The weather this winter has been extraordinary… not necessarily in a good way.  Texas is experiencing 0° at night, frozen pipes, and power outages. Parts of the south are shoveling snow with over 4” in Dallas and Houston, and 10” in Little Rock, Arkansas. New England is experiencing storm after storm and the Midwest, where cold winters are a certainty, the -37° and colder chill factors are shocking.

Recently I heard the term - Window Weather. This is a common term in Iceland, but a new one to me. It is when the weather seems great when you are looking through a window from inside, but it is actually not so great when you step out into it. The weather outside is too cold, too hot, or too dangerous to be in and is best viewed from the safety of being inside and observing through a window hence the term, Window Weather.

Spending most of my life in areas where winter means cold, I am accustomed to watching out the window and assessing if I should venture outside or stay safely inside where I am warm and comfortable. I understand that winter can be beautifully deceptive. Looking through the windows in my sunroom, fireplace popping, and a warm mug of coffee in my hand, the snow looks inviting, the sun creates diamonds from snowflakes, and the breeze shivers the pine trees as if they are dancing. The yard aches for a snowman and children sledding. It is easy to feel the desire to fall into the Norman Rockwell, scene… until I look at the temperature. The 10° translates to a - 20° chill factor and that breeze will freeze unprotected skin in moments. It is definitely Window Weather.

What if we assessed life in the same way? What if we observed situations before we ran headfirst into them? Is it necessary that we jump in? Is it safe? Is it our problem?
It is much like window shopping where we browse through the glass at what is on display without an intention to buy. We don’t purchase everything we see and how many times have you had buyer's remorse from buying on impulse?  (Those pink stilettos looked cool at a store in Las Vegas, but may not be worn often in Wyoming.)

Can we step back and look at life as if looking at it through a window that divides us from what is going on outside of our current warm and comfortable space? Can we step back before we jump into a confrontation and evaluate the importance of the outcome? Can we take our time getting to know someone before we commit to a deep friendship or relationship? Can we evaluate our dreams, goals, and heart before we begin a life journey that does not fit our values and beliefs?

Begin looking at life through an invisible window that allows us to view and admire the world without jumping into what possibly could be a mistake. Pausing for a moment to assess what may look sunny and appealing from your side of the window, may save you from regrettably venturing into what really is Window Weather.
​
Pennie’s Life Lesson: “Take a minute to observe people, situations, and even the weather before you jump into a situation you may regret.” 

,February is American Heart Awareness Month. I became acutely aware of my heart 7 years ago when I experienced quite a scare. I share this experience with you now, so that you become aware of how important heart health is. It may save your life.
This is my story…

I watched the clock as I walked on the treadmill. I had intentionally scheduled the stress test for 6 am, planning to drive the hour to my office and attend a 10 am meeting.

Suddenly I found myself laying on a hospital gurney with wires connected to a multitude of spots on my body and surrounded by a cardiology team. One doctor repeatedly asked me how I felt. I didn't feel bad until one of them said, “What your heart just did could be deadly and we want to take you upstairs.”
Confused by that comment and glancing at the clock once again, I knew I needed to be finished soon or I would miss my meeting. “What is upstairs?” I asked.

The explanation came quickly, “The rhythm your heart just did can be caused by one of two things- you have blockages, or your electrical firing system is not working correctly.”
Another voice jumped in with, “The only way we can rule out blockages is by doing a heart catheterization and we need to do it now.” 

I explained that I was an hour from home, I had come to the hospital alone and oh, by the way I had a 10 am meeting to get to. Once again the two doctors played tag team with their responses, telling me I needed to get my husband there and that there was little chance of them letting me leave the room with this type of deadly rhythm. It was the third time I heard that word deadly that I asked them to please stop saying it and that I indeed wanted to call my husband.

The group left me alone to make the call. One cardiologist stood guard in the doorway watching me with a look of intense concern. The minute I put the phone down the group returned. The speed at which I found myself swept upstairs into a private room with two nurses monitoring me swirled my confusion even more. 
I laid there watching a different clock tick the minutes away until my husband would arrive.  Feverishly clicking away on my phone, I sent emails to my staff as I typed meeting cancelations and directions for the day. I sent texts to my children telling them the situation – at least what I knew.

Then I noticed that both nurses were constantly monitoring me and the machinery I was connected to. They never took their eyes off of me or left the room. I knew this wasn’t good.

Finally, I asked one of them, “What exactly happened to me?”
She placed one hand on my arm while keeping her eyes on the machine. “You experienced VTach – Ventricular Tachycardia.  For most people who do that we have to bring them back with the paddles – if we get them back. You are very lucky.”
My phone slid out of my hand.

