 Grandma Betty with one of her cakes. My grandmother decorated cakes. Birthday, anniversary, graduation, but mostly wedding cakes. Whenever we would visit, she was always mixing white batter and the freezer was full of cakes waiting their turn to be dressed in layers of white bridal frosting. As far back as I can remember she would sit me at her round oak table, put a piping bag in my hand, and have me practice making roses. Red roses. Pink roses. Even blue roses. I would go with her to the churches as she set the cake table with lacy cloth, shiny crystal candy dishes, and sparkling candles. She layered tiers of white creaminess one on top of the other to create a masterpiece for the bride and groom. I watched in awe of her ability to level the layers, so they didn’t fall. My favorite moment was when she would untie the ribbon on a small white candy box. Inside was the crowning jewel. I watched her make them many times. Thinning the frosting to just the correct consistency and then through a tiny round tip she would squeeze the frosting onto wax paper creating two swirling butterfly wings. When they were dry, she would carefully place them in the candy box. Adding a delicate butterfly to the cake was her trademark. She explained to me that butterflies symbolize new birth, a new beginning, and a wedding brought two people together to create a new life. She would gently push the wings into the frosting forming a butterfly on the back side of the cake where the wedding couple would see it as they cut the first piece. This act of love by my grandmother was the finale. The cake was complete. My grandmother knew that as I grew, I began decorating cakes for extra money. I taught cake decorating classes and coached hundreds of people in the art of making roses. What my grandmother never knew, was what impact her placing a butterfly on a cake made on me. It was the magic of the story. The power behind the message of new beginnings. Her action of love and kindness that impacted me. It created in me a lifelong fascination with butterflies. The strength it takes for a simple caterpillar to enclose themselves in a cocoon to emerge as a creature of grace and beauty. I have thought of this many times in my life when circumstances forced me to find the strength and space to cocoon for a time and emerge when I was stronger. It wasn’t until years later that I heard the term, “The Butterfly Effect.” The concept of how a small thing can change a bigger outcome. The vision of a butterfly fluttering its wings and causing a furious wind in the distance is an exaggerated example. Small actions, events, and circumstances can serve as a catalyst to set in motion changes on a grand level. The first step of a jog can be the beginning of a long-distance runner. Hearing music for the first time can trigger the artistic talent of a maestro. The dedication of a teacher can turn a child’s life around. Buying someone a cup of coffee can set up a chain reaction of paying-it-forward acts of kindness. Unfortunately, this can work in a negative way as well. A comment voiced in anger can create an environment of hate. A tiny germ can set into motion a worldwide pandemic. My hope is that more energy is spent increasing positive light than in promoting the darkness of negativity. It is not always big things that create change. It can be the tiniest of actions that create the grandest impact. Sometimes it is teaching a little girl how to make roses out of frosting. Telling her a story of the butterfly’s new beginnings and how out of simple actions, something beautiful can emerge. In a future space and time, that little girl just may understand that at times in life building your own cocoon takes strength and faith that you will emerge even better. And that little girl just may use her life to share the power of love and gratitude in hopes of it setting in motion more of the same. The Butterfly Effect. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  Pennie's Life Lesson: “Small actions, events, and circumstances can serve as a catalyst to set in motion changes on a grand level. Use more of your energy to increase the light than in promoting darkness.” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pennie Heart to Heart THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to pay attention to how your actions can produce a ripple effects for future action or change. 