The Corner of Spirit & Brave

DON'T MAKE YOURSELF SMALL

1/26/2018

DON'T MAKE YOURSELF SMALL

"I'll try to make myself as small as possible,"
she said as she pulled her arms close to her body and settled into the middle seat between me and the man sleeping by the window.

When I fly, I have learned to take the aisle seat when I can. It allows me to exit quickly when the plane lands and to have one side free, giving the perception of more space. At times I enjoy the window seat, but I really hate the dreaded middle seat.

When my new seat mate made her comment, I laughed and responded with some fluffy chit chat about how the middle seat is a tuff one to sit in.

The plane took off.
Ear phones on.
Pretzels delivered.

The comment floated in my head…
I'll try to make myself as small as possible.

I thought about how many times I had done that in life...made myself small to allow room for others to have the space they need, to be comfortable, to spread their wings, to shine in the spotlight...even if it was at the expense of my own comfort.

An honorable thing to do, right?

Well, yes, it can be at the right moment, for the right reason. The problem is, it can become a habit.

If you constantly pull back in the shadow of others you are not allowing your soul to shine. The beauty of YOU is hidden. The gifts you were brought here to share will never be known.
I believe we are here to stretch our souls. To learn. To teach. To love.
We cannot do this with our arms pulled in forcing our bodies to contort into a small version of our real self.

Stand tall.
Put those arms up.
Speak your message.
Let your soul out to shine in the spotlight of life.
Only then will you gift the world with the real you.
The YOU you were sent here to be.
The YOU you were sent to share.
Only then will the real YOU be loved.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Pennie's Life Lesson:
"Don't make yourself small
in order to make someone else seem big."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pennie Heart to Heart
DON'T MAKE YOURSELF SMALL

YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to be brave enough to stand in your own space. Spread out! Own the gifts you are here to share!
Share your thoughts and experiences relating to this post in a comment below. And please feel free to email me at:
[email protected].
Thank you!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2013-2018 Pennie Hunt
This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
Feel free to forward this post. Please keep the entire message intact, including contact, logo, and copyright information.
If you have any questions or comments, or for reprint permission please email: [email protected]

2 Comments

PUT DOWN YOUR MENTAL RED PEN!

1/21/2018

2 Comments

PUT DOWN YOUR
MENTAL RED PEN!

Do you remember in school when your assignments were returned to you after the teacher made corrections with a red pen?
Those red check marks, circles and comments cut right to your heart as if a neon sign was flashing “FAILURE!”

Could this be where we learned the concept of judging?
We have been conditioned to point out what is unacceptable, wrong or incomplete.

We all have a mental red pen that constantly searches and rates everything within our focus.

We judge others on their clothes, income, status and even the behavior of their children.
We judge restaurants by how good the food is, how clean the floor is and how immediate the service is.
We judge the weather by the temperature, the wind speed and the humidity.

And the mental red pen does double duty when we judge ourselves. The number on the scale is too high; there are too many gray hairs; accomplishments are not grand enough; on and on and on.

What if we stepped back from the mental red pen? Stop the check marks, circles and comments and adopt the phrase,

“Isn't that interesting?”

The next time you see a girl with blue hair, tattoos and piercings or want to thrash yourself for the two pounds you gained on vacation, step back, take a breath and say,

            “Isn't that interesting?”

This is not saying you condone everything you see and every action you or others make.
It is just the calm acknowledgement of observation.
Not good. Not bad. Not negative. Not hateful.

The phrase, “Isn't that interesting?” may become a buffer between you and confrontation. It may become a kinder frame for self-talk instead of the negative chatter we are used to hearing. It may become a new perspective into non-judgment of others.

The mental red pen can become the means for feedbackand not failure.

Can you live one day without judging yourself or others? Try it.
You will notice just how often you do engage that mental red pen of acceptability or failure.

After you complete one day, try for two, then three.  You may just step back from this exercise and say,
  “Isn't that interesting?”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Pennie’s Life Lesson:
"Put down your mental red pen.
Instead of judging yourself and
   others say,
“Isn't that interesting.”
     ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pennie Heart to Heart
PUT DOWN YOUR MENTAL RED PEN

YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to help all of us see our own mental red pen and to try an alternative to judging-- try observing.

