 They wake me up every day at 5:30. My furry Shih Tzu alarm clocks are prompt and routine driven. After a visit to the yard, ice water, (yes, they are spoiled), and breakfast, they happily follow me, coffee in hand, to my office. I sit in my chair and cover my lap with their favorite blanket. Maneuvering into a blended ball of fur, they snuggle down on my lap for meditation time. Putting my headphones on is the final cue for them to take a nap. They follow this routine every day. In a similar way, I follow mine. When I wake up, I take a minute lying in bed to run through a mental list of what I am grateful for. Once I am up and have completed the dog routine, I do some form of meditation. I always use headphones to keep distractions away and because of this, it has been deemed my “plugin” time. I then read something uplifting, do some writing, and set my intention for the day. Over the years my intentions have been to have a happy day, complete a project, or tied to an action. This week that changed. I had been invited by a friend to read, “The Book of Joy.” Books like this tend to take me a while, as I like to read a little and allow it to marinate through my mind and heart. As I finished reading one of the chapters, I was struck by a line that the Dalai Lama said, “I set my intention for the day: That this day should be meaningful.” That was powerful. That took my breath. That is when I stopped reading. It was going to take some time to digest this concept. I thought of how many years I had been setting a daily intention. Had I been doing it wrong? Suddenly my daily intentions actually felt more like goals. A check mark on a to-do list. Something specific to accomplish or produce. Had any of my intentions brought meaning to my day or my life? This one line forced me to rediscover my purpose for daily intentions. In a way, it opened so many possibilities. By setting my intention every morning that my day should be meaningful without stipulations, criteria, or expectations it creates a new way of living. It allows for the unexpected and opens space for the interpretation of meaningful. I began looking back at my life. How many days do I remember as holding meaning? How many days made a difference? We all have meaningful days when events happen in our lives like graduations, weddings, births, and deaths. We all know markers in history that were meaningful for our world. Hopefully, we have all had days when we have been good humans and done meaningful things to make a difference and, in our way, move humanity forward. Big things are meaningful and memorable. But I believe by setting the intention of having a meaningful day it doesn’t always have to be the grand in-the-news type of action. Meaningful can be smiling at strangers, helping your neighbor, or reading a book to a child. Meaningful can be showing compassion and concern to someone with less than we have. Meaningful can be holding the hand of someone who is grieving. Meaningful can be expressing love and joy. Meaningful can be listening to someone else’s opinion even though it does not pair with yours. Meaningful can be spending a day in nature to appreciate its glory and to rejuvenate our own soul. Meaningful can be reading a book, watching a documentary, going to the gym, or doing something for self-improvement. Meaningful can be so many things to each of us. This morning as I took off my headphones and looked at my sweet dogs curled on my lap I thought, please let this day be meaningful. My intention is that when I lay my head on the pillow tonight and think about my day, I will believe it was. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pennie’s Life Lesson: “Set your intention to make every day meaningful.” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to make your days meaningful. 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 © 2013-2020 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.
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 Are you searching for the secret to happiness? Do you wonder why other people seem to be more successful than you—even if you believe that you work harder than they do? In my mind, a big part of happiness and success comes down to three attributes. ~The ability to accept and adapt to change. ~The ability to believe you are Good Enough to love and be loved. ~The ability to express gratitude. Let me break these down for you. I grew up in a military family. I knew when my Dad came home with a manila envelope that inside were transfer orders and the location of where we would be moving to. I remember the feeling of being the new kid walking down a classroom aisle to an empty desk in the front row while everyone stared at me. I hated it. I learned as a little girl that I had a choice -- make friends on the playground or stand alone. I realized that I needed to accept the changes that occurred when we moved to a new community, adapt to my new environment, make friends, and enjoy the journey. This has served me well through career changes, divorce, and grief. While others live in the Who-Moved-My-Cheese stagnation unable to accept that their life has changed and unable to adapt to the new adventures ahead of them, successful, happy people hone the ability to accept and adapt. You may not always like the event that spurred the change, (and there is always change) but you must cultivate the ability to thrive in the space you find yourself – no matter what! We are bombarded with the message that we are Not Good Enough! We all protect that sore space hidden inside where we believe we are not thin enough, smart enough, rich enough…the list goes on and on. The newest guilt inducers verified by the thousands of self-help books on the market are that we are not happy enough, healthy enough, or holy enough. Here