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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 She is 13, smart, beautiful, and caring. Her response to almost every question or comment is, “No Problem.” “Thank you for visiting us.” - “No Problem.” “Thank you for the sweet note.” - “No Problem.” “Can you help me with this?” - “No Problem.” “Can you play a different position in this soccer game?” - “No Problem.” Whether it is a text, a phone call, or in person. It is always, “No Problem.” It is an automatic response for her. At first, I thought it was cute. I thought it was funny. It became a game with me to see how many times she would say it during our interactions. After thinking about it, I realized I was missing the point. I now see that her favorite response was a lesson for me. Not only was her stance pure brilliance it is also the natural state of being in nature, in life, and in humans. After all, the sun comes up every morning and the stars sparkle for us at night. Spring follows winter and flowers bloom in the summer. No Problem. Rivers flow, winds blow, and leaves are blown from trees. No Problem. Children play, babies giggle, and puppies romp. No Problem. Calendars turn, birthdays are celebrated, and aging happens. Life is a cycle. No Problem. We are born in this natural state of acceptance and loving life as it is given to us. When we are young our minds are open to learn and our hearts are eager to love and help. We don’t see the difficulties. We don’t look forward to what we might not have the capacity to accomplish. We observe and participate. No Problem. It is a learned behavior to seek out the negatives and fear the obstacles. Reality shows us that there are real issues that need dealing with. There are real challenges. The longer you live the more you will experience these. The harder you look the more you will find. This can cause bitterness, resentment, and cynicism. It is easy to run a ticker-tape of problems through our minds on constant repeat. It is easy to worry about families, communities, and the world. It is easy to take a negative perspective and see goals as impossible. It is easy to see EVERYTHING as a problem. It is easy not to try. It took me a while to understand the power of this young woman’s auto response. By saying, “No Problem,” she is not only giving herself in service to others, she is giving herself a positive affirmation. Her ticker-tape is repeating, in her mind and out loud, that nothing is a problem. She doesn’t allow her mind to go there. Her mind is in constant positivity. Her perspective is one of she won’t only try, but she will accomplish. She sees nothing as a problem, but instead as an opportunity to figure it out, create a solution, and to help others. She expects it to be fine. Will she outgrow her youthful optimism? Maybe she will, or maybe she will be one of the lucky ones that ‘gets it’ for the rest of her life. Maybe she will grow and blossom in this natural state, the way we were all meant to be. But for now, can we learn a lesson from her? Can we begin looking at life challenges and difficulties as solvable? Can we change our self-talk to more of a can do, will do, confirmation of support? Will this make everything in life rosy and happy? Probably not, but let’s create a new ticker-tape in our minds. One that is a positive projection for others and ourselves. No Problem. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~~ Pennie's Life Lesson: “Look at life as an opportunity to create solutions, and to help others. - NO Problem!” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pennie Heart to Heart NO PROBLEM YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to pay attention to how you respond to life. Can you say, "No Problem?" 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 taxi ride was uncomfortable. Heat pushed on my chest. From the driver’s window the dry wind blew in my face with relentless force. The driver, looking at me in his rear view mirror, asked me why I was in town and what I do for a living. I quickly gave him my elevator speech. Struggling to send my words through the hot wind I ended with, "I teach people how to Love Their Life- NO MATTER WHAT!" As I delivered the words to him, the smell of smoke from the last passenger filled my nose, a crack in the vinyl seat pushed through my jeans and I realized the situation tested my own mantra. I wasn't loving my life right now! He became extremely interested and told me how his aging mom was very unhappy. Then he hit me with the question that turned the heat of the day into a quiet background of minor distraction. "Can YOU teach my mom how to live until she dies?" Could I? Could I teach myself that? What would it take to REALLY live every day I have? How could I age into the person I hope to be at 80, 85, 90 and beyond? How could "I" live ... really live until I die? I created a wish list... a request....a prayer... LET ME LIVE UNTIL I DIE Please let me age with grace and primp with glory. Let me move with ease, bend to my toes, and reach for the sky. Let me wear shiny lipstick and curl my hair. Let my nails be manicured and my eyes shine. Let me wear colorful dresses that swirl when I walk and red high heels that click as I step. Please let me be a fearless spirit and see adventure as rejuvenating. Let me be the one who wants to skydive at 80 and ride a Harley at 90. Let me feel the wind of possibility twirl around me never allowing the words, "I can't" to cross my determination. Please let me giggle in girlish delight and blush when I flirt. Let me dance with boys at 90 and dance alone in the kitchen. Let me drop