• Gratitude
• Vegetables
• Awe and Wonder
• More...

Gratitude

I forgot to note where I read this, but a recent study showed that thinking grateful thoughts for 15 minutes a day, or writing down a gratitude list every day, makes you 25% happier.

25% is a lot. (And maybe you could use that right about now...) 
 

If you don't think 25% is significant, imagine yourself 25% heavier.
 

Gratitude is powerful. 

    "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others."    
   -Marcus Tullius Cicero

   "There's always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. 
   For example, I'm sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt."
   - Unknown Author

 

Vegetables

When astronaut Scott Kelly, twin brother of Senator Mark Kelly (AZ), was asked by his daughter, "Daddy, what's our religion?" he told her, "Our religion is be nice to other people and eat your vegetables."

Excellent advice. Scripps epidemiologist Eric Topol interviewed expert-on-ageing Steve Horvath on his podcast. It's a long episode with a lot of scientific terms about new genetic measuring, but at one point Topol asks Horvath - given all the new evidence - what he's doing to fight off ageing and disease. 
 

Horvath replies, "Eating more vegetables. I have a whole freezer full of frozen vegetables." 

Yep, they're that good for you.  
 

When people say they don't like vegetables, I always ask, "Have you ever heard of butter and salt?"
 

Raw Awe

One of the things my own personal brain has fully accepted is how much I need to bask in awe and wonder daily. 
 

One summer I hosted a 35 year old man from Switzerland for a week who had never seen fireflies. Every evening when they came out he was mesmerized. Astonished. It was fun to watch him wandering around the yard like a kid in fairyland. He felt they were almost magical. I got to experience that wonder through his eyes.

I feel the same thing watching hummingbirds at my feeder for 20 minutes. Or seeing images from the space telescopes. Or watching a baby anything try something new.
 

Or considering the amazing fact that birds used to be dinosaurs.*

     * I have an old song with that title. 
       For those interested, see lyrics farther down.
 

What produces the most awe in humans? The number one thing seems to be witnessing an immeasurable act of forgiveness or compassion, like with Nelson Mandela or the current Dalai Lama.
 

There's a wealth of current scientific interest in awe experiences and their health benefits, which are considerable. Here's one of the best articles about it. It's a fun read.

And then there's Einstein:
 

     "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. 
      It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this 
      emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and 
      stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."
     - Albert Einstein
 


Italy and Paris, October 2025

$150 discount if you sign up before the end of November!

This will be big fun. It's a wonderful itinerary, and as always it'll be a positive group of friendly folks. Join us if you can. More info here. 
 

Birds Used To Be Dinosaurs

Not a great song, but I think it has potential. The verses need a rewrite. I wrote it a loooong time ago after the girl I'd been dating for a year and a half cheated on me and then lied about it. (How else do you say that? It's what she did.) 
 

Here's the chorus:

Birds used to be dinosaurs, mountains used to be seashores
People used to look like monkeys too
Planets used to be in stars, water used to be on Mars,
And I used to be in love with you

Earth used to be paradise, caterpillars butterflies
Old men used to be babies too
Trees used to be little twigs, bacon used to be on pigs
And I used to be in love with you.

As you can clearly see, I was using my geology background to give a sense of geologic time and space to how I felt about her. In other words, I was putting her in the extremely distant past. 
 

Looking at this now, I notice there's some "awe and wonder" right there in that chorus. I guess I was into it even before I knew it. 

FYI, it took her over 10 years but eventually I got something resembling an apology. But I forgave her a long time before that. 
Even so, I still like that chorus.

 

Need Cool Gifts?

Check out my Store.

 

Upcoming Schedule

I'll be in Cincinnati on Dec. 8, and Walnut Creek (CA) on Feb 2.

For details, go here. 
 


Thanks For Reading

To my US readers, Happy Thanksgiving! To everybody, Happy Holidays!

~ Greg

       "Thanksgiving, man. Not a good day to be my pants."
       - Kevin James

       "I come from a family where gravy is considered a beverage."
       - Erma Bombeck

       "If you wish to make an apple pie truly from scratch, 
       you must first invent the universe."         
       - Carl Sagan


 

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