I sat in a room filled with over 900 people.
We all had a sad story.
The same story.
We had all lost a child.

The common thread was wrapped around each of our hearts tightly and safely never to be cut. The other end of the thread curled, waved and stretched into a web of interaction that connected everyone in the room. We all understood. We all shared a piece of the web. We all shared a piece of the pain.

Some parents lost their only child. Some carried the loss of more than one. Over 900 stories of pain sat in a room where we gathered to share. Together our love and pain created an energy that was at moments thick and heavy and at times light and freeing. The emotions were made bearable by the powerfully strong connectivity in the room. The stories varied in versions, time frames and circumstances, but the same sad story connected all of us.

In a recent conversation, someone mentioned to me that there seems to be so many sad stories right now and that everyone you talk to has one. I believe that is true. I believe that the more birthdays we are lucky enough to enjoy and the more candles we blow out, the more sad stories we will have. The longer we live we will hear more and more sad stories from others.

Is it possible that as we age the stories become sadder or is it the accumulation of stories that becomes heavier with every layered story and every year that passes?
Over the years I have had my struggles. I have watched my loved ones and my friends struggle. I have said goodbye to people I love. I personally know the story of divorce, job loss, accidents and illness. I have laid battered, bruised and broken in a puddle of helpless hopelessness. I have suffered. We have all suffered.
 
Could it be that there is a sensibility to this? I believe so. We will all be wounded. The wound may be sharp and quick, but deep. The wound may be a slow, dragging pain that leaves a scar in a wide jagged way. No amount of ointment, stitches or bandages will heal the puncture. Wounds are meant to break an opening so a lesson, a message or a meaning can reach our hearts. Wounds are the marks of living. Sad stories give us a way to share our wounds. I believe that it takes the darkest of times to open us up to learning the most. To live this life we must endure and understand the difficult times. The dark times. The sad times. We must own our sad stories.
 
This is what connects us as humans. We can enjoy the beautiful days because we have felt suffering. We can enjoy health because we have felt illness. We appreciate success because we have struggled. We welcome joy because we have felt despair.  Emotions are made bearable by the powerfully strong connectivity in the network of our family, friends, coworkers and neighbors. We all have threads wrapped tightly and safely around our hearts while the other end of the thread reaches into the web we all share.

The longer we live the more sad stories we will hear, have and hold. The stories will vary in versions, time frames and circumstances, but sad stories connect all of us.
                 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
                                             Pennie’s Life Lesson:
                    The longer we live the more sad stories we will have.
                    The darkest of times open us up to learning the most.
                 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

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 © 2013-2022 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. ​

Settling into seat 8F, I pulled my jacket off and tucked it into my carry-on bag. I would not be needing that in Phoenix. I looked forward to the sunshine and warmth ahead. In went the jacket. Out came my reading glasses, IPad, magazine and headphones.  Headphones! Where are my headphones? 

I always travel with them. They are the noise canceling kind that block the roar of the plane engines, the voices of the passengers visiting, the cries of babies in the back, and the intercom messages from the cockpit. I block these so that I can enjoy the time to read, sleep or meditate in the headphone secluded space of rain falling, ocean waves, or the tweeting of birds; whichever seems to be my pleasure of the moment.

With a sigh, I felt the aggression of the engines lift the plane into the sky as 9F, began to explain to 9E, in his best not-so-quiet voice, why he sold his home in New Jersey and moved to Phoenix.

I realized that for this hour and forty-five-minute flight my headphones were happily next to my meditation chair at home.  Hummppfff!

After reading an article or two in a magazine I laid it to the side, closed my eyes and began breathing. With the deep in and out rhythm my body sensed this as the call to meditate.  To enjoy calm. To go within to the space of quiet where the outer world drops away. Where the deepest thoughts of my soul mix with the messages from the energy both in and out of my body.

​I guard this time of meditation as a mother guards her child. This is more than just a happy place. This is my sacred time. My daily ritual of flowing into calm serenity to a place which is more than one foot here and one foot there, but more like all there. All-in, as they say in Poker, to an out-of-this-body and fully in-peace space.

The engine’s roar became a soothing hum that muffled the voice of 9F. The ping of the pilot's bell seemed to whisper the message of safety that floated by my thoughts of awareness without stopping to take residency in my space of peace. I was there! Not here, not asleep… but there.

Almost an hour passed when my breathing returned to the shallow breath of normality. My eyes fluttered open as my senses returned to the awareness of my surroundings. The engines below my seat continued to spin as the mechanical dropping of the landing gear engaged. 

        "And in Phoenix the homes were a STEAL when I bought it, so from what I cleared on                    my Jersey home, I paid cash for the new one." 

Seat 9F had not stopped the elaboration of his happy relocation to Phoenix.

