FRAME YOUR LIFE
I am not a photographer. At least not like my daughter, the professional photographer who captures the ice cream as it drips off the nose of a two year old or the unpredictable belly laugh of a bride as her new husband kisses her neck. I look for frames. I see the world as frames that will hold my words, my feelings and my emotions. When I spot a frame I snap it quickly to be used with my writing to illustrate the point I intend to convey. At times the frames I see create my words; or at least allow my words to come together in a meaningful way to reach the heart of the viewer. One snapshot may speak of peace and calmness. One photo may paint the canvas for love. What if you looked at every moment in your life as a frame? How would you fill it to create a memory? Do you want to frame a moment filled with examples of happiness, kindness and love? Or will you allow your frame to hold moments of being disengaged, angry, sad and confused? Many times people drift along believing that life is happening to them and they are helpless in the process. That is a distorted view. The control is in your hands. You direct the focus and what the lens of your life captures. It is up to you to search out the frames and fill them with the people and experiences YOU want to have. I am not a photographer, but I fill my frames with meaning, with emotion and with feeling. How will you fill your frames? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pennie’s Life Lesson: “Frame your world moment by moment, memory by memory to create a masterpiece of love and happiness.” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ YOUR TURN... My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to think about your life moment by moment and how you 'frame' each one. 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 © 2013-2017 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]
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 My home 1977 IT’S NOT A HOUSE – IT’S A SANCTUARY OF SAFETY It is day two of an intense spring snow storm. The kind with over a foot of heavy wet snow, wind, cold temperatures and extreme beauty. It may be spring, but for now winter is reminding us that it is still in control. As I sit, cozy in my chair next to the fire hot coffee in hand, I am grateful for my home. Every day I strive to live in gratitude. I make lists of what I am grateful for. I repeat my gratitude mantra several times during the day. Today, at this place and time I am struck with a total feeling of gratitude for my home. In my adult life, I have lived in eleven different types of homes.... from a trailer to apartments to townhomes to houses -big and small. Each one I was grateful for. Each one I loved when I entered, blessing and thanking it for welcoming me as its new partner. Each one I loved as I moved on, thanking it for the memories I was leaving and left blessings for the new owners that they would love and respect the home I was passing to them. My homes have been my sanctuary from the world. A safe place to rest. A place to snuggle babies. A place to warm my hands and my heart. At times a shelter from chaos. Today as I watch the heavy spring snow I am feeling the gratitude for all of the homes I have lived in, loved in and shared my life with. I believe your residence is much more than a structure. It has a spirit. It has a soul. It absorbs energy from those who enter. Once you tap into the soul of a house it feels what you feel and absorbs the laughter, the joys, the sorrow and the tears that you share within it. It becomes a home. Whether your dwelling is built of wood, stone, metal or even cardboard, whether you rent it, own it or share it with others, honor it for the protection it gives you. Honor it as your sanctuary of safety. Fill it with love until it is saturated into every corner of its bones. Be grateful for your home. Pennie’s Life Lesson: “Be grateful for the space you live in. Honor your home as your sanctuary of safety.” YOUR TURN... My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to think about the space you live in. What do you call home? Is it just a dwelling or is it a home? 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 © 2013-2017 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] PENNIE Heart-to-Heart
GLAD YOU DID – WISH YOU
WOULD HAVE The banker on the other end of the phone line asked my husband if he knew Frank. Yes, he did. Did he know that he had passed away and the bank held an account for Frank that listed my husband as a joint owner? No, he didn’t. When he put the phone down his face, which moments before was happy and free of distress, was now lined with disbelief and sadness. He looked at me and said, “I wish I would have called him to have lunch last month when I thought about it.” Although my husband talked about Frank often, he hadn’t been in close contact with his friend in some time. The sudden shock of his passing immediately led to regret for the missed opportunities that he would never be able to do over. In life we are given moment by moment opportunities to make phone calls, to write notes, to share meals, to be kind and to give the gift of our time to those we love and care for. At times you may wonder if it is something you should do or not. When you are trying to decide, use this meter to judge -- After the opportunity passes will you say, I’m glad I did! Or will you say: I wish I would have! This makes the decision so much easier. If you visualize how you would feel afterward and you are glad you did it, then it’s the right thing to do. If you visualize being sorry you missed the opportunity, especially if there is no chance for a do-over, then it’s the right thing to do. If neither of these answers fit, then maybe it isn’t something you need to do, but be very clear before you take this path. Living in the regret of “wishing you would have” is a sad place to be. Take advantage of your next opportunity and be proud to say, “I’m glad I did.” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pennie’s Life Lesson: “We are given moment by moment opportunities that you will either be glad you did or wish you would have – which will it be?" ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 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: [email protected]. Thank you! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ All Rights Reserved Copyright © 2013-2017 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] 
THIS
KIND OF LOVE Every bump in the road caused me to hold the door handle tighter as my contractions grew stronger. A few short hours later my young 19-year-old self is syphoned into a whirlwind of new experiences. A washcloth is put in my mouth to muffle my expressions of pain and my legs are strapped into stirrups. I hear, “The baby’s heartbeat is dropping, we have to move fast.” Pushing, forceps, fear – these were not covered in the prenatal classes. The cry of a tiny soul and the tears of his mother are ignored as he is swept away. My bed is wheeled to the hallway for a makeshift recovery room. I watch every face as it passes and in a foggy drugged daze I wonder where he has been taken. Several hours later I hold the most beautiful gift I have ever been given. I understand for the first time this kind of love. His name is Jeremiah. ~ ~ ~ Two years pass-- I wake up to a sharp pain. Grabbing my swollen belly I stand as warm red fear flows down my leg. In a blink, I am on the maternity floor. There is no heart beat and yet my body contracts in the effort of labor. I am alone in the sterile room as the tiny baby leaves my body. I squeeze the emergency button calling for help. Stopping at the edge of my bed the doctor puts his arm around my shoulder and says, “Some ladies take this well and some have a hard time.” I am numb… which would I be? Twenty-four hours click by. I walk by rooms where new moms are snuggling their babies. I hear their newborn cries as I ride the elevator down, empty handed. I reach to pick up my beautiful toddler. Someone stops me saying, ‘Be careful… it’s like you had a baby." My heart bleeding, I swallow the words I want to shout – I DID HAVE A BABY – His name is Jake. ~ ~ ~ She is an angel. Her round cherub face landing in my life through a sweet, simple birth. The room glows with happiness. The 9 month fear and worry about this pregnancy is now covered with everything soft and pink. She fits in my arms as if she has always been there. Together we are happy and content. It’s my 22nd birthday and I bring her home. Her name is Sarah. ~ ~ ~ Five years later football is on the television in the birthing room. The process is different from the first time. I’m an expert now, wanting to experience and remember every contraction, every moment of birth, as this will be my last. His eyes twinkle with a warning of who he is… an impish let’s-get-this-party-started boy joins my life. I hold him in fierce protection to keep him in this moment forever. His name is Jameson. ~ ~ ~ Motherhood arrived for me four times over eight years. In easy and difficult ways. Jeremiah and Sarah are now grown with children of their own. They are adults with successful resumes, education, and accomplishments. Jameson hit the world ready to have fun and for a short 22 years brought love to all who knew him. As a toddler, he played endlessly with his imaginary friend, “Jake.” I believe the two were a prearranged team who now watch us from the magical space we all come from and will all return to. Mothers are celebrated one day a year, but mothers celebrate day by day, moment by moment, breath by breath We celebrate the moment we give birth and every moment we have with the special souls we call children. We cry at preschool graduations and cry when college diplomas are awarded. We celebrate their success and accomplishments and hold pride for how their lives grew. We hurt when they hurt and are painfully scarred if they pass before us. The title of “Mother” and the gift of motherhood should not be taken lightly. Mothering is not a finite venture. The love we feel for our children is one of powerful connection. Whether they are with us for our lifetime or leave this life ahead of us, the love and connection is of equal strength. We are bound to our children through magical golden cords that are not separated by age, by distance or by death. Mothers understand THIS kind of love. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pennie’s Life Lesson: “Motherhood should be celebrated day by day, moment by moment, and breath by breath.” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ YOUR TURN... My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to think about your mom, what motherhood means and how you can celebrate Mother's Day every day! 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 © 2013-2017 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] |
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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. |