Life is a Journey

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Life is a journey filled with thousands of steps to be taken. Each step matters, they sum up the entirety of your existence.

You must be intentional about taking these steps each day. The size of the step you take doesn’t matter, what matters is that you take that step.

Don’t be too focused on what is to come that you neglect what you need to do now.

Don’t be discouraged by how far you still have to go, be encouraged by how far you’ve come and inspired by what’s ahead.

Sometimes your progress may not be glaring, but be rest assured that for each step you take, something incredible is happening. The result may take time to be seen, but eventually you will see it.

A day will come when you will look back and see how those little steps you took have become a mighty span of great deeds.

Today requires you take a step, no matter little, remember it counts.

Source:  Mordecai Orimiladeye, Mordy Quotes

Rich vs Wealthy

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Being Rich vs Being Wealthy

Wealth is often hidden and not as visible as riches which can be flashy and showy.

In the book “The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy”, authors Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko reveal that many millionaires live modest lifestyles and don’t flaunt their wealth. They call this “stealth wealth” and it’s a way for millionaires to avoid drawing attention to themselves and their wealth.

The difference between being rich and being wealthy, according to Kiplinger Magazine, is being rich means adding more zeros to your bank account while being wealthy is about living your life with zero regrets and zero jealousy.

In terms of net worth in the US in 2022:

The top 1% had a net worth had of $10,815,000.

The top 2% had a net worth of $2,472,000.

The top 5% had $1,030,000.

The top 10% had $854,900.

Source:
(1) Are You Rich? U.S. Wealth Percentiles Might Provide Answers. https://www.kiplinger.com/personal-finance/605075/are-you-rich.
(2) Being Rich vs. Being Wealthy: What’s the Difference? | Kiplinger. https://www.kiplinger.com/personal-finance/being-rich-vs-being-wealthy-whats-the-difference.
(3)The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy ….

Investing Lessons Re-Learned

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Recently, I came across a story that is both sad, but worth sharing in case somone else might learn from an investor’s mistakes and avoid repeating them. Here’s a summary of the story:

A investor was convinced by a coworker to invest in cryptocurrency, but unfortunately, they ended up losing around $20,000 before deciding to sell and cutting their losses. Then, they took the remaining money and put it into a popular stock (LCID), only to lose an additional $12,000.

In just two months, they blew three years worth of their savings.

Here are the lessons for readers to learn:

  • Do not invest in things that you don’t fully understand.
  • Just because someone has a good track record doesn’t mean you should blindly trust them with your money. Do your own research and carefully consider your options before making investment decisions.
  • Slow and steady, and thinking long term wins the race.
  • Behavior matters a lot. Morgan Housel, the author of the book “The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness”, said that, “Doing well with money has a little to do with how smart you are and a lot to do with how you behave.”

Mindfulness Exercises

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The goal of mindfulness is to wake up to the inner workings of our mental, emotional, and physical processes. ~ Mindful.org

Mindfulness is a type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you’re sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment. It is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.

The goal of mindfulness is to wake up to the inner workings of our mental, emotional, and physical processes. Mindfulness is available to us in every moment, whether through meditations and body scans, or mindful moment practices like taking time to pause and breathe when the phone rings instead of rushing to answer it.

Simple mindfulness exercises can be practiced anywhere and anytime, according to the Mayo Clinic. Research does indicate that engaging your senses while outdoors is especially beneficial.

You’ll need to set aside time when you can be in a quiet place without distractions or interruptions. You might choose to practice mindfulness early in the morning before you begin your daily routine.

Aim to practice mindfulness every day for about six months. Over time, you might find that mindfulness becomes effortless. Think of it as a commitment to reconnecting with and nurturing yourself.

There are many simple ways to practice mindfulness. Some examples include:

  • Pay attention. It’s hard to slow down and notice things in a busy world. Try to take the time to experience your environment with all of your senses — touch, sound, sight, smell and taste. For example, when you eat a favorite food, take the time to smell, taste and truly enjoy it.
  • Live in the moment. Try to intentionally bring an open, accepting and discerning attention to everything you do. Find joy in simple pleasures.
  • Accept yourself. Treat yourself the way you would treat a good friend.
  • Focus on your breathing. When you have negative thoughts, try to sit down, take a deep breath and close your eyes. Focus on your breath as it moves in and out of your body. Sitting and breathing for even just a minute can help.

References:

  1. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/mindfulness-exercises/art-20046356
  2. https://www.mindful.org/meditation/mindfulness-getting-started/

Lifestyle Changes to Diet, Sleep, and Exercise—Paired with interventions Like Relaxation Exercises Could Reverse the Aging Process

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A group of mature women lowered their biological age by an average of 5 years in just 8 weeks by lifestyle change consisting of exercise, healthy diet and adequate sleep. 

