CupCake It!

We don’t take time to celebrate.  I know what you are thinking –

"What? We celebrate all the time!"

Yes, we break out the ice cream and cupcakes to celebrate birthdays and holidays, but we need to “cupcake” the little things in life. 

Every second of every day we are surrounded by things to celebrate.  Some are obvious. A promotion at work or the birth of a baby are the green fields for the dance of celebration, but let’s dig deeper.

I don’t think there has been a morning of my life that the sun didn’t rise bringing with it a glorious splash of love and light.  That is cupcake worthy!

The first smell of spring, the flower squeezing between two rocks to find the sun, or the smile on the face of an elderly woman as she watches a toddler walk – cupcakeable! 

The smell of coffee in the morning, the kiss on the cheek from someone you love, the note from a friend that says they are thinking of you, the tail wagging greeting from your dog and sliding into bed on clean sheet day –- yep, cupcake with sprinkles! 

Watch for these moments and even sweeter, try to turn frustrating moments into a cupcake moment.  It may be a red light that stops you when you are  late for an appointment, but what can you celebrate as you take a breath?  It may be that the pause that forces you to calm down to take the breath is worth a celebration in itself. 

A spring storm may require you to add snow shoveling to your already busy day, but those white snowflakes are crystals of beauty and the moisture will guarantee the green burst of spring in your yard.

Do you see how you can turn frustrations into celebrations? 

Now, I’m not suggesting you start baking cupcakes on a daily basis.  None of us have time for that and our waistline wouldn't thank us for it.  But imagine a cupcake celebration in your head when these wonderful life moments occur.

Who doesn't like a party?  You can create one just by paying attention to these delightful moments.  The mental confetti will spill, the balloons will bounce, the champagne glasses will clink with a “cheers it” as you begin to cupcake the small things in life. 

Begin now!
Start taking time to celebrate freely.
What will you cupcake today? 
                  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pennie's Life Lesson:
           "Take time to celebrate
         the small moments in life
               – cupcake them!"

                     ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  ~
 My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to think about how we celebrate holidays in a BIG way, but what about the little everyday moments -- how can you celebrate them? 

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 © 2013-2014 Pennie Hunt
                                       This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
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WHO IS CHAUFFEURING YOUR LIFE?

Our lives are driven by stories.
We travel the road yielding to them as they climb into the back seat.

We turn left, we turn right and choose the forks in the road that we hope will lead us to our happily ever after.
With every turn we pick them up.
A story here.
A story there.

Some are interesting.  Some are scary.  Some are fun.  Some we want to lock in the trunk and forget. They all merge together to create the book of our life.

Occasionally we are jolted to completely stop at a red light and a story forces its way into the front seat with us.

Some are powerful and push us out of our driver’s seat and  takes over as the chauffeur of our lives. The story becomes the theme that overshadows all the other stories and events that we experience.

The story becomes who we are.

Every turn we make is because of the story.

Every decision is because of the story. 

For you, this may be a happy chauffeur taking you to just the right places – school, a career, a life partner, children and success.  The chauffeur takes you on the drive you hoped for and the life story you dreamt of. 

Or, the story may be one of grief, desperation, loss, or despair.  The story is sad and takes over your life.  You no longer have control of the wheel.
The story has control and circles you as if you are stuck in a round-a-bout reliving the tragedy over and over.  You feel like you can’t put on the brakes or turn a different direction.

We all have experienced stories of good and bad; happiness and sadness.  It is up to us to melt our stories into a collective balance for our life.  Don’t allow an event or tragedy to lock you into park or worse-- navigate you to a dark, dead end street.

Decide who you want to chauffeur your life.  Take control of your stories.
Each one can be told from many perspectives.
Concentrate on the great stories and look for ways to see lessons and grace in your challenging ones.
Keep your steering wheel balanced and driving happily through your life.

Who is chauffeuring your life? 
                ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 
Pennie’s Life Lesson:
       “Don’t allow one event or tragedy to                                  drive your life.
    Take control of your own steering wheel.”


             ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


My intent in sharing this with you is to encourage you to think about the life stories you repeat over and over allowing them to define what your life is and  who you are.  Are they the stories you want to be in control of that?  Hmmmmm...

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 © 2013-2014 Pennie Hunt
                                       This was written and produced by Pennie Hunt.
                                                             Feel free to forward this post.
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                                                                             Thank you!

FATTEN UP YOUR OLD HORSE

“It looks like you have lost a little weight since I saw you last year” the doctor said.

   “Yes,” I replied, silently thinking I wanted to lose about 15 more pounds.

      “How much should I weigh?’ I asked.

He rustled through my chart,

      “Hmmm, oh, umm, well… I wouldn’t want you to lose 
       much more.  Maybe another 5 pounds, but not more 
      than that.  You know, old skinny people don’t do very 
       well.”

I was still visualizing myself 15 pounds lighter in my mind, so the idea that he thought I shouldn’t lose more than 5 pounds surprised me, but it was the old skinny people part that stunned me.   

Before I could speak he began his next comment,

     “You know, if you asked a rancher about their old horse 
       he would tell you the first thing  he would do is fatten it 
       up before they put it out to pasture for the winter.”

That did it!

That cemented my shock into a mute silence. The other questions I had intended to ask him were pushed back deep into my mind.
Fumbling through my purse (and thoughts) I paid the fee for my yearly checkup and quickly escaped to my car. 

I studied my hands as they rested on the steering wheel. Thoughts swirled in my mind.

     I’m not old.

     I thought 50-ish was the new 30-ish.

     Did he really just compare me to an old horse?

     Maybe he was joking.

     He WASN’T joking!

     I don’t feel old.

Flipping down the mirror on my car visor I thought…

     I don’t think I look old.

I was even having one of those best-ever hair days.

   I AM NOT OLD!  

My friends and family filled the days that followed with ‘old horse’ jokes. After a great dental checkup I was told,

     “Well, at least you have good teeth for an old horse.”

And other colorful jabs at me like,
      
       “If the horseshoe fits.”

I swung from seeing the total humor in it to being angry and then suddenly it hit me!

My Mom is in her mid-80’s and she doesn’t think she is old --even though at every turn someone is giving her a list of “shouldn’ts.”

She shouldn’t drive. She shouldn’t spend money. She shouldn’t walk on icy sidewalks

By all standards mid-80’s IS old, but she doesn’t believe she is old.

Fear slapped me right between the eyes--- is this the way it works?

None of us think we are old, but one day will we just wake up believing it is an average day, doing our normal things and we are instantly deemed by the rest of the world as old---and the joke is on us because WE don’t know it.

I didn’t get the memo telling me that on the morning of my 56th year and 17th day that I was now old.
I plan to live to be close to 100 like my great grandmother did, but I didn’t know that after only 20,471 days I was supposed to feel old!
Hey, hey, hey, wait a minute, I calculate that I have another 36,525 days left to live! (No comment necessary here that “hay is for horses.”)

It has been a week now since the remark that rocked my wobbly skinny legs and rattled my creaky old knees.  It has sifted in through my mind and heart and settled into a warm corner on the left end of my funny bone.  I understand that the doctor was probably stating facts.  Skinny old people probably wouldn’t do well if you put them out in a cold pasture for the winter.

I believe the comment to me could have waited another 25 or 30 years, but now it makes me laugh.  You see I don’t feel old.  I don’t act old.  I hope I don’t look old.  But the important thing is I don’t BELIEVE I am old.

I am amused that at some point I WILL be old and don’t plan to acknowledge it… or maybe I will continue to live in my happy place of Pollyanna oblivion and not notice the reality of wrinkles, achy joints and memory loss. 

I just hope someone continues to brush my mane, because I plan to have years of Best-Ever hair days ahead of me.

Pennie’s Life Lesson:
                      “The secret to staying young is
               to see humor in every day of your life!”

               ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My intent in sharing this with you is to point out the way mature adults are treated and spoken to....even long before the term "mature" should be applied to them.  Do you do this?  Has this happened to you?  How did it make you feel?

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 © 2013-2014 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]
                                                                             Thank you!