I can’t chew gum.
Oh, I used to. I always had gum in my purse, my car, and my mouth. I was familiar with small sugar-free kinds. The big bubble gum kinds. And the juicy flavored kinds. I would chew and chew until the taste and juice was gone and all that was left was a tuff, stiff wad that I would continue to chew until my jaw ached. No matter how hard I chewed, it would never return to its original soft flavor. I would finally dispose of it, replace it with a new stick, and begin the process again.
 
I knew it wasn’t a flattering habit. I knew I didn’t look good chewing constantly. I knew the popping and snapping of gum was irritating to others, but that wasn’t enough to stop me.

It wasn’t until I began having TMJ issues and experienced major dental work that I stopped. The painful procedure was enough to inspire me to want to keep my teeth and jaw healthy and not go back to the way things were.
 
What are you chewing on?
 
In life we pick our stress. We decide what we are going to ruminate on. What we are going to chew on and chew we do. It may be work issues, financial issues, relationship issues… pick one, or maybe you are one of those people who like two or three sticks of gum (life issues) in your mouth at a time.
 
We chew on the problem like it is a lump of gum. Chewing violently until the taste and juice is gone, leaving a tuff, stiff wad of pain that no matter how hard or fast we chew, never becomes soft again. In an unflattering way, the work of chewing becomes a habitual self-inflicted pain making sure that we never forget the issue we are dealing with. We want the reminder of it. We want to stress about it, so we keep chewing.
 
When our jaw aches from chewing, we replace it with a fresh stick of problems and begin the process again. Sometimes we swallow it because it isn’t enough that our jaw aches, but we want our stomachs to feel the pain too. We think about it so much that our heads and hearts begin carrying the hurt as well.
 
We won’t stop until we realize that chewing on a problem is not going to fix it. It may take a painful situation for us to see clearly and change our ways.
 
When we do stop, we will enjoy life more. The jaw, stomach, headache, and heartache will subside. The issues and problems won’t go away, but you will find other ways to deal with them.
 
I can’t chew gum. I also can’t chew on problems to the point of pain. I have done both in my life, but now I find other ways to deal with them. You have heard of these stress-busting ideas- exercise, meditation, breathing techniques, etc. They all work. Ruminating on a stressful issue without taking steps to find a solution doesn’t work. Stop chewing on your problems.
                              ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                                                Pennie’s Life Lesson:
                       Don’t chew on a problem thinking it will get better.
                                Find other ways to deal with the situation. 
                                        ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

​YOUR TURN...        
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 © 2013-2025 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.
​
#CornerofSpiritandBrave #LoveYourLifeNoMatterWhat #JourneyThrough #PennieHunt  #IAmGoodEnough  #grief  #Love  #Joy  #HowToBeHappy  #Happiness 
**Love Your Life**  **Finding Joy**  **Gratitude**  **Mindset Shift**
**Positive Energy** **Mindfulness**  **Self-Care** **Resilience**
**Stop Comparing Yourself**  **Life Challenges**  **Happiness** 
**Authentic Life**   **Create a Life You Love**

When my grandkids were toddlers, they would reach their arms up to me. What do you do when a child does this? You lift them up, right? Toddlers can only see at the level of our kneecaps, so they want to be lifted to see the big, amazing world that we see. My grandkids also wanted to see if ​I​ had cookies on my kitchen counter.

When children are that size, parents and grandparents lift them. We teach them about life and show them what is right and wrong. We lift their minds and their hearts. As they grow, the lifters increase. When one of my grandsons went to first grade, he asked me if I knew what a cafeteria was. That was a whole new world for him. ​He had new lifters- cafeteria workers and teachers.

Soon they will have coaches and bus drivers. Then comes college, jobs, and employers​ --more lifters. As parents and grandparents, we hope that all these new lifters are showing them good things about life. Healthy things about life.