I vaguely remember the big screen which showed the dye running through my body and the doctor saying, “There it goes… that is beautiful… not one blockage.”

The rest of the day, the follow up appointments and the new heart monitor, that I learned to wear like an accessory to my daily wardrobe, is a blurred memory.

My new “Electric Guy,” as I call him, is the Cardiologist that keeps me, my heart’s electrical system, and my crazy rhythm controlled to avoid the mysterious fainting, bouts of weakness, and blood pressure drops like I had experienced over the years. 

While researching VTach, I learned a few things about exercise, staying hydrated, and avoiding stairs. Then I came across the meaning of heart. Scrolling through the many medical definitions of this magical organ that pumps blood, I stopped on this:

       Heart - noun \ˈhärt\: the central or innermost part of something; thought of as                        the place where emotions are felt.

This is it! The heart is more than the organ that pushes blood through our bodies. I believe it is the innermost part of us. It is the place where emotions are created, felt, and shared. I believe that heart health goes much deeper than changing your diet, lowering salt intake, and counting 10,000 steps per day.

I believe the heart has the power to push not only physical blood, but the lifeblood of love, kindness, and joy through our bodies. The care and health of our heart begins with feeling these emotions in order for the heart to pump them through our bodies and out into our lives. We must learn to respect these emotions, nurture, and grow them into feelings that help our heart function to its highest capacity. 

Instead of worrying, I prefer to believe my heart has an eccentric rhythm… maybe not the same as everyone else’s, but it is unique, and it is mine. In addition to the list of heart healthy ideas we have all heard about, I support its emotional health by feeding it love, joy, and kindness every chance I get!

I try not to watch the clock anymore and the most important meeting I have is one where I am kind to someone, love someone, and joyfully feed my innermost self- my heart, the place where emotions are felt.
​
Pennie’s Life Lesson: “The foundation for good heart health begins with expanding kindness, joy, and love in the innermost self – our own heart.”  

YOUR TURN...        
Share your thoughts and experiences relating to this post in a comment below.  And please feel free to email me  at:
 PennieHunt@gmail.com. 
                                                Thank you!  ​
                                      ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                                                         All Rights Reserved
                                          Copyright © 2013-2021 Pennie Hunt
                             This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
Feel free to forward and share this post.  Please keep the entire message intact, including  contact, logo, and copyright information. ​

​Here we are already flipping the calendar to a new month. February the month of love. I’d say it is about time. As the Burt Bacharach song goes,
“What the world needs now is love, sweet love
  No not just for some, but for everyone. . .”

I am a believer in love. I believe love creates health, hope, and harmony. It heals hearts. As a believer, I like to think that I increase love in the world. I have a secret way of doing this that I am sharing with you today.

But first, let me ask you a question.
Are you a glass half-full kind of person?
Not me! I want my glass flowing to the brim, running over, and spilling a big sloppy mess on the table!

I want to be flooded with feelings of love, kindness, and compassion. I don’t want one little, tiny space available for hate, anger, bitterness, resentment, or fear.
Open your hand right now and look at it. What are you holding? Are you holding on to a past hurt; a past anger; a past failure; a fear? When you hold on to these emotions you don’t have room for love. Release it all. Fill your hands and your heart with love, kindness, and compassion. 

You see, when you fill your space with love there is no vacancy for other emotions to move in.  Hate, anger, bitterness, resentment can’t live where love, kindness, and compassion reside. 

Now go one step further. PUSH love. Yes, PUSH love to others.

Here is how I do it. Before I go into a meeting, have coffee with a friend, or present my speeches before hundreds of people, I PUSH love ahead of me. I visualize the room, the faces, and the event. With every breath I visualize PUSHING love through me and out to the space and people I will be interacting with.

Before I speak, I stand at the front of the empty room and visualize the chairs filled with people.  I PUSH love to every person that I know will attend. I walk through the room PUSHING love through the space.

When I am at a school, a hospital, a Hospice, and sometimes even a shopping mall I walk through PUSHING love! 

The act of PUSHING LOVE cleanses the space. Fills it with kindness and compassion and in doing so fills ME with love, kindness, and compassion. My cup spills over and others will feel it!

Now, you try it. Wherever you are right now, look around. Who do you see? A family member, a coworker, a friend, a stranger? If you are alone can you visualize who you will see today? Now close your eyes, take a deep breath, and visualize love filling every inch of you and overflowing to the one you see or visualize. Do this with every person you interact with today. It works through screens and telephones too.