Share your thoughts and experiences relating to this post in a comment below. And please feel free to email me at:
[email protected].
Thank you!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2013-2018 Pennie Hunt
This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
Feel free to forward this post. Please keep the entire message intact, including contact, logo, and copyright information.
If you have any questions or comments, or for reprint permission please email: [email protected]

2 Comments

IT DOES NO GOOD TO WORRY

1/14/2018

1 Comment

IT DOES NO GOOD
TO WORRY

He arrived Jan. 14th, 1985. The mask over his eyes protected his sight, while the bilirubin lights controlled his jaundice. It was over a week before he was able to leave the hospital.
I worried about him.

Before he turned two he fell out of the back of our pickup camper and was rushed to the emergency room with signs of a concussion.
I worried about him.

When I picked up my office phone an excited voice said,
“Hey Mom, it was so cool I hit the best jump with my skateboard before I crashed. Now my whole chin is ripped open and gushing blood.”

I dropped the phone and sped home from work to take him to the emergency room for his first stitches. His enthusiasm for his accomplishment made it hard not to laugh, but as the stitches were added to his chin tears welled in his eyes and mine. Clutching my hand he said,
“Don’t worry about me, Mom.”

It seemed with every birthday candle added to the cake worries were added to my heart. Would he make it through school, through his teenage years, through life?
And all along the journey I heard,
“Don’t worry about me, Mom.
It does no good to worry about me.”

I thought it was a mom’s duty to worry?
To check to see if his tiny chest was rising and falling with his breath as he slept in his crib.
To pace the floor when he had a fever.
To make sure he ate a few vegetables and not just ice-cream.
To monitor his school work and his grades. To lay awake at night until I heard his truck pull safely into the driveway.

Today is his 33rd birthday. He was with me for 22 cakes, candles and celebrations. This will be the 11th birthday that he hasn’t been here to celebrate. I spend the day remembering him. Telling stories, reliving experiences, laughing and crying.

I reach to touch the chain that rarely leaves my neck. The simple gold necklace brings me comfort. It brings me calmness as
it lays safe and warm against my skin.
My fingers glide across the smooth back of the pendant where the words,

“Don’t worry about me mom, Love J.T.”
are engraved.

My thumb matches to his thumbprint on the front… connecting our love and reminding me he is in a place of peace and safety. Reminding me it was his path, not mine. Reminding me it was in his control, not mine.
Reminding me that worrying didn’t bring me the power to save him. Reminding me that he was wise in the knowing that it does no good to worry.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Pennie’s Life Lesson:
“It does no good to worry.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

IT DOES NO GOOD TO WORRY

YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to control the amount of energy and time you spend worrying.

Share your thoughts and experiences relating to this post in a comment below. And please feel free to email me at:
[email protected].
Thank you!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2013-2018 Pennie Hunt
This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
Feel free to forward this post. Please keep the entire message intact, including contact, logo, and copyright information.
If you have any questions or comments, or for reprint permission please email: [email protected]

1 Comment

TEN STEPS TO SELF-LOVE

1/7/2018

0 Comments

TEN STEPS TO SELF-LOVE

For the past six years,
I have picked, My One Word to live by for the year. They have been Health, Focus, Completion, Sincerity, Joy and Intention.
(Click on the word to read my writings about Sincerity and Joy.)

This year is a bit different.
This year I decided I would call it my THEME for the year. The underlying meaning of how I make my decisions and live each day.
My Theme for this year is Self-Love.
It is my intention to love myself.

I have written many times about self-care and try to practice it. Self-care is part of it but, Self-Love goes further.
It is believing that I am a valuable and worthwhile person.
It is respecting myself enough to say no when I want to say no and yes when I want to say yes.
It is holding my happiness, desires, interests and needs in high priority.
It is finding the love we all long for in ourselves before seeking it from others.

This is how I plan to put Self-Love into action- and you can too!

1. Practice Self-Care
Sleep enough, eat healthy and exercise regularly.

2. Stop the critical self-talk.
Shut off the constant inner voice of criticism. Speak to yourself like you would a loved one- in a loving way.

3. Stop judging and forgive.
Stop analyzing the words you should have said, the ones you wish you wouldn’t have said, the mistakes, mishaps and missteps in your life. Forgive yourself and move on. Stop judging your actions and comparing yourself to others. Be your own best friend.

