Rightsized Archives — Page 15 of 26

A Quick Quiz About The Cult Of Positivity

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Rightsized

Take the quiz to find out which side you’re on.

A few weeks ago I received a comment on my blog accusing me of promoting “the cult of positivity.” To make sure I wasn’t blindly encouraging thinking and actions that could be harmful to others, I did a little research. What I found is that although some believe that positivity is a dangerous “cult” there are as many, or more, who recognize that positive emotions and optimism offer many benefits to a person’s life. Still, it is always SMART to stay awake and aware of both the benefits and hazards of any line of thinking. With that in mind, here’s a quiz to help you discover whether what you believe about positivity is either true or false. [Read more…]

Why I’m A Grateful Quitter And Why I Wish Everyone Else Was Too

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

Mom & me in Hawaii in 1983 a few years before I became a quitter. And yes, Mom has a cigarette in her hand.

Yes, I’m a quitter—smoking that is. No I won’t pretend it was ever SMART or healthy. Unfortunately back when I was a smoker we didn’t think much about it. But just like how eating too much sugar is considered bad today, every time I’d cough I suspected there would be a price to pay. Thankfully I quit over 25 years ago and hope I’ve compensated for the risk. Sadly, my mom wasn’t as lucky and paid for it with her life. That’s why today I’m a strong supporter of the Great American Smokeout (GASO). I agree with the GASO theme for 2014, which states, “Quit Together. Win Together.” I don’t regret much in my life but I do regret not being able to help my mother quit so we could both have won against this addiction together. [Read more…]

Ten Reasons I’m Grateful For A Small (er) House

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Rightsized, Sustainable, Thankful

Our small (er) house.

The Internet is full of posts, articles and photos of people who are embracing a more minimal lifestyle and promoting the Small House Movement. Just Google if you’re curious. One guy has remodeled a trash dumpster and now calls that home. Others are living in RV like structures with only 200 to 300 sq. feet. Even though some of these homes are adorable and decorated to make the most of small spaces, there is only a minority of us in the U.S. that will ever embrace that lifestyle for any length of time. But that doesn’t mean that the focus on a small (er) home isn’t worth promoting. In fact, my experience has convinced me that it was one of the best moves we ever made. [Read more…]

Money SMART At Any Age

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Rightsized, Thankful

True wealth is…

As most of you know Thom and I have been mainly self-employed since we got together over 37 years ago. Fortunately, we are currently more financially secure and wealthy than we’ve ever been throughout our lives. Are we rolling in money? Not hardly. But not a week goes by that we don’t hear how so many others are stressed about money, how difficult are these economic times, and how financially things seem to be getting worse everywhere in the world. So what makes me feel so good about money these days? It’s probably because Thom and I take a money SMART approach to our finances. [Read more…]

Oaxaca and Final Thoughts—Travels With Thom & Kathy Part 4

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

Our first night out in Oaxaca at Los Danzantes.

We woke up early on our final morning in Oaxaca MX and came up with five remaining SMART Tips we can all use for both travel and the journey of life. Overall our vacation in Mexico has introduced us to captivating and interesting sites and experiences. Everywhere we’ve gone we’ve met friendly, kind and generous people. The variety, quality and presentation of the food and beverages have been asombroso (amazing). And like the very best of travel, we have learned more about ourselves and discovered that people everywhere mainly strive for the same things—love, meaning, peace and a sense of purpose. How SMART is that? [Read more…]

Flowing With Unexpected Surprises—Travels With Thom & Kathy #3

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Rightsized

The Monastery At Cholula

What every good traveler knows is that every trip contains unexpected surprises. Some surprises bring a wide smile to your face at the first sight of a natural wonder or touch your heart at the unexpected kindness of a stranger. Others make you laugh out loud or purr with delight. Of course on the flip side, events sometimes occur that make us frown with disappointment, wince in pain or even snarl with anger. No matter where you go and what you do, life happens. So even when most of a trip flows pleasantly as expected, learning to accept and flow with unexpected events is the key to traveling SMART. [Read more…]

Mexico City–Travels With Thom & Kathy Part 2

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Rightsized

Flying out of Tijuana on Aeromexico.

Last Tuesday Thom and I arrived at the Tijuana Airport for our flight to Mexico City. We’ve never flown out of Tijuana before but had several friends who encouraged our decision to give it a try. Even though we had checked in online and had boarding passes, we arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. After all, nothing can ruin a vacation like missing your flight. Thankfully, the entire experience went smoothly and easily starting our vacation in the right way. [Read more…]

Pain Is Inevitable—Suffering is A Choice

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Rightsized

Two weeks ago I was walking my dog Kloe down the street near the house we rent in the mountains every August. Gawking around and enjoying the beautiful day, my left foot slid on some gravel and twisted violently to the left. @#$&! To compensate, I jerked to the right and slammed my right knee into the pavement scraping away the skin. Double *&%#$! I sat there for a minute on the side of the road assessing the damage. Gradually I managed to get myself standing and hobble home.

It hurt—both the ankle and my knee. But what hurt more than anything were the thoughts flooding my mind at the same time. How could this happen? Thom, Kloe and I had spent the previous week scampering up the side of steep and slippery mountainsides without a bit of trouble. During the week before we had clocked in at probably 15-20 miles of mountain terrain. Health-wise I felt as good as I had in the last ten years and both of us were getting in shape for our upcoming trip to Southern Mexico in September. How could something so stupid and unnecessary happen? Right from the beginning I allowed the pain in my foot and knee to spread to my mind—that’s where it became suffering. [Read more…]

How To Reimagine A Right-Sized Life

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Meaningful, Rightsized

Recently I was invited to join my first online book club through Facebook. The book to be discussed was Life Reimagined—Discovering Your New Life Possibilities. And while I was a bit skeptical about how a book club discussion through Facebook could be that helpful, this upbeat and practical book appeared to cover ideas I often read and write about—so I said yes. Now four weeks later I consider the book club experiment to be a relative success. But best of all, I discovered along the way some helpful ideas for us all to “reimagine” what I call a right-sized life. [Read more…]

Avoiding Regrets = A Happier Life

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Rightsized, SMART Book Reviews

A musician friend named Rudi Harst wrote a song titled, “Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda.” It’s both a catchy tune and a great reminder that feelings of regret can hold us back from living a happy and fulfilled life. But I suspect that one reason why the song makes us laugh and wince at the same time is because we all wish on some level that we could do one or two things differently, that we’d made at least one other choice along the line, or that we’ve neglected to do something we wished we had. Still, what I’ve discovered over the last couple of days is that regret isn’t one of those negative emotions like fear, shame or jealousy that has little or no redeeming value. Instead regret can serve as a signpost for pointing out choices and changes that can help us lead a SMART and happier life—365. [Read more…]