The Well-Lived Life by Gladys McGarey, MD

 

“Choosing love in the face of great fear is, in fact, a miracle all on its own. Yet sometimes it creates other types of miracles, too.”

“I like thinking of us as puzzle pieces because it gives us each space to be unique… Seeing things this way helps us understand that each of us is essential…”

 Dr. Gladys Taylor McGarey is 102 years old and she knows that healing comes from within, so she connects us to the parts of ourselves that have the power to heal what needs to be healed.

 The Well-Lived Life meets you where you are in your life journey.

 Let me start by saying that The Well-Lived life is not a self-help book. Yet every human being on earth will benefit from her inspiration and wisdom. Dr. Gladys shares her unique conversations with patients, personal experiences and reflections. When she was a child, her parents provided medical care to the people living on the fringes of society in Northern India. Her parents tended to those with leprosy; they reached out to the so-called “untouchables” in India.

 Dr. Gladys inspires us to live life to its fullest potential. Her intelligence and sense of humor are irresistible. She reminds us to keep the juice flowing and to know that change is part of that flow. Now you may wonder what it means to keep the juice flowing… Read the book and find out, because this is one of the crucial aspects of The Well-Lived Life.

 To find the juice and let it flow is the core of a well-lived life, and when we align that flow with our life purpose, synchronicities abound. We truly dance in tandem with the universe.

The Well-Lived life is like the soul of a special friend; there are no words to explain how deeply you connect with such a friend; I will be keeping it handy in case I need reassurance in the future. I will give it as a gift to my loved ones.

The Well-Lived life is a dance, a song, a hug, a smile. It is the light of our consciousness awakening us to our self-realization. It is the voice of our inner wisdom keeping us balanced and resilient amid life challenges.

  Life is dynamic. It flows and heals. It moves and communicates with us in various ways…

“When life is truly flowing, what gives us juice evolves alongside us. Sometimes our struggle to get juice is exactly the thing that pushes us to find it somewhere else, such as a master electrician who was devastated when disability forced him into early retirement, only to discover the restorative power of gardening, or a film producer who threw herself fully into volunteering at a local shelter during the early days of the Covid pandemic.”

 Read her book and let your juice flow with the energy of the sun on the brightest summer day.

 Dr. Gladys Taylor McGarey is not only a physician. She is a healer, and the best doctors know that healing comes from within. Dr. Gladys combines allopathic and holistic medicine, adopting an integrative approach that welcomes the patient with love and understanding. I encourage every physician to read this book.

 In her nineties Dr. Gladys was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had surgery and radiotherapy for it. She is now 102 years old and her zest for life has not faltered; the light of her inspiration has not faded. It continues to create ripples across the world.

 Dr. Gladys continues to live each moment to its fullest potential.

 What do you want? What drives your enthusiasm?

  The sparks of her wisdom are transformative in nature. She reminds you to honor your life, and to embrace each moment with an open curious mind.

You are the only one who knows your life purpose.

Nobody else does.

 

 

Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall

   

“Knowledge is the only sword that can cut through harm being done in ignorance.” Sara Dykman, author of Bicycling with Butterflies.

  Jane Goodall was the first person to discover that chimpanzees make tools and use them; when she later wrote about their emotions, personalities and intelligence, she was criticized. Just like humans, chimps have emotions like happiness, sadness, anger, frustration and grief. 

 Thanks to her childhood teacher-- her family dog, Rusty—Jane Goodall had learned at a very early age that animals have individual personalities.  

 

Jane Goodall loved animals since she was little. She spent hours watching them and learning about them. Her connection with animals was deep.

  

One day in winter, when she was lying sick in bed, a British robin came to her windowsill; to encourage his visits, she left crumbs every day for the robin. In the spring the robin returned with a mate, and the birds made a nest in a bookshelf in her bedroom.

   Anita Silvey wrote Untamed for children, but it turned out to be a mesmerizing read for people of all ages. In an engaging conversational style she provides details about Jane Goodall’s life story, anecdotes, facts, maps and delightful photos. It is a book that can be shared and celebrated with an entire family, because it connects generations of people through experiences from the past, which are linked to historical events.  

 Untamed also contains an uplifting foreword by Jane Goodall, opening the minds of children to new perspectives and hopeful horizons.

  Jane empowers children to make a difference in the world.

  Anita Silvey’s book recounts how and why Jane Goodall traveled to Africa in her twenties, and how she got in touch with the mentor who would support her work through her years in Africa. His name was Louis Leakey.

  When Jane first settled in Gombe, Africa, to explore the lives of the chimps, her mother was with her. In a secluded place in a forest, away from people, where they had to dig a hole for a latrine, Jane found the magical site she had dreamed of in her childhood. Jane’s description of the place was idyllic; she wrote to her family about it:

 “It is so beautiful, with the crystal clear blue lake, the tiny white pebbles on the beach, the sparkling ice cold mountain stream, the palm nut trees, the comical baboons.”

  Anita Silvey explains the risks, dangers, and discoveries of Jane's adventures, making the book intriguing and unique. Untamed also details how the study of animals has evolved over the years, including amazing information about the challenges Jane encountered back then.

 “She devoted more hours to observation and recording than anyone in the area of chimpanzee research. And she did so through illnesses such as malaria, horrible weather, and rough living conditions.”

  

I did not know that chimps draw and paint, but some of them do. This is a photo of chimp Congo. He began to draw when he was two years old, and two years later he completed more than 200 abstract compositions.

    

Jane Goodall continues to work tirelessly to protect forests, prairies, oceans and the lives of animals and people. She also inspires children and people of all ages to do the same.

 Jane’s organizations include Roots and Shoots, Jane Goodall’s Institute and TACARE.

Feel free to check these sites:

https://www.rootsandshoots.org/

https://www.janegoodall.org/

https://tacare.org/about-us/

 I am humbled by Jane Goodall’s wisdom and courage; here’s an interview with Jane Goodall.

 Here’s another thought-provoking conversation with Jane Goodall published by Vox.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22585935/jane-goodall-chimpanzees-animal-intelligence-human-nature

To learn more about Anita Silvey’s works, you can visit her website:

https://www.anitasilvey.com/

National Geographic Kids is the publisher of “Untamed”:

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/