Then something changes. A shift happens. The kids grow up, and instead of being lifted, they become the lifters. They become the parents, the employers, and the bosses. They start doing the heavy lifting of raising children, supporting, and mentoring others.

Today, I would like you to think about lifting. Who did you lift today? Did you raise someone’s spirits? Did you find someone who is down, sad, or lonely, and did you lift them up? Did you encourage someone who felt discouraged in life, in their career, or in their relationship? Was it a child that you helped? Did you encourage them and lift them up? Was it someone older, like a parent, that you lifted?

Whenever you interact with someone who needs to be lifted, take the time to stop and talk with them. You have the power to lift them up. Don’t ever miss an opportunity to lift someone’s mind and heart. Helping, car​etaking, and lifting others makes us a good person, right?

Yes, it does. But, in this process of growing and lifting that we all go through, WE stop being lifted. We are busy being good people and lifting others. We believe it is a selfless act to help others.​

We are too busy and too tired to lift ourselves. We believe it would be selfish to spend time caring for and lifting ourselves. Maybe we never learned how to practice self-care, or if we did, we have forgotten how. Maybe we believe that everyone else deserves to be lifted, but we are not good enough to receive that kind of attention.

Today, when you are thinking about who you can lift, look in the mirror and lift yourself. Don’t criticize the person you see. Give yourself kindness and love. Notice all the good things about who you are. Appreciate all the good you do for others and say to yourself, “I am good enough!” Take time to spoil yourself a little. Take time to have fun and enjoy life.
Be your own lifter!
                                    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                                                      Pennie’s Life Lesson:
                          Never miss an opportunity to lift someone else and
                           never forget to look in the mirror and lift yourself.
                                     ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

​YOUR TURN...        
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 © 2013-2025 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.
​
#CornerofSpiritandBrave #LoveYourLifeNoMatterWhat #JourneyThrough #PennieHunt  #IAmGoodEnough  #grief  #Love  #Joy  #HowToBeHappy  #Happiness 
**Love Your Life**  **Finding Joy**  **Gratitude**  **Mindset Shift**
**Positive Energy** **Mindfulness**  **Self-Care** **Resilience**
**Stop Comparing Yourself**  **Life Challenges**  **Happiness** 
**Authentic Life**   **Create a Life You Love**

I have a reminder on my phone that says,
“I’m going to look for things to love today.”
This reminder pops up every morning at 7:00 am. It is a gentle nudge first thing in the morning to look for the good in my day and my life.

Today, when my dogs woke me up at 5:30, I was still half asleep when I got out of bed to let them outside. I walked outside with them, and as I felt the fresh air tickle my face, I knew spring was coming. I fell in love with a new day - the day ahead of me filled with adventure and the unknowns of life.

I made a cup of coffee and settled into my meditation chair. My dogs took their morning position on my lap, snuggling in for their complimentary massages. As their sweet eyes looked at me with the deepness of love that only dog lovers understand, I fell in love with them again.

With the dogs sleeping happily on my lap, I enjoyed my coffee. I fell in love with the smell and taste of vanilla, and the foamy cream swirled on top,​ all created by my coffee machine that I lovingly named Gloria. Her glorious coffee is the way I begin each day. I love her for that gift.

The only sound was the trickle of water from the small fountain in my home office. I fell in love with the quiet peace of the morning​. My meditation was on finding things to love.

As my day went on, I fell in love with the warm water of my shower, the protein shake I had for breakfast, and the morning chat with my husband.

I sat at my computer to do some writing and fell in love with the technology that makes my work easy and doable. I fell in love with all the people who read my words and send me emails and comments. I fell in love with the connections I make through social media and the ability to touch others far away from the chair I sit in.

I fell in love with my car as I ran errands. I fell in love with my friends who sent me texts and called me to plan lunch.

I fell in love with the thought of my family and how my love grows for them with every breath.