is the thing – WE ARE ALL GOOD ENOUGH! I believe that just by the pure biological chance that we were created and survived the birthing process proves this –it is no accident! We were all meant to be here. I believe you are good enough and I can tell you this all day, but YOU must do the work on this one. YOU must come to believe, right down to your inner core, that YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH! It doesn’t matter what trauma you had as a child or what wrongs you have committed you must come to a place of knowing that you are good enough to love and be loved. If you don’t believe it no one else will believe it of you. Relationships, love, happiness, and success will avoid you—after all you are sending off the vibe that you aren’t good enough and don’t deserve it. When you are circled in that type of negativity- happiness and success beware! Lastly, you must express gratitude. Until you are grateful for what you have, you will never receive more. Let me repeat that, until you are grateful for what you have, you will never receive more. If all you have is a pair of shoes on your feet and a sandwich to eat for lunch, be grateful for that! Then dig deeper. Be grateful every morning that you open your eyes. Be grateful for every step, every breath, and every moment you are given and for all that your life is filled with. Don’t just say, “Thank you.” You must feel gratitude with every cell of your body. Tell others why you are thankful for them. Write thank-you notes, make phone calls, volunteer, journal, pray, sing, dance – whatever moves you to a grateful, loving place. Do it! You cannot hold on to a negative like hurt, anger, or fear when you are filled with love and gratitude. Practice the ability to express gratitude until it becomes part of your DNA. Life is wild and unpredictable. If you are in search of happiness and success, begin studying the people you know who are happy and successful. I believe it won’t take you long to see that they hold and nurture these three qualities. They accept and adapt to change. They believe they are good enough. For them, expressing gratitude is not just social politeness, it is ingrained in sincerity. When you begin to cultivate and practice these three attributes you may just find yourself smack dab in the middle of happiness and success. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pennie’s Life Lesson: “To be happy and successful cultivate these three attributes: The Ability to accept and adapt to change; The Ability to believe you are Good Enough to love and be loved; and The Ability to express gratitude.” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to study successful happy people. Watch for these three attributes and then practice them 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 © 2013-2020 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.  The air was warm, the sun shining and the pool inviting. The sign was very clear- WARNING NO LIFEGUARD ON DUTY! This meant it was my choice to jump in the pool, but I was doing so at my own risk. I should be able to swim, because if not there was no one here to help me. Luckily, I am a fairly proficient swimmer and was in the water in a flash! I kept rereading the sign as I paddled around the pool. Isn’t that how life is? We are never promised calm waters and smooth sailing. We do not have personal lifeguards on duty to keep our heads above water or throw us a life ring. We are not given lifeboats that we can float in when life throws us difficult times. We must learn, as the saying goes, to Sink or Swim. NO LIFEGUARD ON DUTY is an invisible sign that hangs over all of our lives. It gives us a choice. We can either be brave enough to jump in and experience life - OR - We can forever sit on the side of the pool wondering what the cool water feels like. Wondering if we could swim. Wondering if we could save ourselves if the water begins to swirl. Wondering if we could finish the length, win the race and hold the trophy. My choice is to dive right in and submerge myself in the joys of life. I have become my own Lifeguard - watching carefully for the dangers and knowing that rough waters will face me and when they do I will get through them- head down and determined to move forward. We may not be given our own personal Lifeguard, but that won’t stop me from jumping in every pool I see. Will you join me or hold my towel? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pennie's Life Lesson: “Be your own Lifeguard. Jump in the water of life!” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to be safe, but jump in and enjoy life. 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 © 2013-2020 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.  At 19 I jumped in the front seat of the craziest, scariest, most exhilarating roller coaster ride of my life. BAM! I Became A Mom! I was mature, smart and ready to take on the world. (Weren’t we all at 19?) Little did I know that being a mom would be the most rewarding, life changing, ride I would ever jump into. And jump I did, not once, but four times. Everyone watched me do it. And no one warned me about what was ahead – the ups, the downs, the jerks, the curves and the whiplashing shocks. My own mother didn’t even hold up the“CAUTION PROCEED WITH CARE”sign! She never told me the BAM of Being A Mom was a life jolt. She never told me the secrets. She never told me that being a mom opens your heart to a love that you could never imagine. The birthing and cutting of a physical umbilical cord that attaches you human-to-human in no way cuts the invisible golden cords that attach you heart-to-heart. Their body may birth to the world an independent being, but a piece of this new soul is forever kept inside and connected to you. She never told me