103-Year-Old Wisdom You CAN’T IGNORE: 6 LIFE LESSONS People Learn TOO LATE! with Dr. Gladys McGarey

Gladys McGarey 0:00
I figured out early on that if I keep looking over my shoulder, bag of fear or whatever, dark things that are hanging over my shoulder, I'm if I keep looking at that, I'm gonna get a stiff neck. And I'm going to have trouble pulling it back what we choose to do, every day, we have the right to choose whether we're going to enjoy this day, or whether they're going to drag ourselves through it.

Alex Ferrari 0:41
I'd like to welcome to the show, Gladys McGarey. How you doing Gladys?

Gladys McGarey 0:44
Good morning, here in Arizona.

Alex Ferrari 0:49
Thank you so much for coming on the show. I am, I am honored to have you on the show. You are. It's never polite to and it's never polite to talk about age when it comes to a woman. But you are. By far the most seasoned guest I've ever had on my on my, on my show. So thank you so much for doing this.

Gladys McGarey 1:11
Well, I can actually brag about it. You know, you're getting past a certain age, and you can start bragging about it.

Alex Ferrari 1:13
That's, I guess you're right after a certain age, you can we're we're here to talk about your your new book, The Well-Lived Life: A 102-Year-Old Doctor's Six Secrets to Health and Happiness at Every Age, you are an inspiration, I have to say just your story where you've come from. My first question to you is, is it true that you started writing books at in the 90 in your 90s?

Gladys McGarey 1:48
Yes, yes.

Alex Ferrari 1:50
Did you just wake up one morning and said, You know, I think I'm gonna write a book.

Gladys McGarey 1:53
No, I had been the practice of medicine. And I've been working with women who were having babies. And I wanted to share with them something that I didn't have to tell them every time every time every time. So I thought, well, if you write a book, you just give it to them. And, you know, so we started out so I started out with a book about birthing. And, and then just but the books before this one, were all about medical practice. They didn't, they didn't have the juice in them. That was what allowed me to be really crazy. grateful that I could practice this arch of medicine. And so this last book, it I was able to put the juice back in the fall.

Alex Ferrari 2:54
So tell me how did you begin your journey in the in the medical field and actually being as as as you've put it, the mother of holistic medicine, which is I'm sure you were doing it at a time that holistic medicine wasn't that all the rage as it is today?

Gladys McGarey 3:00
No, we thought of the word. Actually, my parents were medical missionaries in India. So they went to India in 1914, just at the end of the war. And my mother was a physician in 1913. Now that, you know, I, I had by degrees 90 At the end of World War Two, but hers was at the end of World War One. So they were my parents were an absolute inspiration to me. And I knew from the beginning that I'm what I not that I was gonna be a doctor, I just knew I was because I all my dolls got my sister, my sister wouldn't let me play with her dolls, because my dogs got sick, and hers.

Alex Ferrari 4:11
That's amazing. That's amazing. You know, with all with all the life that you've lived, what is the most important message you think that the younger generation needs to consider to learn?

Gladys McGarey 4:23
That life and love aren't the two essential parts of living because life and love activate each other. And they can't function without each other or not really deeply function and the fact that they if you if you get stuck someplace, it's life and love that will move you out of it. And if the don't, you will use just stay stuck. So these are two essential aspects of the human and being us as human beings.

Alex Ferrari 5:06
Over the years, it means you've seen so many things come and go. Since you were born, I was just I was talking to my wife about it this morning. I'm like, Oh, my gosh, she was there for the 30s and the 40s, the 50s. And all the you've seen humanity, shift in your lifetime, and it's been one of the greatest shifts in human history these last 100 years, you know, 100 150 years or so we have grown so much, what is the biggest surprise that you've seen humanity achieve? Not only technology technologically, but also spiritually.

Gladys McGarey 5:43
Well, actually, I'm facing it right now. The, fact that you and I can do this, and talk about the things that we feel are important, is a huge, huge step in consciousness. You know, because there's this going all around the world. I had somebody calling this morning from, where was it, John? Bulgaria or someplace, you know, it's just all over the world. People are calling in, and the fact that we can communicate with each other this way. I didn't even know what our telephone was when I was growing up.