I fell in love with every bite of food I had for dinner as my mind traveled through the path it took to bring each item to my dinner plate. From the earth and farmers to the factories and grocery stores- I fell in love.

When I went to bed, I slid into the crisp sheets and fell in love with the safety and comfort of the feeling of home. ​My nighttime ritual is to create a mental list of people, places, and things that I love. As I went through this gratitude list, I fell in love over and over again.

I reached to plug in my phone,​which was on the nightstand. The screen reminded me,
 “I’m going to look for things to love today.”

If I don’t check my reminder off as done, it will continue to pop up on my screen every time I pick up my phone. I smiled as I stared at the reminder. I didn’t have to look far today. It was all the simple things in my life that I loved. The things I usually glance over and take for granted. The things that made me slow down to enjoy and appreciate in my life. The things that I may not have forever, but today I do.

I checked off my reminder as completed for the day.
Today I fell in love.  
​                               ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                                               Pennie’s Life Lesson:
                                     Every day, look for things to love. 
​                              ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

​Last night I watched the movie, “The Life List.” Yes, it is a romcom. Yes, it is a bit predictable at times. And yes, oh yes, it made me think.

As the trailer describes, it is the story of how a young woman embarks on a journey of self-discovery, working through a list of goals she wrote as a teenager. At the request of her late mother, she confronts her grief while finding the courage to live a full life.

I have been thinking about this movie all day. I am not sure if the term bucket list was a thing when I was young, but I am sure I had ideas in my mind that I wanted to do, things I wanted to have, and expectations I held for my life. Unfortunately, I never wrote them down. At least I have never come across the list if I did.

I did write back then. I wrote a poem when I was 16 about how I wanted 3 kids – Jimmy, Johnny, and Angela Dawn. I still have the poem written on hot pink paper. I was close- I had Jeremiah, Jameson (J.T.), and Sarah. My poem didn’t include divorce or the loss of a baby (Jake) and the loss of my 22-year-old son, J.T.  I didn’t expect or predict the hard times that we all inevitably have in life. None of us do.

When I was young, I thought I would be a teacher. I look at my life now and I think I am. I teach through my writing, speaking, and the life lessons I share. Today, ​I​ ​tried to remember what else I wanted. What didn’t I do on my young life list?

I wanted to play piano. When I was a child, we had an organ. I hated the organ lessons I took and would dream of my hands dancing across the keyboard of a beautiful piano. I wanted to be a wonderful singer (you don’t want to hear me sing.) I wanted to ice skate like Dorothy Hamill. (I was pretty good at this.) I wanted to dance with John Travolta – this goes back to the Grease movie. What teenage girl didn’t want to dance with John Travolta?  

What do I want now?

I have always wanted a house with a front porch big enough for a porch swing like my grandmother had.​ A safe place to daydream, drink coffee, and write. I still dream of this.

I would love to take painting lessons at the Bob Ross studio. ​Again, spurred by my grandmother, who spent hours duplicating his painting​ style as she watched him on TV. This was my inspiration to learn and enjoy painting.

I want a photo of me standing in a field of blooming sunflowers. I want to be able to make cinnamon pecan rolls like my mom did. I want to spend as much time as I can with my family and people I love and care about. I want to see every sunrise with a cup of coffee in hand and my dogs on my lap​ - preferably on a porch swing.

​As I write this life list today, what I want now are simple things. Although I do want to travel more and London, France, and Ireland are on my list. But taking that sunflower photo would not be difficult. I could find a place for that porch swing. I have my mom’s pecan roll recipe. It all requires me putting in the effort and allowing the time to do it.

What did you have on your life list when you were young? What would you put on your life list now? When will you begin putting in the effort and allowing the time to do these things? If not now, when?

And now I am off to the kitchen. Flour, cinnamon, pecans, and a rolling pin are waiting for me.
                                 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                                                Pennie’s Life Lesson:
                Create your life list and do the things you want to do.
                                                   If not now, when?
                                 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~