that being a mom makes you vulnerable in a way you have NEVER been before. You open yourself to being dropped to your knees by your child’s tears, broken hearts and disappointments. Their pain is your pain. She never told me that being a mom means you will never sleep again. Well, never the same way you slept prior to the BAM. You may be prepared for the first months of sleep deprivation caused by night diaper changes and bottles that will soon pass. What you aren’t ready for is the rest of your life sleeping with one ear half open to hear their cries from a nightmare, moans from a fever and footsteps as your teenager sneaks in the house passed curfew. What you don’t know is long after they have grown and moved out of your home, you will sleep with a part of your heart open hoping they are safe, happy and loved. You will never sleep fully again. She never told me that being a mom is a 24 hour, 7 day a week, forever occupation. No vacation days, No sick leave and No quitting! Once you accept the position you are locked in heart, mind and soul – FOR LIFE! **She never even whispered that it is a job you will love with all of your heart – and some days you won’t. On those days, you will peak at their sleeping faces and then wrap yourself in a cocoon of guilt and shame for allowing yourself to hate the job you love. She never told me that being a mom brings you trophy words like Pride, Joy and Happiness that you can hang on your wall in an expression of motherhood. It also brings you words like Anger, Hurt and Exhaustion that, in an attempt to hide your fear of inadequacy, you swallow and tuck in your belly hiding them so no one sees. She never told me that being a mom makes you strong enough to endure the unthinkable. You take on the risk of being told the baby you carry no longer has a heartbeat and you must be strong enough to walk out of the hospital carrying an empty blanket. You take on the risk of birthing, nurturing and loving your child for years and then receiving the phone call that they are gone. In both cases holding tightly to the golden cords that now reach to your angel child. She never told me that being a mom makes you understand that you will be joyous when your daughter is grown and has children of her own. You will watch through tears and laughter as she learns for herself, the unspoken secrets of being a mom. Looking back, I would tell that naïve, 19 year old girl, who thought she knew it all, to jump. Jump with all the love, anticipation and joy she has because through all the ups and downs being a mom is the most amazing ride she will ever be on. And through it all she will learn the unspoken code of never saying out loud the secret lessons of Being A Mom. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pennie’s Life Lesson: “Mom’s are the gentle holders of our hearts. Hold theirs in return.” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to understand the ultimate love that goes in to being a MOM! Love yours today!!! 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 © 2013-2020 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.  The server began clearing the dishes from our table and said, “Would you like to order dessert or are you satisfied?” This comment made me push back from the table and sit up straight. It wasn’t uncommon to be asked if you would like dessert after a restaurant meal. I’m used to hearing, “Would you like dessert?” “Did you save room for dessert?” “Can I tempt you with a sweet treat?” And so many other ways I’ve been asked that question. But… It was the way she asked it that caused me to pause. Am I satisfied? I had to rethink my plan. Many times when I go out for a nice dinner, I automatically order dessert. Sometimes I am completely stuffed by the time I have made my way through an appetizer, salad, the main meal…. and of course, dessert is part of the ritual of dining out. Being satisfied with what I had consumed so far had never played into the mindless response of ordering dessert. I always want dessert! The way she asked the question forced me to differentiate my want from my need; my contentment from my greed; my hunger from my desire. The truth was I was full. My hunger had been (by definition) satisfied. The way she posed the question humbled me. I had just enjoyed a lovely meal. The quality and quantity was more than many people in our world have to eat in a day. I was embarrassed to ask for more. This experience happened years ago, and yet, I have never forgotten that server. I have never forgotten the question. I have never forgotten the lesson. How many times in life do we automatically want more? We want a nicer car, a bigger home, a larger paycheck. We want more attention, more friends, more love, and more happiness. When did we become so unfulfilled with where we are? Why have we learned this behavior of never being content with what we have? Satisfaction comes from knowing when our belly is full, our thirst is quenched, and our life needs are met. The reality is, we can only drive one car at a time. We can only occupy one home at a time. And, no matter how much money we have, we can only eat one burger at a time. Satisfaction comes from knowing when enough is enough. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pennie’s Life Lesson: “Be satisfied with where you are right now, with what you have right now, with the breath you are taking right now. Satisfaction comes from knowing when enough is enough.” YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to look at your life and realize when enough is enough. 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 © 2013-2020 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. |
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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. |