Alex Ferrari 6:32
Like, you're absolutely right. This is opening up consciousness in a way that will the second the internet showed up, it really started to change things. And now those technologies Yeah, this technology is so well. You know, well versed at this point, that you're right. I mean, even if even 10 years ago, this was not possible.

Gladys McGarey 6:55
Oh, no, no,

Alex Ferrari 6:57
Not like this.

Gladys McGarey 6:59
So to be here, and to be able to do this and talk to you. And where are you?

Alex Ferrari 7:07
I'm in I'm in Austin, Texas. And this will go around the world. And it will be translated in many languages, and it will go around the world. So you will be speaking Chinese and Russian and German and Spanish. By the time it's all said and done. So your message will get out to a lot a lot of people.

Gladys McGarey 7:27
And my son, I have a son named Bob Robert McGarey, who has human potential senator in Austin, Texas.

Alex Ferrari 7:41
Oh, really? That's amazing. We should probably get together.

Gladys McGarey 7:44
I need to introduce you.

Alex Ferrari 7:47
Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. After, after the conversation will definitely will definitely take our numbers down. Now, how has How has your spiritual journey evolved over these last 102, 103 years that you've been around?

Gladys McGarey 8:04
Well, it's it's, you know, growing up in a family, where the parent, my parents are not only doctors, but they were ministers. They went to India with a message of hope. For as they reached out to the villagers in India, and took their message of hope and healing to the people. That was the message I got. And it's been part of who and what I am. Because I chose to make it that.

Alex Ferrari 8:46
That's beautiful. What what gives you hope about the future of our planet and humanity, as you see it today?

Gladys McGarey 8:53
People like you, because what I'm finding is that as as we talk about things, people are reaching out for their true humanity. This is what I'm finding that they say I have an idea. Now this isn't a theology. It's not anything except an idea, that God whatever God is, to each one of us, created the earth, and the universe, and it and he she looked at it and to all this is perfect. It's just the way it needs to be. And then he she created the human being and he said to us as humans. Now you are the only people on this demand on this universe, who I have given free choice. So you have the Will the right and the ability for you to choose whatever direction you want to do. And you will have freewill. There isn't anything else on this universe that has the same right and responsibility. And so therefore, I give you dominion over the whole universe. And we, in our arrogance, decided he said, domination. And so we've decided, Oh, goody, goody, you know, we can do what we want to. And that's what we've done. So now, poor mother earth is really suffering. And I think it's time for us to reach back to our true humanity, and try to work with Mother Earth again, and help to correct some of the mistakes that we've made.

Alex Ferrari 11:06
That's very true. That's very, very true. One thing I've seen, and I've experienced in my own life is that so many people walk around life with fear. Oh, in their, in their, in their bodies, in their minds, every decision they make is based around fear. How did you overcome if you still have overcome fear and all aspects of your life, because it seems like you're pretty fearless, my dear.

Gladys McGarey 11:38
Life can be really scary, though. And it's easy to get stuck. But I figured out early on, that if I keep looking at over my shoulder, bag of fear, or what dark things that are hanging out, on over my shoulder, I'm if I keep looking at that, I'm gonna get a stiff neck, and I'm gonna have trouble pulling it back. So it's that it's what we choose to do. And all through the path on this journey that we have had, every day, we have the right to choose whether we're going to enjoy this day, or whether they're going to drag ourselves through it. And I don't, I don't like just dragging myself through it. I like to enjoy the fact that I can breathe and walk and, and and actually do some steps still and see what I can see. My eyes are very good. But my inside has gotten better. So the actual eyesight is having trouble. But the inside says Oh yeah, well, I can see things.

Alex Ferrari 13:03
Let me ask you throughout your your decades of working in medicine. I've spoken to many medical professionals who you know, it's deal with life and death all the time when they're when they're doctors. What is the most miraculous story that you saw of someone going through something and coming out of it or a story of, you know, a near death experience or somebody that came back information on the other side? I'd love to hear your point of view on this.