tears from happiness and lift spirits with contagious laughter. Let me be spontaneous with kind encouragement for others. Please let me use the lessons of my childhood. Let me swing in the wind and slide every slide. Let me remember that please and thank you are words of kindness. Let me forgive those who have hurt, harmed, or rejected me as easily as I forgive the waitress for my lukewarm coffee or the person who pushes in front of me in line -- when I move too slowly. Let me be grateful for the hands that hold mine and the gifts I am given. Let me be reminded to share my toys in the sandbox and share love with my family, friends, and the world. Please let my mind remember the memories. The people who touched me, the experiences I had, the love I gave, and the love I was given. Embed in my mind these visions as colorful oil painted masterpieces that never fade. Let my mind not be so cluttered with details of despair that it fogs the joys of my years. Allow clarity of every amazing moment I've experienced so that I re-feel them intensely and cherish them deeply. Please let me breathe every moment. See every sunrise. Hear every song. Dance every dance. Be kissed by every snowflake and stomp in every rain puddle. Let my joy in the joyous and sing with the songbirds. Let me hold tiny hands and hug every heart. Let me marvel in every moment of magnificence, no matter how simple and no matter how grand. Let me run the race to the end, laugh until the credits roll, and love until my heart is stretched and pushing through my chest. Please let me press deeper into peace with every wrinkle and spiral closer to my soul with every year. Let me be patient in the process of living and accepting of the unimaginable purity of love that waits on the other side. Let me see the un-seeable as it surrounds me. Let me joyfully anticipate the unknown ahead as the known I believe it will be. Let me live with sweet peacefulness in my spirit and my soul. Please, oh please, let me live until I die. Pennie’s Life Lesson: “Cherish every moment. Live, REALLY live until you die.” Pennie Heart to Heart LET ME LIVE UNTIL I DIE YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to pay attention to how you live your 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.  I found myself smack dab in the middle of four generations -- my 4-year-old grandsons, my daughter, my 85-year-old mom and me. On our 6-day road trip, the boys delighted in every cow we saw as we passed farms learning about silos and sunflower fields. Throwing rocks in a river was a competition and trying to touch a duck was hilarious. Sleeping in a hotel was like sleeping in a palace where we tested the softness of the bed and devoured the complimentary breakfast that was surely prepared especially for the two mighty kings that were heading out on their stallions. I marveled at the boy’s ability to squeal when a lady bug landed in front of them as if it was the most exciting creature they had ever seen. They delighted in hiking to find pine cones and watching deer run through the woods. For them, each moment was a new breath, a new experience, a new lesson in life.  My mom clapped her hands when we pulled our car into her driveway. Her little body disappeared as we circled her in hugs. The boys moved at 4-year-old speed as they told her stories, asked questions and turned the neighborhood park into the Wild Wild West as the spring horses became their saddles and the gravel their dusty trail. My mom squealed as if they were the most exciting creatures she had ever seen. For her, each moment was a new breath, a new experience, a new lesson in life.   My daughter and I watched this from an interesting vantage point -- the space found somewhere in between 4 and 85. The space where responsibility rules life and commitments control time. A space where the magic of a ladybug is lost and imagination is buried under laundry, mortgage payments and stock market swings. A space where the wonder of life can be temporarily put on hold while ladders are climbed and ceilings are broken. I learned my own lessons during this trip and it wasn’t that silos hold corn or that strawberry milk comes from red cows, as my grandsons proclaimed. I learned the importance of slowing down to allow a lady bug to climb up your arm. I learned that trying to touch a duck is hilarious. I learned that watching your family pull into your driveway is something that deserves applause. I learned that the space between 4 and 85 disappears as fast as a dandelion wish and in that space it is more important than ever to understand that each moment is a new breath, a new experience, a new lesson in life. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pennie’s Life Lesson: “Live your life as if each moment is a new breath, a new experience, a new lesson in life.” YOUR TURN...
My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to pay attention to the speed of life and do not let a second slip by! 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. |