![]() I love reading a good book. I highlight thoughts that I want to remember and refer to. I dog-ear the corner of pages and keep a bookmark handy to save where I paused my reading. I have bookshelves full of books I have completed. A family member calls these trophies- the books that you have spent time reading and placed on a shelf as if you won a prize. I have stacks of books I have yet to begin. And because I am a writer, I usually have at least one that I am writing. We are all writing a book. Year by year and memory by memory our manuscript is written. All the moments of our lives connect to paint the picture of change that tells our story. Even a brief moment of connection is enough to make a difference, generate movement, and create a new chapter. You may not always feel connected or see the changes, but as the chapters progress you will. As we grow and as we live our book continues to be written and when our life ends, the story of our life is complete. No one has the same story. Don’t compare the beginning of your book to someone else’s ending. They have different experiences and events in life that may cause their book to progress faster (or slower) than yours. The only time for comparison is when your book is complete. Compare yourself from where you began to the progress and accomplishments of your life at the end. In life, you'll be left out, talked about, lied to, & used, but you have to decide who's worth your tears and who is not. If the lesson you learned from the experience is worth permanent documentation, include it in your book as a reference. If not, let the situation, person, or event go – don’t give it the importance of a chapter in your life book. If it is not worthy, edit it out. In life, you will experience kindness, caring, and love. The people who share these emotions with you are worth a chapter in your book. Never discount the times you gave and received love. Take special note of the people who touched your heart in ways you never expected. Acknowledge the angels here on earth who held your hand through tragedy and the ones who filled your heart through happy times. You are not a single character in your book. Your life is enhanced with many family members, friends, coworkers, and strangers. They share the pages of your book. Reading your own story should cause reflection and review. As you do, it is natural to highlight thoughts of memorable moments and dog-ear pages of happy events. But be careful where you place your bookmark. Placing it in a section of sadness, tragedy, or an event that should have been edited out can cause you to become stuck in one chapter of your life. Manage your memories. Don’t dwell on the most difficult times. Don’t remember the bad without remembering the good. Your life book should be a flow of good and bad, highs and lows, love and loss. And at the end of your life, it should be a trophy worthy of a spot of honor on the bookshelf. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pennie’s Life Lesson: Chapter by chapter you are writing the book of your life. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 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 © 2013-2024 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 #Happincess
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![]() The traffic was crazy. I was late. People were waiting for me. My stress was building as I pulled into the parking lot only to circle six times before finding a parking space. Running into the restaurant, I blurted out a rather uncharacteristic rant of a not-so-nice kind. I saw the shock and surprise on the faces of my friends. Later, I couldn’t get the image of my rant out of my mind. I thought of how I wanted to live my life. Sometimes I fail. I fail at being the person I want to be. I want to be PATIENT and KIND with others, with life situations, and myself. Sometimes I fail. I want to be LOVING by sharing love and positive energy with everyone I meet and in every space I stand. Sometimes I fail. I want to be OPEN to all views and opinions because I believe everyone has a path to walk and it is not my place to judge, criticize, or blame. Sometimes I fail. I want to be AWAKE and AWARE of the small and grand messages of Grace that I receive. Sometimes I fail. I want to be someone who WALKS HER TALK and models the lessons I have learned and the concepts that I teach. Sometimes I fail. I want to be CONFIDENT in knowing who I am --and that I am Good Enough! Sometimes I fail. I want to be SILENT and LISTEN to my heart sing the messages of my soul that peacefully guide my life. I want to listen to the voices of others and understand what they believe. Sometimes I fail. I want to be CAREFUL with my voice. Words Matter and carry power when they are sent out into the world. I want to choose them with care as I know that once said or written they cannot be taken back. Sometimes I fail. I want to be GRATEFUL for the people, things, and experiences I am given. Sometimes I fail. I want to be FORGIVING of others and myself and let go of the past so that it doesn’t take away my future. Sometimes I fail. I can’t return to that day and erase my rant or the unkind words I blurted out to those I care about. The best I can do is realize that sometimes I will fail at being the person I want to be and to love and forgive myself-- as in every failure there is a lesson. Maybe we don’t talk about failure enough. Maybe we don’t talk about the lessons we learn from failure enough. Maybe we need to admit that we are not perfect to be seen as vulnerable and human. Maybe we need to understand that failure doesn’t mean we are bad people- we are just learning from life. Maybe we learn more from failure than we do from success. Maybe we need to accept that sometimes we all fail and failing isn’t always bad. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pennie’s Life Lesson: Accept that sometimes we fail and with every failure there is a lesson. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 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 © 2013-2024 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 #Happincess ![]() My dad spent a large part of his life serving in the Air Force. His life and fathering style was very structured. My siblings and I were not allowed to sleep late on the weekends or summer vacation. Around 8 AM, my dad would turn on his reel-to-reel tape deck and play loud music to wake us up. Once up, we were expected to make our beds, do our breakfast dishes, and get dressed and ready for the day. There wasn’t time for lounging in front of Saturday morning cartoons. We always had a list. A list of chores to do that day. We were expected to produce outcomes by completing the list. If we were invited to dinner at a restaurant or to someone’s home, we were given instructions on being polite, being quiet, and how we were expected to behave. During the instruction time, there was no arguing. No giving input. No two-way conversation. We listened. And we followed the directions. Don’t get me wrong, my father was a kind and caring man, and I had a great childhood. My most precious memories are of playing for hours in the sandbox, swimming at the community pool, and riding bikes for miles across town. Our family camping adventures included water skiing, and fishing, in beautiful spaces of nature. The fun times came after work and chores were completed. Over the years, fathering has changed. I have watched a very different style of fathering from my family's youngest generation of fathers. It isn’t a my-way-or-no-way approach. It is a new involved, participatory, compassionate method. More than once, I have watched my son-in-law invite one of his boys to leave the dining table and chat with him. He would listen to their comments about the situation and then speak calmly and kindly to his sons. He would help them recognize the problem with how they were acting and together they would come to an understanding of how behaving differently would be a better choice. It was magic to watch. I have seen my son join his daughter’s dance group on stage and participate in a daddy-daughter routine. I have received photos resembling prom night of him accompanying his girls to dances at school. Over the years he has dressed up with them for Halloween and as the girls grew the costumes grew more elaborate. I have heard reports from my stepson about his role on the PTA of his children’s school and the support he gives to the high school football team. I have been in awe of the mother of my granddaughter who after my son passed away has held the role of both mom and dad for her. This dual duty has been difficult at times, but she has proudly and purposefully done it exceptionally well. These parents have coached little league and basketball teams. They have attended dance recitals, theater productions, piano, band, and orchestra recitals, school programs, volleyball and lacrosse games, cross-country runs, ski races, and swim competitions. These fathering styles are all very different than the way I was raised. And they have all produced amazing, productive, talented, strong, intelligent, caring, and kind children. So, to these fathers, I thank you for your wisdom in understanding that fathering has changed over the years. Thank you for understanding that each child is different and at times fathering needs to be adapted to the individual child. Thank you for the love and kindness you hold in your hearts because loving and kind people create loving and kind children- and you have done just that. Thank you for being such awesome role models. If my father were alive, I would thank him for being the man he was. Without him, I wouldn’t love to get up in the morning in time to see the sunrise. I wouldn’t know how to water ski or understand the joy of camping in the rain. I wouldn’t value and respect those who live life in the military and their sacrifice of being away from their families. Without him, I wouldn’t understand the importance of doing the work that needs to be done and also enjoying the fun in life. Without him, I would not be the person I am. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pennie’s Life Lesson: Be grateful for the ones who father you. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 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 © 2013-2024 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 #Happincess ![]() It took me an entire day to undo what I had done last fall. I unhooked bungee cords and tie-downs and piece by piece I unwrapped all the deck furniture. Shaking off the dust from the winter wind, I folded each tarp and stored them in a box in the garage. I then took 24 cushions from the patio furniture down the stairs, around the house, and laid them on the front driveway. Once the cushions were sprayed with cleaner, I power-washed them. The sun was warm, so every 30 minutes I flipped them over and over to ensure they would dry. During the drying time, I power-washed the deck and furniture. This was a time-consuming, dirty job that needs to be done every year. When the cushions were dry, I carried 24 cushions 2 at a time back around the house, up the stairs, and positioned them on the appropriate furniture. When I was done it was a work of art. An outdoor space worthy of a photo in a home decor magazine. I was happy and proud of what I had accomplished. For a week I enjoyed my morning coffee on the deck while my dogs laid in the sun. Life was good. Until it wasn’t. One morning, coffee in hand, I opened the door to enjoy my space of paradise to find the invasion had begun. Miller Moths! Miller Moths had started their migration and decided my deck was