Gladys McGarey 13:31
Well, let me tell you my story about my sister's passing on to the other debenture called death. My sister was in our family, the peacemaker, I was a troublemaker and knew she was a peacemaker. And it was it worked very nicely because she helped all through things. And she lived to be 98. And she was healthy and doing what she liked to do. And then she got the flu, and she didn't get over it. And so when she was just ready to make the transition into the other dimension, her son and daughter in law were with her. And as she was lying there, she started singing. And she started singing hymns and in English and hymns in Hindustani, which were pageants, and every so often she would stop and she'd say, and I is here. Now I was our like our second mother when we were growing up, she loved us and we loved her. And she taught Margaret me to play the toilet, which is the two sided Indian drum. And so she's saying to her Are children and I m is here. And to me, the picture of her with the eye with our eye. Drumming and singing, as they're watching into the other dimension is the epitome of joy and happiness. Because that's that's the way she lived her life. And that's the way she stepped into every aspect of her life. With with that understanding of a good life was no matter how it was, what aspect of life we were expected or expressing at that time.

Alex Ferrari 15:48
Let us let me ask you, can you tell people who are afraid right now of, of death of the passing or passing to the other side, that they're fearful of the experience? What advice do you have for them? Or they're seeing their loved ones go through that right now? What could you tell them to give them some comfort?

Gladys McGarey 16:07
Well, for me, and I think I have to talk for myself. But for me, the experience that I've had with people in my family and patients and so on, who have made the transition has been a true joy. Not always, but very often, like my dad, when my dad my mother died before my dad did. And so he remarried. And he, when he was ready to weld, he got the flu and, and got sick while he was back East. And he decided he wanted to be buried out here, because he knew that the end was coming. And so they came out, we put him in the hospital. And a couple of weeks later, Mother Daniels, who was the lady he married, and I went on, and we were with him as he was ready to make the transition. So she began seeing God be with you till we meet again. And he began seeing it too. He could could just mounted, but he was mozzie. And as she sang, and then he took his last breath, and moved right on. And so as we were leaving, she and I were leaving the hospital. And she said, you know, she was talking about how wonderful that was, and she was singing still, as we were walking away. And I said to her, don't you know, there is a jubilation on the other side, right now, my mother's standing over there. And she's saying, Now, John, it's time for you to come on over, come on over. And so he's in the process of making that jubilant passage of sort of life, from one dimension to the other. And that sort of experience, an actual experience of watching people accept the reality of life on these dimensions, has been to me a constant inspiration. It's just, it's amazing.

Alex Ferrari 18:47
So you have you, because of all your experience, you have no fear, you're just kind of just like, when it's time, it's time.

Gladys McGarey 18:55
It's kind of like going, going to sleep and having a dream, you know, walking through the door. Into a dream.

Alex Ferrari 19:05
Yeah, of course, of course. One thing that I find fascinating about you, Gladys is you know, at least you might not see this, but I see this your bravery. And fearlessness, especially, you know, starting to write books in 90. And, you know, doing what you did in your lifetime with holistic medicine. What advice do you have for somebody who's afraid of taking that leap? That, that, that jump to write that book, to start that business, to move to that city that's going to give them possibly more opportunities to get over that hump? Because so many of us sit and wait until just making up excuses before we move. It seems that you haven't. So what advice do you have for that?