Remember the song,
“What the world needs now is love, sweet love
              No not just for some, but for everyone. . .”
Don’t leave your cup just half full. Run it over. Fill every corner with love!
Become a LOVE PUSHER!
Pennie’s Life Lesson: “Visualize being filled with love. With every breath PUSH love to others.”

I noticed my dog sniffing a spot by the wall. When I investigated what she had found, I realized there was a wet spot on my brand-new carpet. It was odd, as there had never been water in our home before. We wondered if it was a frozen pipe outside or a water pipe in the wall.

As projects like this often do, one thing led to another. After a visit from a plumber and cutting a hole in the wall to remove the sheetrock, it was narrowed down to a drainpipe. A simple fix, right? Well, it turned out to be a bit longer process than simple. The leak was under the concrete floor of our lower-level family room.

In case you are wondering, a jackhammer is noisy when it is in your home and concrete dust does go everywhere. After a bigger hole was cut in the wall and a hole was cut out of the floor, the plumber replaced the pipe. The sheetrock was replaced on the wall. New concrete was poured to cover the hole in the floor. And it was my turn to paint the area so that it matched the rest of the room that we had painted only a month earlier.

It wasn’t a big area, and the new carpet was still pulled safely back, so I put on my trusty oversized denim paint shirt, plastic gloves, and on my hands and knees began rolling paint. I looked across my large family room. The tv area, the exercise area, the pool table area circled me, but from my vantage point I felt very small in my little space. Compared to enjoying my entire room, it suddenly felt like I had been backed into a tiny corner.

I began thinking about all that has happened in the past year.
For months I never left the house. My weekly curbside pickup of groceries became my big outing. Conferences and events where I would speak and meet new people were all canceled. Lunches and coffee with friends didn’t happen. Going to movies, eating out, family gatherings, shopping, travel, … All. Came. To. A. STOP.

Event by event, person by person, my life circle became smaller. I stopped painting and looked around my big room as if I were looking at my life. It is out there, my big, busy live with family, friends, work, and fun. But little by little I have slowly been backed into a corner. The corner was safe. The corner was the right thing to do. The corner was necessary. The corner has also been lonely, sad, and uncomfortable.
I reached out of my corner at times to enjoy phone calls with friends, spoke via webinars and virtual meetings, Zoomed with my family for holidays, and even joined a group for virtual game nights. These helped me feel connected, but once they were over it was back to my corner.

I rolled the paint.

I applied the second coat blending it into the rest of the wall. I could see the weeks of repairs disappearing. I kicked the carpet back into place. Soon it will be stretched back into the corner and all signs of concrete dust and broken pipes will be gone.
I stepped out of my corner and walked through my family room. I looked back at my painted masterpiece. I couldn’t tell there had ever been a hole cut in my wall. It felt good.

I look forward to the day I walk back into my life. I look forward to travel, family gatherings, shopping, speaking, movies, eating out… all without fear. The day is coming and when it does, I will look back at the little corner I have been backed into for so long. I don’t know if my life will look the same. There may be new people. Different places. New experiences. I feel like we have all changed through this. We have been broken open and felt new feelings. My hope is when the dust settles, and the wounds are healed we will feel good again.

Pennie’s Life Lesson: “At times we are backed into a corner so that we can view and appreciate the big world surrounding us.”

YOUR TURN...        
Share your thoughts and experiences relating to this post in a comment below.  And please feel free to email me  at:
 PennieHunt@gmail.com. 
                                                Thank you!  ​
   ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                                                         All Rights Reserved
                                          Copyright © 2013-2021 Pennie Hunt
                             This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
Feel free to forward and share this post.  Please keep the entire message intact, including  contact, logo, and copyright information. ​

Have you ever experienced a meltdown…the kind where you find yourself in a messy puddle on the floor?
I have a concept called, Pennie’s DOT Theory, that states:
 “Any event that happens to us, around us, or concerns us is just one tiny DOT in the grand adventure of life. If we over-think one DOT it becomes magnified and joins with other DOTs to form a mass of stress that creates imbalance and unhappiness.”

 If we blow one DOT out of proportion it can consume us, make us irrational, and ultimately we end up in that messy puddle. The problem is we overthink a little DOT allowing it to become a big DOT. 
Remember this – D-O-T- DON’T OVER THINK the DOT! 

It happened to me. It began with a flu shot. Well, the flu shot is not responsible for the entire meltdown, but it is the DOT that began the snowball rolling. For three days after the shot, I felt tired, drained, and far from the perky, optimistic, personality, I am known for.

My fatigue turned into a colossal cold. Another DOT. I stopped working out, stopped meditating, stopped eating right…DOT… DOT… DOT.