I realized that I had successfully enjoyed the flight. I enjoyed a time of meditation and for a brief period blocked the outside forces of noise, chaos and distractions. I smiled at the reminder that calm serenity can be accomplished any place. Any time. The noise of the outside doesn't have to detract from this. The outer world we cannot control. It is the quiet within that we search for. It is the quiet within we can find... even without headphones.
                                ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Pennie's Life Lesson: Searching for tranquility does not require a vacuum of silence. Real peace is found within - even during the distraction of 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 © 2013-2022 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. ​

Have you ever felt a knocking on your heart? A feeling like you know you should reach out to someone. You know you should help. You know should make eye contact, say something, touch their arm or give them a hug. Your heart is telling you to do it, but you don’t. You miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you can never get back.

These opportunities happen all the time to all of us. It only takes a second to miss them.

Her nail polish was cheerful turquoise. It matched the bright, happy color of her headband, however, everything between the nail polish and headband spoke of sadness. Her teenage shoulders were bent from weakness as if they had carried years of stress. Her blue eyes rarely connected with mine as she took my order and prepared my sandwich. 

It was a quick lunch stop for me as I was driving home from a speaking event. In and out. That is what I wanted. It was late in the afternoon and only hunger could interrupt my determination to get home. A fast sandwich and then back on the road. I paid her, thanked her and hustled away with my lunch. The whole time her despair was knocking on my heart’s door saying,
  “Help, Help, let me in!”

I ran through the rain to the safety of my car and began the drive again. With every bite I took and every mile I drove, I thought of her. The knocking was still there. The heaviness of her sadness. The guilt grew with every swish of my windshield wipers. Guilt for keeping the words I wanted to say to her inside… beating them down deep into my throat because I didn’t want to take the time. 

My mind was going faster than the speed limit with thoughts of …
Why didn’t I?
Why didn’t I talk to her?
Why didn’t I ask about her day, her family, her life?

The shop was slow, I could have taken the time to talk to her, to help her, if only by showing I cared.
Why didn’t I?

How many times have I done this - missed an opportunity to help a stranger, or even someone close to me?  The heart knocks happen in small ways. A word. A look. A feeling. They are easy to miss and easy to ignore.

And yet, it is so easy to take a moment to smile, to ask, to give words of encouragement or a hug.  It’s so easy to let someone know you care.

Life lessons are hard to learn.  Especially when you miss the opportunity and there isn’t a “do-over.” This is one I won’t forget. Her turquoise sadness I won’t forget.

Next time I feel that knocking on my heart from someone in need, I will take the time.
Pennie’s Life Lesson:
 “Never miss a chance to care, help and show kindness.  Never miss a chance to love.” 

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 © 2013-2022 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. ​

We were in the backyard and the lush green tempted my feet. I said,
     “Riley, let's take our shoes off and walk in this grass.”
He immediately joined my idea.
     “You know, Riley, this is grounding our bodies.”
He looked at me a little confused.
I went on to explain.
     “The earth has energy in it,” I said.
He shook his head in agreement.
 
I further elaborated that when we stand barefoot on the ground that energy creates a calm, grounded feeling and washes away our negativity and stress. We ground or electrically connect with the earth and it has a positive effect on our body.
Now he looked at me with a bit of uncertainty and asked,
     “Is that a Grandma Fact or a proven fact?”
 
I was surprised to hear that my life wisdom had been deemed, “Grandma Facts” as if there was a private meaning to it that no one had shared with me.
     “Wait a minute,” I said, “You say that like Grandma Facts aren’t real.”
     “Well, no, Grandma Facts are more spiritual,” he said as he circled his arms around in            the air. “Proven facts are proven by scientists.”
 
Our conversation went on as we stretched our toes and massaged our feet in the grass. I continued persuading my 10-year-old grandson telling him if he needed convincing, I could come up with many articles about the concept of grounding.
He grinned and said he did believe me. I was not sure.

I was smiling as I drove home loving the idea of how my teachings were hitting him in a spiritual way but I was still a bit worried that my thoughts were not taken as seriously as a scientist’s thoughts.

The next morning I woke up to a thick fog that circled my home and hid everything that wasn’t within 20 feet of my house. I connected with Riley through a video call. When he said he had the same fog at his house I told him to go outside and stand in it. I asked him what he could see. He responded with, “nothing much.” I asked if he could see the house next door. I asked if he could see the sky. I asked if he could see the street. “No. No. No.” 

I explained to him that there are times when what you are looking for may be there, but you can't see it through the fog of your uncertainty, worries and fear. That doesn’t mean it isn’t there or isn’t true. Sometimes you may just need to wait for the fog to clear to see it. In the meantime, you need to trust and believe it is there. Trust and believe that it is true.
 
“Riley,” I said, “this is how you can look at Grandma Facts. I may not wear a white lab coat and be a scientist, but the things I explain to you have been proven in my heart. That is why I share them with you. Sometimes you need to believe it first and then you will see it.”
                                   ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Pennie’s Life Lesson:
                              Not all lessons need to be scientifically proven.
​                             At times you need to trust and believe it is true.  
                                   ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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 © 2013-2022 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. ​