Gladys McGarey 19:51
Well, if you don't step out and try it, you'll never know I'm Think of the experiences that you can miss. It's like starting the American Holistic Medical Association. When, when we started that, there were a group of us who were thinking about different dimensions of medicine. And, and there, and so we thought, well, we were in group so we can start this. And so we started the American Holistic Medical Association, but took us two years to figure out how to spell holistic, because the word that we were looking for was health, healing, and holy, for the, for holistic. And so that's the holistic medicine that we were looking for. And as we did that, we found out that, you know, the world was looking for it. And as the world was looking for it, we had opportunities to work with our patients, and work with ourselves and our families, work with people in ways that that were really objectionable to the medical community enough so that I got called into for disciplinary actions repeatedly. So you know, these are things that happen. This one, one time, I got called in. And front in front of Maricopa Medical Association for either required to what I was doing, but anyway, they reprimanded me, and I accepted that reprimand. And I was walking out of the meeting, and one of the doctors came up behind me, and he taps me, and my daughter lawyer was walking ahead, but this doctor tapped me on the shoulder. And he said to me, now, let me tell you something, honey, whoa. Suddenly, he pushed a button in me. I turned around, and I had my keychain in my hand, and I started pounding him on his shoulder. And I said, Don't you call me honey. I'm your pure age wise and professionally, and you will not call me honey. And he kind of backed over and started walking away. I looked at my lawyer, he was double up on laughing kangaroo under the wall. I went back to the office and told my daughter who was my partner in medicine. And she says, Oh, Mom, you didn't, but I did. It was three years later, when I appeared before them again. He was very, very respectful. But sometimes you just have to, you know, create boundaries and and they pop up in front of you. And you either have the opportunity or you don't. And so, you know, it helps.

Alex Ferrari 23:16
Well, yeaht, like they say, sometimes you gotta show a little teeth, Gladys.

Gladys McGarey 23:21
Sometimes what?

Alex Ferrari 23:22
Sometimes you got to show a little teeth.

Gladys McGarey 23:24
Oh, yeah.

Alex Ferrari 23:27
They gotta, you gotta get a little growl every once in a while. It I mean, it does sound like you were a troublemaker Gladys. I mean, it does sound like you were wonderful troublemaker.

Gladys McGarey 23:36
Well, I had a brother, that Carl Taylor, who started human human gender relations at well, underworld, do it, different groups up he worked with, he was a doctor to MD and so he graduated from Harvard and, and it's still going future generations still going around the world, an amazing, amazing organization. And so, but he and I, the other kids really live their lives the way they want to do, but he and I well, to each other in a very lucky and thoughtful way. But, but he pushed me and I pushed him and and so you know, it was a good given take as we were growing up. And, and it just has been helpful for me all through my life.

Alex Ferrari 24:46
Beautiful, beautiful. How do you how do you see the intersection of spirituality and holistic medicine affecting the future of health care?

Gladys McGarey 24:55
Well, as we're watching it, right now You know what's happening? I really believe that we humans are beginning to wake up and reach for whose true humanity, because I think we are beginning to, we're beginning to see, and recognize the fact that we've really not done as much as we could have done as human beings to help Mother Earth, as she has created this awesome place for us to live.

Alex Ferrari 25:35
I got it, I have to I have to imagine. I mean, even in my short lifetime, I've been able to see how humanity's consciousness has grown. There has been a shift from when I was around in the 70s, to where I am now, a conversation like this wouldn't have existed 10 years ago, 20 years ago, even or older. I can't imagine seeing the difference between pre World War Two consciousness and consciousness today, what is the most awe inspiring aspect of that shift? And do you agree that there has been that shift?

Gladys McGarey 26:11
Oh, yes. For me, the most important has been the reality that life and love are the two true healers, healers, I mean, you know, they live in love or what keep life going. And so it's that, that up ability of us, for us, as human beings, to keep moving through life, and love on into other dimensions of, of life, because that's the way it goes, life has to move. If it stops moving. It dies, it can't, it can't not move. And so as we accept that, and work with it, well, you know, I was so sick, severely dyslexic when I was a kid, I had to repeat, first grade twice. And when when we started the American Holistic Medical Association, one day, we were sitting, there were 10 of us sitting around a table, talking about whatever. And we realized that of the 10 of us, six of us were severely dyslexic. So we latched on to the idea that even that process was part of our being able to even think about having a different way of looking at medicine.

Alex Ferrari 27:55
So your quote unquote, disability was actually your greatest strength.

Gladys McGarey 28:00
Oh, absolutely.

Alex Ferrari 28:02
Because you were able to look, you're able to look at things in a different way. You were looking at things outside the box, because that's the tools you were given.

