Dr. Ellen Langer

You know, I have an acronym that I use in teaching at the end of my classes.

It's called GLADO.

G-L-A-D-O.

So it's my recipe for happy life.

Be generous, loving, authentic, direct, and open.

And each of these leads to the other and all of them follow from being more mindful.

Being present, being there.

And it's funny because people say, sort of stop and smell the roses or you should be present.

And that's sweet, but it's an empty instruction because when you're not there, you're not there to know you're not there.

And so the way to be there is to notice new things about the things you think you know, you see you didn't know them, your attention naturally goes there, or top down to start off recognizing that you don't know, nobody knows, you can't know, and that not knowing is exciting rather than scary.

I'll make it very simple. When most people hear the word mindful, sadly, they think of meditation. Meditation is great, but it's not mindful. You meditate in order to result in post-meditative mindfulness, okay? So it's a practice. Mindfulness, as I study it, is a way of being. It's not a practice. It's the simple process of noticing. Now, you can get there in one of two ways.

I'll make it very simple. When most people hear the word mindful, sadly, they think of meditation. Meditation is great, but it's not mindful. You meditate in order to result in post-meditative mindfulness, okay? So it's a practice. Mindfulness, as I study it, is a way of being. It's not a practice. It's the simple process of noticing. Now, you can get there in one of two ways.

I'll make it very simple. When most people hear the word mindful, sadly, they think of meditation. Meditation is great, but it's not mindful. You meditate in order to result in post-meditative mindfulness, okay? So it's a practice. Mindfulness, as I study it, is a way of being. It's not a practice. It's the simple process of noticing. Now, you can get there in one of two ways.

Bottom-up, actively notice three new things about the person you live with. Walk outside, notice three new things. Each time you do this, you see that you didn't know the thing you thought you knew as well as you thought you knew it. But you can also do it top-down. Top down is recognize that everything is always changing. Everything looks different from different perspectives.

Bottom-up, actively notice three new things about the person you live with. Walk outside, notice three new things. Each time you do this, you see that you didn't know the thing you thought you knew as well as you thought you knew it. But you can also do it top-down. Top down is recognize that everything is always changing. Everything looks different from different perspectives.

Bottom-up, actively notice three new things about the person you live with. Walk outside, notice three new things. Each time you do this, you see that you didn't know the thing you thought you knew as well as you thought you knew it. But you can also do it top-down. Top down is recognize that everything is always changing. Everything looks different from different perspectives.

Uncertainty is the rule. It's not the exception. So when you know you don't know, then you naturally tune in. So one of the things, I've said this so many times, maybe this will be the last. One of the things we think we know best is how much is one plus one, Andrew? I'm going to assume it's still two. Two. Not always.

Uncertainty is the rule. It's not the exception. So when you know you don't know, then you naturally tune in. So one of the things, I've said this so many times, maybe this will be the last. One of the things we think we know best is how much is one plus one, Andrew? I'm going to assume it's still two. Two. Not always.

Uncertainty is the rule. It's not the exception. So when you know you don't know, then you naturally tune in. So one of the things, I've said this so many times, maybe this will be the last. One of the things we think we know best is how much is one plus one, Andrew? I'm going to assume it's still two. Two. Not always.

If you add one wad of chewing gum to one wad of chewing gum, one plus one is one. You add one cloud to one cloud, one plus one is one. This is interesting. Somebody sent this to me the other day. You take one pizza and you add one pizza, one plus one is two. You take one lasagna and you add one lasagna, one plus one is one. It's just a bigger lasagna.