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A 102-year-old Doctor’s Secrets to Health and Happiness at Every Age with Dr Gladys McGarey #394

Oct 17, 2023 1h 27m 38 insights
Aged 102 (and a half!) years, today’s guest is the oldest person I’ve welcomed onto the show. Dr Gladys McGarey is co-founder of the American Holistic Medical Association and author of the fantastic new book, The Well-Lived Life: A 102-year-old Doctor’s Secrets to Health and Happiness at Every Age. Many people consider Gladys to be the ‘mother of holistic medicine’. For years now, she has been trying to spread the message that health is not just physical – it involves mental, emotional and spiritual elements in equal measure.   Her message is that living a long and healthy life isn’t about the right diet, or taking vitamins and supplements. Instead, it requires a shift in perspective. A long life is all very well, but what are you living for?   For many people today, finding one’s purpose in life feels like an optional extra when we’re busy working, raising children or caring for parents. It can be hard to know who we really are or what we want out of life. But Gladys insists we should still strive to identify our reason for getting out of bed every morning. And we should realise that all of life’s experiences exist to teach us something.   Gladys is a wonderful storyteller, who uses examples and anecdotes from her own, purpose-driven life to explain the secrets that she shares in her book. She reveals how the devastation of her husband asking for a divorce, when she was 70, eventually became her strength. Rather than stay a victim of heartbreak, she made a choice to move forward and help others. And that’s a common theme that comes up in this conversation – the fact that we always have a choice. This is a wonderful, life-affirming conversation about the very essence of life and health. It was a real privilege and honour to talk to Gladys - I hope you enjoy listening. Support the podcast and enjoy Ad-Free episodes. Try FREE for 7 days on Apple Podcasts https://apple.co/feelbetterlivemore. For other podcast platforms go to https://fblm.supercast.com. Thanks to our
Actionable Insights

1. Embrace Self-Love as Healer

Start by actively loving your life and yourself, understanding that the very essence of love is the ultimate healer for all aspects of your being.

2. Prioritize Life’s Purpose

Shift your perspective from solely focusing on physical metrics to identifying your purpose in life, as this fundamental ‘why’ is crucial for true health and happiness.

3. Embrace Your Power of Choice

Understand and embrace the fundamental truth that you always have a choice in how you respond to life’s circumstances, enabling you to move forward and shape your path.

4. Treat Every Experience as Teacher

Adopt the mindset that every single experience in life, good or bad, serves as a teacher, providing valuable lessons for personal growth and empowerment.

5. Cultivate Lifelong Curiosity, Purpose

Continuously seek new experiences and maintain a sense of mission and work to do, as this active engagement contributes to a sharp mind and overall well-being throughout life.

6. Release Negativity for Health

Actively work to release negative outlooks, resentment, and the habit of judging others, as these emotions are detrimental to your health, happiness, and potential for a long life.

7. Adopt a Holistic Health View

Understand that true health extends beyond the physical, integrating mental, emotional, and spiritual elements in equal measure for comprehensive well-being.

8. Focus on the Present Moment

Direct your attention to what you can do today and what the present moment brings, rather than obsessing over future longevity or anti-aging.

9. Actively Seek Your Life’s ‘Juice’

If you’re struggling to find your purpose or ‘juice’ in life, begin by actively looking for it, as you won’t discover it until you start the search.

10. Facilitate Self-Healing Conversations

Instead of dictating actions, engage in conversations that help individuals understand themselves better, empowering them to become their own healers and make informed choices.

11. Engage with Your Dreams

Before going to bed, set an intention to remember your dreams and actively pay attention to them, as they can offer valuable insights and energize your sense of purpose.

12. Release Past Pain, Embrace Memories

Consciously choose to release past pain and resentment from difficult relationships or events, and instead focus on the positive memories and shared experiences, as this shift serves your well-being.

13. Choose Where to Place Attention

Intentionally choose to direct your attention and energy towards positive, growth-oriented aspects of life, rather than dwelling on negative or draining situations.

14. Practice Intentional Daily Gratitude

Engage in a daily practice of intentional gratitude to consciously redirect your attention away from negatives and towards recognizing the existing good and positives in your life.