Gladys McGarey 28:12
Well, yeah, and in medical school, it was that way i Because I started medical school. Just as World War Two started, you know, I started medical school and in September, and the war started in December. So during the whole time, during the war, we were being taught and, and working through it, but I was asking questions enough. So that three times the gain from our medical school sent me to the psychiatrist because she didn't think I had the right attitude. So um, you know, psychiatrists sent me back to her and said, No, she's okay.

Alex Ferrari 29:03
Well, that's good. At least you got some good psychiatrists that could understand who you were and you didn't get institution. Now, I'm sure that you've been asked this question 100 times, but I'd love to hear your your answer to this. What is the key to your longevity? What have you done physically, mentally, spiritually, to reach this to reach this milestone that you're at right now?

Gladys McGarey 29:31
Love, I love life. And because I'm able to wake up in the morning, and look forward to another day. There's another day. Now if I was still dragging myself through life, and the Oh, not another day You know, I probably wouldn't live another day. But I'm telling you, the Sun comes up.

Alex Ferrari 30:06
And you know what? I think that your mental, that mental attitude is what's telling your body? Not yet? Not yet. I still got stuff to do. I have purpose, I have a mission. And your body's going, okay. But the opposite happens with like, oh God, not another day, like, oh, they don't want to be here. We could start shutting down any day now.

Gladys McGarey 30:29
Because about five weeks ago, no, it was longer now, I'd fill and broke three ribs. But they're, you know, so you know, they they heal.

Alex Ferrari 30:49
They heal, no question about it. How what advice would you give to somebody seeking to integrate more holistic practices in their life?

Gladys McGarey 30:59
Start thinking about the things that make you happy and things that you want to share with other people, that you that are worth sharing. That whether it's medical, or whether it's, it's just a song like this, I have a family in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, that has these grand, great grandkids, okay, so there is a three year old, and a five year old, and a seven year old. And then the family and they were, they like Taylor Swift songs, and they know her songs. And so she was having some kind of an event or something. And they were, they were, I guess, on the TV or something, they were walking again. But they push all the furniture, and leather you and they were dead sea to it. Not to be they, they found something that was worth looking at, and dancing with, and having fun with. And those kids, those little ones will remember those. Those are the days that they'll look back on to. And they remember when Taylor Swift and data data data.

Alex Ferrari 32:31
So beautiful. How do you define happiness?

Gladys McGarey 32:35
How do I define happiness? It's, it's more than an emotion. It's, it's a way a way of being, you know, we can be happy or we can be unhappy. And, and we can get stuck in either one. And I wanna be stuck in the happy.

Alex Ferrari 32:58
That's a simple answer. Very, very true. Very true. What have what have been the keys of the source of joy throughout your life?

Gladys McGarey 33:08
Oh, my, my children, my life, my, the way. I worked with patients, my patients, my siblings, my community at thought that's the word I need. My community, which is always been a shifting community. It's been growing and including and then people move on and other was move in. It's been an ongoing community. And it's been I have the most amazing friends in the world. I mean, it's truly truly awesome.

Alex Ferrari 33:49
That's so beautiful. So beautiful. What What role do you believe meditation, or mindfulness should play in one's daily routine, especially in one's health?

Gladys McGarey 34:02
Depends on what you call meditation. You know, some people look at a African Daisy out here, the Arizona desert. And just the very essence of spending time with that African Daisy, I think can be a time of meditation, or some people just find ways of shifting in and out of spaces that allow them to reach two dimensions of consciousness that are, are more that make them stretch themselves. In other words, they. We know that there are other dimensions, and maybe it's maybe it's the real idea of paying attention to our dreams. If we do that, that's a way of of stretching ourselves, I find my dreams are really helpful. And a meditation or a way of reaching into the part of me that makes me happy, and stretches me from being, you know, doing what I have to do, to what I really love to do,

Alex Ferrari 35:36
What essential habits or practices do you do to maintain mental and physical well being, and spiritual for that matter?