As the days continued my snowball began rolling faster. More stressful DOTs showed up. The imbalance grew.  I broke dishes, forgot things, and my blood pressure went up. As the DOTs continued to connect, overwhelm set in. I began allowing the profanities of human emotions to marinate with the DOTs…. You know the ones… words like, jealousy, resentment, anger, insecurity, and ultimately the big four-letter word - FEAR!

Then it happened. It doesn’t matter what the “IT” was… it was just another DOT, but the most dangerous kind for me…my feelings were hurt. The snowball aimed right for that DOT rolling around in it until every dirty bit of it was connected to the DOT party forming in my head. It was just the DOT to heat up the snowball enough for it to come to a full stop, a complete meltdown, and a DOT EXPLOSION!

The pity party wasn’t pretty. The meltdown was ugly. The DOT explosion was epic causing a massive heart attack. You see, when you over-think little DOTs they join with other DOTs in the same way blood cells stick together to block your arteries. You don’t function well and it eventually leads to a heart attack. 

Thank goodness DOT heart attacks don’t send you to the hospital. Yet, they have the power to do just as much damage. Accumulating and over-thinking DOTs stifles your happiness. Fear takes over attacking your heart and breaking down its protective covering until an explosive meltdown occurs. A crack is formed, and your heart is scarred in hidden ways. 

Finally, I stepped back from the dirty puddle I was sitting in and realized I had broken my own DOT rules. By overthinking every little DOT I had given them the power to become huge in my mind. I allowed them to connect one, by one, stripping me of my calm, my contentment, and my happiness. They blinded me and I couldn’t see around them. I carried the huge DOT mass around like a collection of boulders in a backpack. Only as I dropped the backpack did they tumble out before me and I could see the tiny pebbles each of them really were. Just tiny DOTs in the grand adventure of life!
                                                                         ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Pennie’s Life Lesson: “Any event that happens to us, around us, or concerns us is just one tiny DOT in the grand adventure of life. Don’t Over-Think the DOTs!”

I have learned hard lessons. Lessons that have given me benchmarks that guide my life.
I remember the Christmas during my divorce that I sat alone in an apartment eating a bag of Hershey Kisses and watching the clock tick. I was certain I wouldn’t survive the day. I did.
I learned that loneliness can be hurtful, harmful, and healing. I had a new benchmark to help me understand that I could survive being alone.

There was a time when I was driving an hour commute to work on treacherous roads, working too many hours, worrying about contracts, profit and loss statements, and stressed to an extreme level. Then, my dad was diagnosed with a terminal illness. In a short period of time, he disappeared before my eyes. I was holding his hand and rubbing his head as he passed. In that second the contracts, the commute, the work worries seemed of such little importance. I was holding my dad’s hand and rubbing his head as he left this life- that was important. That was a benchmark to help me keep in perspective the big from the small things in life.

I changed a few things after that and thought I had my priorities straight. And then, a phone call brought me to my knees telling me my 22-year-old-son had died.

You can read about the stages of grief, but that does not guard you against the reality of it. I was on the ground in a dirty, ugly space of hopeless helpless grief. I wanted my little cowboy back. I wanted to see him when he was two years old wearing his hat, chaps, and boots, perched on his bouncy horse as he watched the “Three Amigos” movie. I wanted my baseball player back that could hit home runs every time he was up to bat and then danced around the bases because to him it was all about having fun. I wanted the schoolboy back with his huge smile wearing his favorite t-shirt that had a picture of a can of spam on the front. I wanted my musician back who filled my home with the vibration of his drums and could hear a song once and play it on his guitar. I wanted, “J.T. and the Basement Boys,” back in my basement driving me crazy with the musical noise. I wanted to see his smile when I handed him the keys to his truck. I wanted to hear him sing to his baby girl. I wanted to feel his beard brush next to my face and feel his hugs.

At his funeral, I thought I would die. I wanted to die.
Gratitude saved me.
Being grateful for the gift of him in my life, being grateful for the years he was with me, being grateful that I got to be his mom and no one else could say that - saved me.

Standing in front of an oak box that held my child, with his guitar silently perched on the floor next to it, created an unmovable, unbreakable benchmark made of granite that I will carry forever. I survived the most unthinkable, unimaginable, pain a mom can bear and I am still standing.

I have been through a lot in my life. We all have. I hear others complain about their life, their jobs, and their kids. I see the challenges and craziness in our world. I witness the hate and anger that causes people to do terrible things.

I see the other side. The side we should all look at. The side where we should be grateful for life – the good and not so good. The experiences, the joys, and the sadness.

