Henry Ford supposedly said, “If you think you can’t—you can’t. If you think you can—you can.” While that statement usually applies to reaching our goals or persevering in spite of the odds, we seldom consider it in context with aging. Yet, growing research shows that our view of aging has a sometimes dramatic effect on the quality of our health, happiness, and wellbeing. Not only does what we each think about aging matter, how we feel about aging as a society influences the experience that each of us will have as the years add up. Fortunately, if we can learn to identify those stereotypical prejudices most of us hold about aging, we can halt and maybe even reverse many of the negatives formerly believed to be our destiny.
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A Tale of Two Colonoscopies
Happy SMART Day Everyone!
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” so begins Charles Dickens classic novel, “A Tale of Two Cities.” But that statement and the major themes of the story apply to most of the experiences of every person on the planet on a regular basis. Do we allow the tragedy, inequity and oppression of life’s circumstances to beat us down—or like some characters in the book, do we reach for resurrection and transformation? Even situations as routine or pedestrian as a colonoscopy offer us each of us a similar choice. It’s SMART to always remember that decision is up to us. [Read more…]
Defining Happiness—Is it Bling, A Journey or Something Else?
An important part of SMART Living 365 is creating happiness. But what do I mean by happiness? Unfortunately, many people in America seem to be working to either buy happiness or make happiness happen, and that can actually lead to more stress and dissatisfaction than anything else. So, before we go further, let’s explore what happiness is, and isn’t—how we can experience it—and why should we want it in the first place. [Read more…]
Permission to Slow Down–Ending the Addiction of Busy-ness
“There’s more to life than increasing its speed.” – Mohandas Gandhi
Thom & Kloe showing us one way to slow down.
It’s summertime here in the Coachella Valley where I live, and because it is the desert southwest, it is expectedly hot outside. While we locals have certain tricks and techniques to stay cool, most of the time the heat of the season makes me lethargic and under-motivated. While none of us like to think of ourselves as lazy, me included, maybe the season is both an invitation and permission to slow down, relax and enjoy life. After all, pushing yourself when it’s extremely warm (or cold) outside isn’t SMART no matter how you look at it. [Read more…]
The “T” in Thankful Completes The Path To SMART Living 365
Happy SMART Day Everyone!
The most important practice to living SMART 365 is to feel thankful and grateful on a daily basis. Luckily, it is also one of the easiest. Once you begin to put gratitude at the top of your daily to-do list, you will immediately begin to see positive changes in the way you look at your life. My own experience shows it is impossible to be truly grateful and unhappy at the same time. But I’m not alone in my thinking; these days there are books and studies that prove that the science of gratitude can profoundly increase the quality of your life. [Read more…]
Welcome to SMART Living 365!
Ta-Da!! This is my first official post. And while it is very tempting to hold off until I have the perfect thing to say, I think it is far better to just get started than obsess about whether it will be good enough, wise enough, cover enough, or even make sense. Maybe that is one of the first ideas that make SMART Living 365?
In other words, don’t put off doing something because you are worried about the end-product. I’ve provided a great example about how I can up with a thousand reasons not to make this first post. But every one of them is just a delay-tactic, thinking I could eventually create something so perfect that anyone who ever read it would think that I was #1 brilliant; #2 wise; #3 insanely creative; #a great writer; etc. etc…you get the idea right?