Gladys McGarey 35:45
Well, I try to eat a decent diet, I don't recommend anything for other people, because what I ate in India was completely different from what I've eaten here. And, you know, so forth and so forth. But have a diet that works for you have a awareness that life is an ongoing process, and that love and life are essential to making me happy, and I want to be happy, there are times that are that are very, very hard. And I could get stuck in those times, there have been times that I've been stuck in those times, but able to actually move myself out of them, by knowing that I could do that, that knowing that I don't have to be stuck. You know, that's it's a, it's a way of be aware that the divine that we are divine beings, and that we as divine beings have choice. And we can choose how we are going to live our lives, and how we live our lives, affects everybody around us. And auditability, for that, it's a it is a responsibility.

Alex Ferrari 37:20
It is a ripple effect, isn't it, how we live our lives ripples around to the people around us.

Gladys McGarey 37:26
We create our own community, you know, and, and when you live as long as I have, that community has shifted, you know, from from the jungles of North India, into where we are right now. And I'm in my house with a walker, my I have a son who helps me with my everyday stuff. And, and I get around, but I don't I walk outside and with my walker, but I'm not going anyplace. Except look at what I'm doing with you. It's amazing. Taking what comes to you, and using it for what makes you happy.

Alex Ferrari 38:23
So beautiful, so beautiful. Because with the amount of life that you've lived, you've seen a lot from war war to, to all the other bad things that happened in the world and good things have happened in the world negative positive. What is your outlook on the future of humanity based on what we're seeing right now? Because so many people say, Oh, this is the worst time it's ever been. All these days, there's so many bad things happening in the world. Well, you've been around long enough to know when it really truly was the word start to get around to the last 100 years. I argue that these last few years are nowhere near as bad as they were at the beginning of World War Two. But that's my opinion. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Gladys McGarey 39:09
No, I Yes. Know, I think the opportunities that we have now are so amazing to the fact that I can talk to you in Austin, and I can talk to somebody in Cambodia. And I can talk to somebody in Ireland like this. I mean, how awesome is that? So this moment is the most important moment.

Alex Ferrari 39:47
That's beautiful. In reflecting on your life's journey, are there any moments that stand out, in particular as transformative or enlightening?

Gladys McGarey 39:58
Oh well As I talk about it in the book about time when I saw the love and acceptance in Gandhi's eyes when I was 10 years old, and saw that and recognized it as a 10 year old of what, what was happening. And I'm still remembered it, actually, we were in the process of coming back to the United States, because my parents had a fertile every seven and a half years, so they could come back and meet their family back home. And so we were leaving India, and I didn't want to leave India, I didn't know what America was going to be like, I didn't like it. And I didn't want to leave, but I was in the train. And we were leaving India. And so I had my face. So please paste on the window, as we came into this station. And they were in India, there are always groups of people. But there was a huge group of people here, and in front of them was a little man with in his toe D which is the loincloth and a walking cane. And he was just walking along. And, and a little he just bought as he came in, in Word, um, I could look straight out at him. And he reached down as a little girl had picked a flower and was handing it up to him. And when he took the flower from the little girl, he looked up and looked straight into my eyes. And I was on the in the train. And he was, it was Gandhi. And he was there. And the crowd was saying, Gandhi, Ji Gandhiji. And he was just walking along, doing his thing. And the love that I saw in his eyes. Still, I still remembered, but 30 years later, I think it was that same kind of experience that my parents experienced with him. Because when the partition of India happened, and Gandhi was stepping up and talking to his people, my parents were working with him to on that. So it's like, love creates love. And it goes on, and it goes on. And it's a living process. And that's something I truly believe. And I know is the truth.

Alex Ferrari 42:57
It's such a beautiful story. You since you've lived so many years in India, and also here in the States, you have a very unique perspective on both the west and the east. Very similar to one of my one of my idol Yogi's that I love to read. Yogananda Paramahansa Yogananda, who also spent a lot of time on both sides. What are the biggest lessons you learned? While you were in India that you brought over to the west? Because I have to imagine it did affect you. Being in that in that country for so many years?

Gladys McGarey 43:35
Yeah, no, actually not to be judgmental. You know, the Indian kids, when I was playing with Indian kids, they would rub my arms trying to get the white off.