My benchmark of comparison is rock solid. Nothing can hurt as deeply as the loss of my child. I know what is big and what is small to worry about. I know what to be grateful for.
And I will continue standing.
I believe we all will.  

Pennie’s Life Lesson: “Watch for benchmarks when they are given to you and allow gratitude to guide your life.”

It held my children, grandchildren, cousins, neighbors, and dogs. It has been a rocket sliding down a hill, a snow wagon, and a photo prop.

It caused laughter, delight, and joy. It caused fights, bruises, and tears.

I am not even sure if I remember the day it arrived in our home. Most likely it was delivered in a sleigh by a man in a red suit. I do know the sled has been around for decades.

I ran across it in my garage propped in a corner. The runners, once bright and shiny red, looked rusty. The wood worn. The original twine colored rope long ago replaced by a red version.
With the outside temperature too cold to turn on the garden hose, I did the next best thing – I brought it in the house. I gave it a shower. Leaning it against the tile I took the shower sprayer down and began cleaning off the years of neglect.

As the cobwebs ran down the drain, I saw my children – dressed in snow suits, hats, mittens, and boots. Hardly able to move due to the layers of protection. The only skin showing was their faces with the glow of their cold blushed cheeks.

The water poured brown and dirty as years of memories flashed through.

The year it was taken to the lake while the men ice fished, and the kids would take turns having sled rides across the frozen water.

The hill that seemed Alpine-big and served as the daredevil challenge for those days when the sled was ridden until little fingers were frozen and the draw of a warm bath and hot chocolate waiting at home became strong enough to end the fun.

The year my brother’s St. Bernard pulled the sled, filled with squealing kids, across Grandma’s yard.
Drying the sled off I rubbed the runners to polish every inch while memories continued to reach every corner of my heart.

The way I felt as I watched my three most important loves, hearing their squeals of delight as I held my breath, hoping they would reach the edge of the snow safely.

The way I ran to them when an unseen rock would derail their speed causing a tumble, a spill, and tears.
The arguments over who would get the next turn.

Tying greenery and a plaid bow around the wooden slats, I remembered…

​The day my daughter perched her babies on it to snap the perfect holiday card photo.

The sled.
Now instead of the dirty corner of the garage, it stands in a place of honor next to my antique sewing machine surround by twinkling lights. The red and green bow a crown of appreciation for work well done.

I walk by it and see those chubby snow kissed faces. I hear the squeals of joy. I think of how my children are grown and their children are taller than me. I wonder how time has slid by so quickly -- year by year, snow by melting snow, and one quick ride down the hill at a time.
       ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Pennie’s Life Lesson:
“Pay attention to the little things in life – they slip and slide by quickly.”

                     ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
YOUR TURN...        
Share your thoughts and experiences relating to this post in a comment below.  And please feel free to email me  at:
 PennieHunt@gmail.com. 
                                                Thank you!  ​
         ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                               All Rights Reserved
                 Copyright © 2013-2020 Pennie Hunt
         This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
Feel free to forward and share this post.  Please keep the entire message intact, including  contact, logo, and copyright information. 

YOUR TURN...        
Share your thoughts and experiences relating to this post in a comment below.  And please feel free to email me  at:
 PennieHunt@gmail.com. 
                                                Thank you!  ​
         ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                               All Rights Reserved
                 Copyright © 2013-2020 Pennie Hunt
         This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
Feel free to forward and share this post.  Please keep the entire message intact, including  contact, logo, and copyright information. ​

YOUR TURN...        
Share your thoughts and experiences relating to this post in a comment below .  And please feel free to email me  at:
 PennieHunt@gmail.com. 
                                                Thank you!  ​
         ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                               All Rights Reserved
                 Copyright © 2013-2020 Pennie Hunt
         This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
Feel free to forward and share this post.  Please keep the entire message intact, including  contact, logo, and copyright information. ​

J.T. (Jameson Tanner) Lindemann 1985-2007

​YOUR TURN...        
Share your thoughts and experiences relating to this post in a comment below .  And please feel free to email me  at:
 PennieHunt@gmail.com. 
                                                Thank you!  ​
         ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                               All Rights Reserved
                 Copyright © 2013-2020 Pennie Hunt
         This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
Feel free to forward and share this post.  Please keep the entire message intact, including  contact, logo, and copyright information. 

YOUR TURN...         
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to think about your moment by moment opportunities... how will you respond? 

Share your thoughts and experiences relating to this post in a comment below .  And please feel free to email me  at:
 PennieHunt@gmail.com. 
                                                Thank you!  ​