15. Seek True Humanity in Everyone

Actively look for the inherent ’true humanity’ within every individual, even those whose actions you dislike, to avoid perpetuating negativity and maintain a compassionate perspective.

16. Embrace and Value Your Voice

Cease denying your own voice and downplaying your contributions, recognizing that your unique perspective and expression are important and valid, regardless of your age or past self-doubt.

17. Move With Your Pain

Instead of resisting pain, allow yourself to ‘move with it,’ using it as a guide to understand the lessons it is trying to teach you.

18. Infuse Work with Family Purpose

Direct your energy into your current work or tasks by consciously connecting them to a higher purpose, such as providing for your family, to alleviate resentment and find meaning.

19. Seek Opportunities to Help

Actively look for opportunities to help yourself and others, particularly those in your immediate environment who may be struggling, as this engagement keeps life moving and prevents stagnation.

20. Retire To, Not From

When considering retirement, ensure you have a new purpose or activity to ‘retire to,’ rather than simply retiring ‘from’ your current work, to maintain engagement and vitality.

21. Value the Act of Trying

Place importance on the act of trying and making an effort towards a goal, recognizing that the attempt itself is a valuable and ‘righteous’ endeavor, irrespective of whether you fully achieve it.

22. Recognize Interconnectedness of Self & Earth

Understand that our personal well-being is deeply interconnected with the environment and cultural processes, as actions that harm the ‘outer earth’ will ultimately damage our ‘personal earth.’

23. Listen to Children’s Innate Destiny

Pay careful attention to what children express and are curious about, as they often come into the world knowing their destiny, which adults may inadvertently overlook.

24. Heed Dreams & Children’s Wisdom

Pay close attention to your own dreams and the insights shared by children, as these can be valuable sources for understanding your purpose and navigating life.

25. Cease ‘Non-Compliant’ Labeling

Discontinue the practice of labeling patients as ’non-compliant,’ fostering a more collaborative and understanding approach to care.

26. Choose to See Friends, Not Foes

Consciously choose to perceive the people in your environment as friends rather than foes, as this perspective influences your interactions and overall outlook on life.

27. Release Others’ Burdens

When encountering people doing ‘bad things,’ release the burden of carrying their issues; acknowledge their confusion and struggles, offer a silent blessing, and choose to move forward without dwelling on their negativity.

28. Avoid Sour Thoughts

Refrain from dwelling on bad, sour, or mean thoughts about others, as these internal states are detrimental to your well-being and make life difficult to ‘digest.’

29. Acknowledge Universal Good & Bad

Embrace the understanding that everyone possesses both positive and negative qualities, which discourages judgment and promotes a more compassionate and loving perspective towards others.

30. Ask What Makes You ‘Sing’

When feeling stuck, ask yourself what truly makes you ‘sing’ or what you are genuinely reaching for, rather than relying on external directives, to uncover your authentic path.

31. Actively Seek the Morning Light

After experiencing dark or painful times, make a conscious effort to look for the ‘sun coming up,’ actively seeking light and hope to prevent your perspective from remaining perpetually dark.

32. Cultivate a ‘Be Glad’ Mantra

When facing overwhelming difficulties, create a personal mantra or reminder, like ‘be glad,’ and intentionally repeat it to shift your perspective and find a path forward.

33. Find Independence Through Devastation

When faced with devastating life events, allow them to act as a catalyst to connect with the deepest parts of yourself, fostering independence and revealing new paths forward.

34. Embrace Constant Forward Movement

Engage in a continuous process of forward movement, focusing on the immediate task at hand as a stepping stone to the next, understanding that life requires constant motion to avoid stagnation.

35. Pause When Life Feels Over

When facing situations where life feels like it has ended, pause and allow time for clarity or solutions to emerge, as the message you need is already present.

36. Actively Seek the Light

Consciously choose to look for the positive aspects and the ’light’ in every situation, as failing to do so will keep your perspective perpetually dark.

37. Focus on Love, Share Others

Intentionally focus on the aspects of your life that you love and actively share that love with others, thereby promoting healing and encouraging them to embrace love as well.

38. Create a Living Medicine Village

Work towards creating a community or ‘village’ centered around the principles of ’living medicine,’ where individuals can manifest their purpose and grow together.