the perfect hotel to rest for the night. The side of my house typically has a calm cream-colored brick exterior. It was now heavily speckled with miller moths. I moved the back cushion of my swivel chair and a group of them flew out. Lifting the bottom cushion, I realized twice as many had congregated there. It was disgusting. My clean space of peace had been invaded. I quickly yelled for my dogs and the three of us, and my coffee, hurried back into the house. For the past 9 days, every morning has been a repeat of the horror show. Every morning the number of miller moths in the herd, flock, fleet, troop, team, or whatever they are called has increased. Twice a day my husband blows them away with his leaf blower in the hopes of sending them on their way, only to find a new group in the morning. At night, birds from far and wide have given my deck a 5-star review as the best all-you-can-eat moth diner in the area. You can guess what birds do. That’s right, they doo. The more they eat the more they doo, doo, doo! So not only do I wake up to a deck full of miller moths every morning, but also a deck decorated with bird doo doo. Every day we clean it. Every morning, we wake up to see the clean deck again covered with bird blessings, miller moths, moth spots, and dust from their wings. I am trying to be optimistic. I am struggling. I understand that they are pollinators and are a food source for birds, reptiles, bears, and bats. I feel like we have gone above and beyond the call of duty by allowing the birds to use our deck for a nightly feeding frenzy and now it is time to go. I am trying to find something to be grateful for about this situation. I will be grateful when they move on to their mountain home. When they do I will spend another day cleaning the deck and cushions so my dogs and I can go back to our happy morning routine. I am also grateful I do not live where the cicadas live. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pennie’s Life Lesson: When life gets messy, be patient, clean up what you can, and believe the pain will soon pass. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 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 © 2013-2024 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 ![]() A geological fault line is a long crack in the earth's surface. Earthquakes typically occur along fault lines. The U.S. Geological Survey works with hundreds of scientists and engineers to find these fault lines and create maps of their locations. These faultfinders watch the areas closely for any negative change. Any movement they notice is analyzed, critiqued, evaluated, and judged. Have you met any faultfinders in your life? Not the geological kind, but the kind you meet or are with every day? Are you one? Fault-finders obsessively find fault in others. They often criticize, complain, and judge others based on trivial issues. Fault-finders are constantly telling others what they are doing wrong or what they should be doing. No one is ever good enough for their standard of perfection. And they love to blame. Nothing is ever their fault or mistake. There is always someone else to blame and shower with shame. Any negative movement is noticed and called out. They keep a mental spreadsheet mapping all the faults they find in other people. This type of fault-finding is not a way to nurture a relationship. How often do you watch your spouse, partner, children, family member, or friend and call them out on what they are doing wrong? Even making a mental note of it is detrimental to the relationship. Do you mind-map your partner's most sensitive fault lines knowing that if you point them out it could cause an argument? A relationship earthquake! What if you took this challenge- pick one person in your life- preferably the person you are closest to and for one week do not point out or verbalize anything they do wrong. Please don't comment on anything that is not up to your standards. Don’t criticize, complain, or judge them or their actions. Do not blame anyone for anything. Do not even say the words, fault or blame. Do you think you could do that for one week? Seven short days? It would be interesting, because you may not have consciously been doing this, but when you are paying attention, you will become very aware of how often you are mentally judging this person. You will become aware of how often you are verbally correcting things they do or criticizing how they do it. You will also become very aware of how often they are finding fault with you. When you are intentionally not fault-finding, I believe you will find your relationship improving. When you stop using mental maps of where the most tender fault lines are in your relationship in a negative way, you can use the knowledge to safeguard and protect these weaknesses and imperfections in you and them. For one week be in the ‘no fault zone.’ Remember when you first got married, the first time you locked eyes with your child, the first time you laughed with your friend… you weren’t looking for their faults. You were noticing what you loved about them. What you concentrate on grows. When you stop concentrating on faults and begin concentrating on a person’s good qualities and what they do right, you will appreciate and love them more and more. You will see their faults less and less. Your fault-finding may turn into love-finding. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pennie’s Life Lesson: Look for the good in others, not their faults. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 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 © 2013-2024 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 |
AuthorThere is a certain magic about where I live both physically and spiritually – on the crossroads of Spirit and Brave. Archives
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