Alex Ferrari 43:47
Wow. That wouldn't fly as easily today.

Gladys McGarey 43:55
So how do you judge something like that? I mean, these are my friends. And so anyway, it's the ability to take people where they are, and look for what, really the true human with that aspect of, of that being that you're that you're working with. And most of the time, you can find something good and sometimes, there are some people that are really hard to love. But, but you know, you can work at it.

Alex Ferrari 44:40
But let me ask you, how do you how did you or how do you deal with people who are not doing good things? You know, people who are maybe lost or have have wandered off the main path and are just trying to figure things out, but they're doing things that are not very nice, let's say How do you deal with that?

Gladys McGarey 45:02
Well, I figure that's their karma. I don't have to carry that baggage, I've got enough of my own. You know, I don't need to judge them on dragging behind them or carrying or whatever it is. And you know, I, I have a really dear friend, who, a few months ago, I was talking to her and she says, Ah, I wake up in the morning, and I think, oh, not another day. And I thought, you know, that, that hurt me to feel that that's the way she felt when she woke up each day. I mean, and I got to feeling really badly for her, and decided that I had no right to eat judge even that. Because if that's what she chooses, Well, who am I to judge it?

Alex Ferrari 46:08
Very true. Are there any spiritual practices that you do? Or have done in your lifetime that have been impactful in your journey?

Gladys McGarey 46:17
Well, you know, the Indian hymns, which are called Budgens, and, and the English hymns and so on, it's I have, it's sort of like a tape that runs through my brain all the time. Because anytime I just kind of stopped to take a breath, one of these curtains floating through and at night, I wake up and I walk down memory lane. And these you know, it's, it's a joyous time. And so I have my times of meditation, but they're not proscribed, they're there. Move in as life moves on.

Alex Ferrari 47:16
Okay, fair enough. How do you envision the future of holistic medicine, especially how it's going to hopefully integrate with traditional and modern practices?

Gladys McGarey 47:26
Well, I'm, I'm praying and hoping that the work that I'm doing with this book will help. And I think is, because people are reaching back to me with questions, and, and really looking for their true humanity.

Alex Ferrari 47:54
It's very true. You I mean, I imagine that throughout your career, as a doctor, you've seen opinions change. You've seen approach approaches change things that they were so, so stuck on before. And now they're opening, I mean, just the concept of meditation. It was thought to be weird and wacky. And now there's so much evidence that proves just on a physical standpoint, the Ben health benefits. So I imagine that that you've seen a lot of that.

Gladys McGarey 48:22
Oh, well, you know, when biofeedback started that whole process, that was a huge step into the acceptance of meditation. Various different different terms, to speak upon things. But really, as life has moved, as moved through, and been and brought life with it,

Alex Ferrari 48:53
What do you think is the most crucial message you would like to send to health care professionals, working today?

Gladys McGarey 49:01
That life and love are the two healers that if you, you know, I created in my head, the five L's and the first two L's go together, life and love. It's like a pregnancy. You know, the, the baby is part of the mother. everything that she does, until the baby takes its first breath, and then becomes a living being in its own right. But as long as the mother is doing everything for it, they are one so those two go together. This third L is laughter laughter without love, is cruel. It's It's mean. It breaks families apart. It causes wars, but laughter with love, is joy and happiness. And the fourth one is labor. Labor without love is Oh, like, life's too hard. I'm just dragging myself through it. And too many diapers, all that kind of just life is just too hard. But light, light labor with love is bliss. It's why you're doing what you're doing. It's why I'm doing what I'm doing. It's what makes our hearts sing. It's joy, and happiness. And, and the fifth one is listening. Listening without love, is empty sound, the calling blank gal gang, you know, if you don't, listen, you don't hear it. But listening with love is understanding. And for me, these five L's have sort of put things in context, so I can deal with them and sort of reasonable ways.

Alex Ferrari 51:07
It's an amazing tool set, to say the least. If there was one question, if there was one question you wish more people would ask themselves what would that be about leaving living a fulfilled and meaningful life?