In the United States, dix in ten adults have at least one chronic disease and four in ten adults have two or more [1]. These diseases are a major cause of morbidity and mortality and they put a significant burden on the U.S. healthcare system as well as the society at large [2].

Aging has been identified as a common driver of chronic diseases and an important target for extending Americans’ healthspan [3]. Life expectancy for Americans has increased dramatically, although not all of the years gained are healthy. It has been estimated that if we improve Americans’ collective healthspan by just one year the calculated savings are worth $38 trillion dollars, and if by 10 years those savings jump to $367 trillion dollars [4].

Biological age clocks, based on DNA methylation marks, have become important surrogate markers to assess the effectiveness of interventions at reducing biological age, with the expectation that biological age reductions will compress morbidity and extend mortality [5, 6].

Lifestyle changes to diet, sleep, and exercise—paired with interventions like relaxation exercises and supplements—could reverse the aging process, according to new research.

Six women between the ages of 46 and 65 underwent an eight-week program that included alterations to diet, sleep, and exercise. They were also given relaxation guidance, probiotic and phytonutrient supplements, and nutritional coaching.

Blood tests showed a reduction in biological age of up to 11 years in five of the six women, with the average participant experiencing a 4.6-year decrease, according to the study, published in March in the journal Aging.

References:

  1. About chronic disease. Center for Disease Control. 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/about/index.htm.
  2. Woolf SH, Schoomaker H. Life Expectancy and Mortality Rates in the United States, 1959-2017. JAMA. 2019; 322:1996–2016. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2019.16932[PubMed]
  3. Kennedy BK, Berger SL, Brunet A, Campisi J, Cuervo AM, Epel ES, Franceschi C, Lithgow GJ, Morimoto RI, Pessin JE, Rando TA, Richardson A, Schadt EE, et al. Geroscience: linking aging to chronic disease. Cell. 2014; 159:709–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2014.10.039[PubMed]
  4. Scott AJ, Ellison M, Sinclair DA. The economic value of targeting aging. Nat Aging. 2021; 1:616–23. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-021-00080-0
  5. Bergsma T, Rogaeva E. DNA Methylation Clocks and Their Predictive Capacity for Aging Phenotypes and Healthspan. Neurosci Insights. 2020; 15:2633105520942221. https://doi.org/10.1177/2633105520942221[PubMed]
  6. Belsky DW, Caspi A, Corcoran DL, Sugden K, Poulton R, Arseneault L, Baccarelli A, Chamarti K, Gao X, Hannon E, Harrington HL, Houts R, Kothari M, et al. DunedinPACE, a DNA methylation biomarker of the pace of aging. Elife. 2022; 11:e73420. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.73420 [PubMed]
  7. https://fortune.com/well/2023/05/17/how-to-lower-biological-age-lifestyle-changes-diet-exercise-relaxation-probiotics/
  8. https://www.aging-us.com/article/204602/text

Temperature, Heat and Humidity

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Hot weather and humidity are with us this week. Below is important terminology to know so you can stay informed and aware.

Heat Wave: The Heat Index, or the “Apparent Temperature,” accurately measures how hot it feels when relative humidity is added to the actual air temperature.

Humidity: The amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. The higher the humidity, the slower sweat evaporates. This is one way your body regulates its temperature.

Heat Advisory: A period of excessive heat is expected. The combination of hot temperatures and high humidity will create a situation in which heat-related illnesses are possible.

Heat Wave: A period of abnormally and uncomfortably hot and unusually humid weather. Typically a heat wave lasts two or more days.

Remember to stay safe and take necessary precautions during this hot weather.

Beat the heat and stay hydrated!

Never Stop or Give-up

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One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and begin to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that fell on his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.

Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off!

Moral: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick is to not to get bogged down by it. We can get out of the deepest wells by not stopping. And by never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!

Source:  https://www.moralstories.org/never-to-give-up/

Top Five Regrets of the Dying

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Bronnie Ware, an Australian palliative care nurse, recorded patients’ dying epiphanies and put her observations into a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.

Ware wrote of the phenomenal clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives, and how you might learn from her patients’ wisdom. “When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently,” she says, “common themes surfaced again and again.”

Here are the top five regrets of the dying, as witnessed by Bonnie Ware:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

“This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honored even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it.”

2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.

“This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.”

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

“Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.”

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

“Often they would not truly realize the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.”

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

“This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.”

References:

  1. Susie Steiner, Top five regrets of the dying, The Guardian, February 1, 2012.  https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/01/top-five-regrets-of-the-dying