my mind, I called the dermatologist. Although he couldn’t see me for a week, I realized that I could continue to allow fear and worry to control my life for the following seven days, or I could do something else. But isn’t that choice something we all face every day in this thing called life? Fear and worry? Or peace and happiness? We decide. [Read more…]

50 Inspiring & SMART Quotes To Start Off 2015!

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Meaningful, Responsible, Sustainable, Thankful

SMART Quotes 2014

I’ve always loved quotes. One of the best things about them is that you can read one and it can instantly turn your attention around to a new, and likely more positive, direction. Quotes also have the ability to lift you up when you’re going through tough times or encourage you when you need a boost. That’s why I thought it might be SMART to list a number of quotes that are most helpful to me as a way to jumpstart our New Year. To make it even easier to read through them—I’ve classified them according to the SMART categories. When you’re done, I’d love to hear which one’s you liked best in the comments below. Even better, if you have one that you’d like to add to the list, please share it with all of us as well. Ready for a lift? Here are the quotes: [Read more…]

Five Myths Of A Thankful Life

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Meaningful, Responsible, Thankful

Grateful Me = Happy Me!

Last week my post talked about three challenges that I think stand in the way of many of us living gratefully each and every day. What occurred to me from some of the comments and other conversations I’ve had during the week is that there are a number of people who aren’t convinced that we should live either gratefully or happy every single day anyway. What’s interesting to me after all the research I’ve done over the years about creating happiness, is how closely the reasoning to avoid gratitude on a daily basis appears the same. That led me to explore some of the more common myths that exist for happiness—and observe at how those same myths apply to living thankfully 365. [Read more…]

The Second Annual SMART Living 30-Day Gratitude Challenge-2013

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Meaningful, Thankful

From My Renewed Mind.com

Most of us know that one of the best ways to live a SMART, happy and fulfilled life is to practice gratitude on a regular basis. As Mathew Henry said, “Thanksgiving is good, but Thanks Living is better.” Unfortunately, if you’re anything like me it’s far too easy to get stuck in our routines or troubles and let the doing of it slip our mind on a daily basis. That’s why for the second year in a row I am challenging myself to highlight aspects of “Thanksgiving” here on my blog in a way that keeps much of my focus and attention on both the feeling and expression of gratitude every day throughout the month. And hopefully, just like last year, you will be inspired enough to join me and “share the gratitude” in any way that you can. [Read more…]

Honoring The Special Turning Points In Our Lives

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Meaningful, Thankful

Celebrating Last week was my birthday. Or I should say, one of my birthdays. That’s because we all actually have many birth-days or major turning points during our lifetimes if we choose to remember and acknowledge them. Each one of these birthdays marks a significant turning point in our experience here on planet Earth. And even though there are always a large number of major and minor days of significance for each of us, I believe my life contains four extra-ordinary days of beginning. By sharing my special days with you, perhaps it will be easier for you to pinpoint and acknowledge similar events and birth-days in your life that you might want to honor and commemorate.

[Read more…]

Celebrating Valentine’s Day or Just Another Consumer Holiday?

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Meaningful, Thankful

“…celebrating is one of the best ways to pause and remember this one, wild, precious and amazing life we have been given.”

Celebrating SMART LIving 365 style!

I know I have mentioned more than once that Thom and I have been married for 35 years. That’s a lot of Valentine’s Days! And in spite of what you may be thinking, Thom has always resisted them. His argument is that Valentine’s Day—along with several other holidays throughout the year, were all manufactured to manipulate us into buying stuff. I, on the other hand, see those very same holidays as a great excuse to CELEBRATE something special. So keeping in mind that a major focus of SMART Living is to provide clarity and awareness about all things that affect our lives on a daily basis, how do you view celebrating holidays? [Read more…]

Rightsizing vs. Downsizing—Making A Positive Lifestyle Choice

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Meaningful, Responsible, Sustainable

Can you guess which one gets 12 MPG and which gets 40+ MPG? It’s all about rightsizing!

Last month Thom came across an article in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) with a headline that said, “Everybody Says You Should Downsize. Everybody May Be Wrong.” We both found that statement to be so incredulous that we had to reread it. And we weren’t alone in our surprise. Most of the other comments online also questioned many of the negative points offered in the article. Clearly the author herself had not downsized and it was also obvious that her focus came from an outdated definition of the concept. Naturally that got me thinking that maybe most of us approach the topic from the wrong direction to begin with. Instead of thinking of it as “down” sizing—maybe we should consider it to be “right”-sizing. And once we get the label right—it is much easier to consider the real benefits that come from living a lifestyle that is right-sized from the beginning. [Read more…]

A Christmas Wish For Peace

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Meaningful, Thankful

Merry Christmas Everyone! Millions of people all over the world are celebrating Christmas this weekend. The one gift we want to offer everyone is something that cannot be bought—only shared. That wish is for peace.

And one of our favorite ways to share it is in the words of young Mattie Stepanek. Mattie as you may remember was a young man who died in 2004 at the age of 14. Mattie, who passed away from a rare genetic disease, managed to write six books of poetry in his young life and touched millions around the planet including Oprah Winfrey and his hero Jimmy Carter. [Read more…]