 Take a breath. Just for a moment take a breath and take the time to read this. One breath. We take breathing for granted, but without one breath we may not be here to take the next or the next. One breath is so precious. It is the most important thing we have and yet we pay such little attention to it. Oh, if it is someone else, we notice. When our babies are born, we wait to hear that first cry knowing that it means they have taken a breath and all is well. And when our kids are sick with bronchitis, we do everything we can to help them breathe. We set up vaporizers, rub Vicks on their chest, give them cough drops, and prop them upright to help them fill those precious lungs. We want them to breathe because we love them. Before my Dad passed from Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, I had never given much thought to how important breathing is. As I watched him struggle with every inhale while a machine groaned and hissed to supply him with the right amount of oxygen I paid attention to his breath like I never had before. Over time, the scarring and hardening of his lungs got worse and it became harder and harder for his lungs to hold even a small amount of oxygen. I remember the pain as I held his hand and cried as he took his last breath. I wanted him to breathe because I loved him. It is our human nature to take care of others. To love others. But, what about showing the same attention to ourselves. When was the last time you breathed like you love yourself? When was the last time you paid attention to the importance of your own breath? Take a breath now. Slowly. Feel the coolness of the air as it enters your nostrils. Feel as the breath passes through your nose, travels down the back of your throat and into your bronchial tubes, and slowly fills your lungs. Feel your lungs expand and your chest push out. Now follow the exhale as your lungs contract and releases the air to exit your body. Notice how it feels warm as you exhale. Most of the time we never think about it or notice that we are breathing. Take some time right now to think about what a gift of love our breath is. Think of yourself as a young child in your care and you want that child to breathe because you love them. Breathe with slow, full intention. Breathe like you love yourself. Take a breath. A precious breath. A breath is the first and last thing we do in this life. Let me repeat that. A breath is the first and last thing we do in this life. It is our beginning and our ending. Why wouldn’t we cherish it? Why wouldn’t we pay attention to the way it fills us with life? Why wouldn’t we breathe like we love ourselves? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~~ Pennie’s Life Lesson: “A breath is the first and last thing we do in this life. Cherish it. Breathe like you love yourself.” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to understand the gift of each breath. To understand that with each breath love circulates through your body. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 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.
1 Comment
 My husband and I both have a fear of Ferris wheels. There is something about being suspended in mid-air, with our legs dangling from a bucket as it swings and rotates that is not our idea of fun. Recently, while visiting Atlanta, we planned a day of sightseeing. We walked from our hotel to Centennial Olympic Park to visit the attractions in that area. With a little time before our first tour, we stumbled upon something that was hard to miss. The SkyView Atlanta Ferris Wheel. This isn't the average carnival Ferris wheel. This is 20 stories high; an impressive site to see. We read the sign about how it rotates 4 times, the buckets are actually enclosed, air-conditioned gondolas and the ride takes about 15 minutes. None of this lessened our fear of Ferris wheels…. and this was a big one. There wasn't a line and we had some time, so we decided if we were going to do it we better get our butts on the ride. Without hesitation, we bought our tickets, jumped in and heard the door lock. Suddenly we gave each other the what-have-we-done look! I’m not sure about my husband, but for the first rotation my eyes were closed, my breath was held and fear took over.  Reaching the top of the second rotation I opened my eyes. The view was incredible! It felt like we could see the entire city. By the third rotation we were both smiling. After the forth we were glad to put our feet back on the ground, yet happy for the experience. Isn't life so often like this? We stand by silently wishing we could jump on the ride, yet we hesitate and hush our enthusiasm. Our fear takes over and we play it safe by just watching instead of participating. The time isn't right, what if we would get hurt or fall off; of course we will do it another time. Life isn't always a smooth ride. It can go round and round with monotonous predictability, then suddenly everywhere we turn, we are hit, jerked, and slammed like bumper cars jolting back and forth. It can be dangerous to ride life’s roller coaster up and down through the peaks and valleys. On the ride of life, it is inside the bumps and jerks that we learn our biggest lessons. Without the valleys of fear and desperation we can’t appreciate the peaks of being on top where the view is incredible. If we stand on the sidelines, we miss the experience. If we had thought about our fear we wouldn't have gotten on that Ferris wheel. We would have missed the experience. The second chance may have never come. Now, "Let's get our butts on the RIDE!" ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pennie's Life Lesson: "Don’t stand on the sidelines of life – jump in and enjoy the ride!” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to enjoy new experiences. You never know when you just may love it!! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 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.  My husband has been called a Stand-Up-Guy. He is grand in stature, grand in his life accomplishments, grand in his thinking and quietly grand in his giving. He has a saying, “If you’re going to risk, risk for love.” We have many opportunities in life to risk- the stock market, gambling, new business ventures. But let’s look at the times we risk for love. When you tell a potential life partner that you love them or ask them to marry you there is a chance for rejection. We risk life as we know it when we bring a child into the world. And once they are here, we would risk anything to help them and keep them safe. If you tell a friend you love them, there is a risk of shocking them, being uncomfortable or being told you are odd. People are not used to this kind of verbal affection. We risk our emotions when we adopt a pet knowing they will reach in, imprint our hearts and then leave us long before we are ready to see them go. When loving ourselves, we are critical and question whether we are good enough or deserving of self-care and self-love. Even when doing acts of loving kindness there is the risk of being misunderstood or having your motives judged. When you love there is risk. Love anyway. Love loud. Love bold. Love in every moment. Love with all the breath you have in your soul. Love until it trembles your very reason for living. My husband is a Stand-Up-Guy. He lives his life in a conservative understated way. He believes in researching, weighing all options and knowing the odds. He rarely takes chances; however, at a time when we thought our relationship was over he took the risk. He made the phone call. He began the conversation which led to our happy marriage. He believes in risking for love. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pennie's Life Lesson- “If you’re going to risk, risk for love!" ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to fill yourself with love and if you are going to risk for anything - make it for love! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 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.  We talk about love all the time. We love this thing and we love that person. Yet, how often do you really THINK about love? Most people spend more time deciding what to have for dinner than thinking about love. Shouldn’t this intense feeling of deep affection rally more than an occasional thought? What is love? What does it mean to love and be loved? Who do you love and what makes you love them? Who loves you and what makes them love YOU? How do you show love through actions, words, expressions and service? Are you showing it in a way that makes that person FEEL loved? What makes YOU feel loved? How do you feel when you GIVE love? When you begin thinking about Love and asking these questions, your ability to express love and feel love will increase. That only makes sense, right? Take some time to study your habits of love. Study the way you love the ones closest to you and how they love you. Study how you show love to the clerk at the grocery store or the co-workers you interact with all day. Study how you treat yourself. Are you loving to yourself? It is easy to create a habit of nonchalant loving without ever thinking about LOVE. Maybe it is time to begin nurturing the way you love. Tell others that you love them. Show others that you love them. Start planning LOVE into your day. Don’t forget to love yourself in the process! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pennie’s Life Lesson: “Do you ever THINK about LOVE? Maybe it is time to begin!” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to think - really think - about love and how you can better nurture it in your life. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 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.  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 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! 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.” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to think about LOVE way past Valentine's Day. Fill yourself with love and kindness and "Push" love to others. Think of LOVE every day! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 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. |
AuthorThere is a certain magic about where I live both physically and spiritually – on the crossroads of Spirit and Brave. Archives
August 2024
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
|
PLEASE NOTE: This page does not provide medical or legal advice, professional diagnosis, opinion, treatment or services to you or to any other individual. Through this site and links to other sites, Pennie Hunt provides general information for inspiration, encouragement and educational purposes only. The information provided in this site, or through links to other sites, is not a substitute for legal, medical, or professional care, and you should not use the information in place of a visit, call or the advice of your lawyer, physician or other healthcare provider. |