Gladys McGarey 51:24
Well, I, I would like to know who they are. You know, who are you? If I have the opportunity to meet a new person, and don't know who they are? It's a pretty interesting, deep journey to take.

Alex Ferrari 51:48
Very true. Now, I'm going to ask you a few questions. I asked all of my guests. What is your definition of living a fulfilled life?

Gladys McGarey 51:59
Taking every moment as it comes, and using it the best you can? Sometimes you don't do a very good job, and you regret it. But then you know, that those things happen. And but you know, use what comes? Use it the best you can. And if you make a mistake, well, you know, it's there. Go away.

Alex Ferrari 52:27
Learn from it, and move on. Yeah. If you had a chance to go back in time and speak to little Gladys, what advice would you give her?

Gladys McGarey 52:37
Keep laughing, keep singing, keep going. Because it's gonna be a trip.

Alex Ferrari 52:47
It's gonna be one heck of a trip, that's for sure. Yeah. How do you define God or Source energy?

Gladys McGarey 52:57
I don't try to define God for anybody else. And for me, is love and life or for you what is love? Love is what you experience. When, when you know that that some part of what it is that you're experiencing it the time is real. And it's for for. Yeah, it's for real. It is love. It's there. And it's life.

Alex Ferrari 53:31
And you're feeling it for real in all aspects of life, that love that labor, that love of a human being, right. Everything, all of it is beautiful.

Gladys McGarey 53:43
And it exists, and it exists in living things. Let me let me tell you a quick story. Please. I have a friend, James. And he was a family friend, spend time at our dinner table and all of that. He was a good family friend. And then he moved into dementia. And so we found a really nice home for he could be lived and taken care of. And one day I went over and I took him a little plant. It was just a little plant in a pot. And I said to him, Ron James. Now he's not paying much attention to what I'm saying. But I saw I didn't know whether he was getting this or not. But I said here's his plan. I'm giving it to you, for you to take care of. But it's it's going to need water and it's going to need sunshine. And so if you'll just take care of it. I'm giving it to you and I'm putting it in your window here. And you know we I talked about a little bit more and then I left and then Next week, I came back. And he met me at the door. And he said, magic magic. And I said, Why rewatching? And he says, Look, box, and he takes me by the hand, and he goes over to the air conditioning box. And he says, box, push this button, everything who loves school? Push this button. Everything hot plug doesn't like a lot. And I realized that he had understood what I had said. And actually, the life of that little plant had given him a connection that he could make with me and his surroundings. I mean, it was, I'm just still in awe of that experience that we had.

Alex Ferrari 56:10
So beautiful. That's amazing. My final question, what is the ultimate purpose of life?

Gladys McGarey 56:17
To live it.

Alex Ferrari 56:22
As simple as that, Gladys, where can people find out more about you? The work that you're doing and to pick up your book? The well lived life?

Gladys McGarey 56:33
Well, we've got a new edition. Well, well, the paperback edition is coming out, John, when? Tuesday, April 2nd. And it'll come out around the world. And it's it's you can order now people can order right now.

Alex Ferrari 57:03
On Amazon and anywhere books are sold.

Gladys McGarey 57:06
Yeah.

Alex Ferrari 57:08
And Gladys, do you have any parting messages for the audience?

Gladys McGarey 57:15
Oh, you can order by gladysmcgarey.com. What did you ask me? I'm sorry.

Alex Ferrari 57:22
No problem. What do you have any parting messages for the audience?

Gladys McGarey 57:27
Yes, don't give up on yourself. You know, your creative being who is constantly changing, every life has to move in order to be able to, to keep on. And so look for the light. Don't, don't get stuck in the darkness. Or if you do, then start looking for the light, because it's always there. It never goes away. It's always there. So keep looking.

Alex Ferrari 58:04
Gladys it has been a pleasure and an honor speaking to you today. Thank you so much, for not only the work you've done throughout your life, but what you're doing in this chapter of your life and I look forward to the many more chapters you have ahead of you and the work that you're doing. So glad. Thank you again, my dear.

Gladys McGarey 58:22
Thank you. Thank you. Love everybody.