SMART Living 365.com--Ideas to create a more happy, peaceful and rewarding life--365!

Placebos Prove That The Secret To Good Health Just Might Be Our Own Mind

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Rightsized

One of the few magazines I read regularly is Prevention. As the years go by I’m finding news about staying healthy is becoming more and more relevant. Anyone else feel the same? During the last two issues, I’ve noticed a couple of articles pointing out how a missed diagnosis is often a problem, and that getting second opinions for serious issues is always a good idea. Bottom line? Medical care should be a partnership—not a passive surrender to outside authority. And if that’s true, then recognizing the power of placebos, the mind/body connection, and our own body’s inherent healing abilities is crucial. If we want to stay healthy and happy for as long as possible, it’s SMART to remember that our mind just might be a key medicine available to us all. [Read more…]

Designing A Fulfilling Life Matters Long Before Retirement

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Rightsized, Sustainable

Recently I watched a new documentary entitled Coming Of Age In Aging America. I expected the focus of the film to be similar to much of the other information I read almost daily on the Internet. Sure the movie covers a few of those common themes prevalent in the positive aging message. But more importantly, the major focus is a deep inquiry into the sustainability of how most of us view the overall life-progression or life-course of all Americans as we age. What do they mean by that? And why do I believe it is important for all of us to begin to rethink the current model of aging and retirement that most of us unconsciously hold as sacred? [Read more…]

Is It SMART To Do A DNA Test And Ancestry Tree?

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Meaningful

Mom, Dad and my older sister Ann in 1955.

I tend to be the sort of person who looks to the future rather than the past. But when some good friends of mine did their DNA test several months ago I had to admit a curiosity. Then when one of them discovered an unusual family link, I couldn’t help but wonder if mine might contain something unexpected as well. So with some casual curiosity, I signed up my husband and myself for the process. What did I learn? And is it worth the time, money and effort? Maybe yes, maybe no.

It turns out that some people are obsessed by their family tree. An article in Salon Magazine claims that Genealogy may indeed be “the second most popular American hobby after gardening and the second most visited category of Web sites after pornography.” My interest doesn’t run nearly that deep! [Read more…]

Kathy’s Cure For a Fun Hangover

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Sustainable

Last night Thom and I attended a Jack Johnson concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl and this morning I woke up with a fun hangover. First, if you don’t know who Jack Johnson is and you love music, you need to look him up. Second, if you haven’t experienced a fun hangover in a while, maybe it’s time you indulged. After all, it’s SMART to occasionally push our boundaries and get out of our comfort zones. Doing something unexpected, out of the ordinary, and especially fun every now and then is a sure prescription for ongoing happiness and good health. [Read more…]

30 Days At The Beach Or Why We All Need To Take A Break

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Meaningful, Rightsized

Like I said in my post last week, Thom and I are spending the month at the beach. Our primary excuse is to escape the heat of our desert home. But frankly, what we really needed is an experience away from the habits and routines of daily life. And because this works so well for us, I feel fairly confident that it just might be what we all need now and then to really appreciate the life we have created. Don’t believe me? How about I give you a few reasons why we find it so beneficial and you can then decide for yourself? [Read more…]

10 Good Reasons To Sell That Big House and Get Rightsized

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Rightsized, Sustainable

Thom and I are fortunate to be able to spend a month every summer in the coastal community of Ventura, California. As some of you know, where we live the majority of the year the temperature during the summer fluctuates between 110 and 120 degrees. Meanwhile, at the beach, we are able to relish the cool coastal breezes without air-conditioning. 2017 was our 7^th year of escaping the heat, yet we constantly hear people say, “Oh, I sure wish we could do that.” Or, “ I’d give anything to do that.” But the truth is, most of those who could do it, won’t. That’s because in many cases they are attached to a big house and often a big lifestyle that keeps them stuck even when they say they’d prefer otherwise. With that in mind, I came up with ten reasons why we all might want to reconsider owning a too-big house, and instead embrace a more rightsized life. [Read more…]

Studies Prove Your Mindset Determines How You Age

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware

Do your thoughts determine how you age? The answer is “Yes” according to Professor Ellen Langer. During the last forty-five years, this Harvard social psychologist has studied the way our mindset affects both our health and how we age. At the core of her work is unifying the mind and the body rather than how the conventional medical and psychological world typically treats each as separate. Langer is convinced that a unity offers a far better understanding and hope for making positive change. Fortunately, her studies provide us with plenty of science to back up her assertions. [Read more…]

How The Power Of Possibility Helps Us Deal With Uncertainty

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Meaningful

(originally titled: The Only Thing We Know For Sure Is That We Don’t Know Anything For Sure) Most of you who read my blog know that I am an optimist. I also believe in the power of positive thought. The way I see it, positive thought is different from positive thinking because just thinking of things doesn’t always affect them. But when you change your thoughts (or mindset) about things, it usually spurs the actions that lead to change. So imagine my delight when I came across the work of Ellen J. Langer who not only reinforces that idea about “thoughts,” but also offers research to support them. Calling on what she labels the “psychology of possibility,” Langer says that it “first requires that we begin with the assumption that we do not know what we can do or become.” In other words, the only thing we know for sure is that we can’t know anything for absolute certain. [Read more…]

7 Reasons Why The World Needs More Wonder Women

By Kathy Gottberg
Filed under: Aware, Meaningful

A couple of weeks ago I went to see the movie Wonder Woman at my local theater—in 3D no less. It’s been a long while since I’ve seen a fantasy-action movie that I so enjoyed. A previous fan of the genre, during the last ten years nearly every other super-hero movie seemed to sink into a violent, bloody mess intended to shock and horrify rather than inspire. For the first time in a very long time, I walked out of the theater feeling both hopeful and encouraged. That’s because Wonder Woman manages to entertain us while imparting empowering and SMART messages for every person in the audience.

[Read more…]

Category Busters, Dogs With A Bone, Liberation and Other Thoughts on Positive Aging

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

Thinking is contagious. In other words, what we focus on and spend time mulling over in our minds routinely shows up over and over in wanted or unwanted ways. Worried about something? Chances are you will wake up in the middle of the night with those fears running through your head like a wild horse. Intrigued by something? Curious? Delighted? Without a doubt, you will find trails of those ideas leading in all sorts of interesting directions.

That’s why it was no surprise when I stumbled upon a newsletter called Positive Aging by The Taos Institute while surfing the Internet. There I found a newly released book entitled, Paths To Positive Aging—Dog Days with a Bone and Other Essays and I emailed and asked for a review copy. As hoped, this small book of essays generated all sorts of new ideas about aging that I found remarkable. And so it goes. [Read more…]