4. Believe that you are Good Enough.
Just the fact that you made it here through all steps of conception and birth and survived is proof that you are Good Enough to be here. We are here for a purpose. The moment you were born you were Good Enough. Stop thinking that you have to be smarter, more attractive, and more interesting to be loved. Accept yourself the way you are right now in this moment. When you begin loving yourself all of those things will become the magical byproducts of your love.
Repeat this everyday: I AM GOOD ENOUGH!
(Read: Good Enough here)

5. Give what you want to receive.
When you are kind to others you will receive kindness in return. When you are positive, compassionate and loving you will receive the same in return. Even a smile is mirrored back to you when you give one away. Give what you want to receive. Give to yourself what you want to receive!

6. Try something new.
When was the last time you did something for the first time? Try a new hobby, travel to a new place, experience something you have never seen, felt, heard, tasted or touched before. Love yourself enough to give yourself a new experience.

7. Leave the past- past.
We all have stuff in our lives. The phone calls we wished we never answered. The pain, loss and disappointment we wish we never suffered. The days we can’t do over. Reliving them won’t change them. Accept the lessons and leave the past in the past. You will never move forward by reliving the past. Don’t let yesterday take away your today!

8. Set and stick to your limits.
You can only do so much, work so hard, give so much. Realize that your time and energy is a limited quantity. Do not give away so much that there is nothing left for you. Set limits and when you say, “no” - mean it.

9. Have FUN!
Life shouldn’t be all work and serious business. Life should be fun! Allow yourself time to play. Ski, bowl, make a snow angel, play Parcheesi (I’m actually not even sure what that is, but it is fun to say.) Do whatever it is that brings back your childlike spirit. LAUGH!
Give yourself the gift of FUN!

10. Be patient in the process and let go of perfection.
Self-Love will take time. Just like trying your first Yoga pose was probably not comfortable, graceful, perfect or even pretty, but with practice it becomes easier, you become stronger and more confident in the motion. Be patient – it may never be perfect.

Fully loving myself can feel like an unattainable challenge, but here I go. I have engrained inside many unflattering traits when it comes to all the items I listed.
I have always expected perfection in myself and have been critical when I fall short of my own expectations. I plan to move forward with this intention for my year holding myself in kindness all the way. I plan to make progress and accept that there may be some backsliding and failed attempts.
I will accept and love myself anyway.

Self-Love is not vanity or selfishness. Self-Love is giving yourself the same acts of kindness, love and compassion that you give to others.
Treat yourself the way you want others to treat you.
Trust your heart.
Value yourself as a person.
Remember, until you love yourself, you will never be able to fully love another – AND you will never be fully loved.
Love begins at home. Your home.
The body, soul and spirit that is YOU.
Love YOU first.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Pennie’s Life Lesson:
“Until you love yourself, you will never be
  able to fully love another –
    AND you will never be fully loved.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TEN STEPS TO SELF LOVE

YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to create a THEME for your year... and to think about how well you love yourself.
Share your thoughts and experiences relating to this post in a comment below. And please feel free to email me at:
[email protected].
Thank you!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2013-2018 Pennie Hunt
This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
Feel free to forward this post. Please keep the entire message intact, including contact, logo, and copyright information.
If you have any questions or comments, or for reprint permission please email: [email protected]

0 Comments

DON'T MAKE YOURSELF SMALL

Pennie Heart to Heart
DON'T MAKE YOURSELF SMALL

PUT DOWN YOUR MENTAL RED PEN!

Pennie Heart to Heart
PUT DOWN YOUR MENTAL RED PEN

IT DOES NO GOOD TO WORRY

IT DOES NO GOOD TO WORRY

TEN STEPS TO SELF-LOVE

TEN STEPS TO SELF LOVE

Author

Archives

Categories

DON'T MAKE YOURSELF SMALL

Pennie Heart to HeartDON'T MAKE YOURSELF SMALL

PUT DOWN YOUR MENTAL RED PEN!

Pennie Heart to HeartPUT DOWN YOUR MENTAL RED PEN

IT DOES NO GOOD TO WORRY

IT DOES NO GOOD TO WORRY

TEN STEPS TO SELF-LOVE

TEN STEPS TO SELF LOVE

Author

Archives

Categories

Pennie Heart to Heart
DON'T MAKE YOURSELF SMALL

Pennie Heart to Heart
PUT DOWN YOUR MENTAL RED PEN