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The Well-Lived Life
Book

The Well-Lived Life

A 102-Year-Old Doctor’s Six Secrets to Health and Happiness at Every Age

Gladys McGarey
Atria Books, 2024
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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Concrete Examples
  • Engaging
  • Inspiring

Recommendation

In this inspiring, easy-to-read guide, Gladys McGarey – age 103, pioneering holistic physician and mother of six – distills the wisdom she gathered over ten decades of living well into six secrets for living with purpose and joy. These lessons include finding your “juice,” moving, loving, connecting, learning and embracing life. McGarey’s six ways of being – and accompanying exercises – offer you a fresh perspective, no matter your age.

Summary

Embrace health and happiness.

Each person’s purpose is one puzzle piece in the big picture of life. Being healthy and happy hinges on acknowledging your life force and place in the bigger scheme of things.

To embrace and live life fully, consider the six lessons 103-year-old author Gladys McGarey learned by reflecting on a long life filled with caring for others.

Pursue your purpose to live well.

Everyone has a “juice” – a reason to exist and a role to fulfill. Other names in the Western tradition for juice include motivation and purpose, and in Eastern traditions, prana and chi.When you use your juice, your life becomes more fulfilling.

Engage in activities that give you a sense of purpose.The value of purpose lies not in finding it but in seeking it. To identify your juice, step aside from daily activities to visualize your path ahead.

Every person is unique, with a particular role, like a jigsaw puzzle piece – everyone is part of a larger picture. Identify and honor your distinctive shape. Don’t try to reshape yourself to match someone else’s or their vision of your puzzle piece...

About the Author

Gladys McGarey is a physician and mother of six. She provides life consultations and co-founded the American Holistic Medicine Association and the Academy of Parapsychology and Medicine.

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