Typically for this last column of the year I review the word I chose as a guide for this year and reveal my word for the new year ahead. I will do that soon, but for today I have an idea for you.

At the beginning of this year, in addition to my word for the year, I decided to track ideas. I opened a new note tab on my phone and titled it, as you can guess IDEAS.

Every time I had an idea that I wanted to remember, I wrote it down. If I heard a word I liked, I wrote it down. If I heard a quote I liked, I wrote it down. I wrote down ideas I had for writing my column or concepts I wanted to put in my next book. I wrote down songs I heard. I wrote down ideas for gift-giving. I wrote down dreams and memories. I wrote down everything I thought was important to remember.

As of this writing, I have 220 ideas on my list. That sounds pretty good for my first year. But- I researched it and the people who study this type of thing have a wide range of opinions on how many thoughts we have in a day. The studies and reports ranged from claiming the average person has between 6,000 and 80,000 thoughts per day. That’s a big range. So, let’s go with a number somewhere in the middle. Let’s say we have 37,000 thoughts a day. That equates to 13,505,000 thoughts in a year. That makes my accomplishment look weak.

Out of my 13 and a half​ million thoughts, why did I only write down 220 of them? Did I only have 220 thoughts that were of value?  Less than .0017% of my thoughts made the list. Where are the rest of them? Did they float right by me unnoticed like butterflies going by so fast that my net wasn’t quick enough to catch them? Didn’t I hear them? Wasn’t I listening?

Maybe I was too critical and rejected too many as being silly, a waste of time, embarrassing, or impossible to follow through on.

The point is how many ideas slip away from us? How many could have become reality if we had written them down and spent more time thinking about them? How many dreams could come true?

Looking through my list I see some interesting stuff. Many of the ideas I used as topics for my columns. Many of them I researched and learned more about the subject. Many were things new to me that I learned about for the first time.

As I close out this year reviewing my ideas, I find myself even more excited for my 2024 list. My goal is to capture more than 220 ideas. I plan to write down the silly ones, the embarrassing ones, the possible and the impossible ones. And even the ones that I think are a waste of time just to write down are going on the list.
Can you join me in this? Use your note tab in your phone, your journal, or an old-fashioned spiral notebook. It doesn’t matter how you track them- but track them. Number them. Record them.

It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks of your ideas. No one needs to see them except you. They are yours and yours alone to do with as you wish.

As I write this, we are turning the corner and heading smack into the new year. You have time to pick that notebook and write the simple title on the first page, IDEAS. Just doing that is your first idea.
                                    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                                                       Pennie’s Life Lesson:
                                             Don’t let ideas slip away from you.
                                   You never know which ones will become reality. 
                                    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

#CornerofSpiritandBrave #loveyourlifenomatterwhat #JourneyThrough #PennieHunt  #IAmGoodEnough
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 © 2013-2023 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 notice you have a bouquet of flowers on your table. Are they for something special or do you just like flowers?”

The question made me smile as I answered my friend.
“Yes, they are for December 14th and yes, that is a special holiday.”

I went on to explain that it isn’t a holiday to anyone except me and my husband. To everyone else December 14th slides right by as another busy day in the holiday season, but to us it is much more. It is a holiday. Our holiday. It is the Beginning of Forever Day.

Years ago, before we were married, we had what we now refer to as The Hiatus. It was a space of time in our relationship that we took a pause from each other- well, at the time we thought it was a permanent breakup. It lasted a substantial amount of time. No phone calls, no seeing each other, no communication of any kind.

And then, he made the phone call that changed everything. On December 14th he called me, and we began talking. It was the beginning of our forever together.

Others may not understand this, but after all these years of being married, we continue to celebrate our little holiday. A little holiday with a big meaning for us. A little holiday that isn’t on anyone’s calendar except ours.

December 14th is a holiday we always celebrate. It usually includes flowers and dinner out. It is special because without that phone call, we would not have ended the hiatus. We would not be married. And our Forever would have never begun.

What holiday is on your calendar that no one else knows about? That no one else would care about? That no one else would understand the meaning of?

We all have them. It may be the day you received the call offering you the job of your dreams. It may be the day you walked into the first home you purchased. It may be the day you were handed the keys to your first car. The day you bumped into someone in the post office that became your spouse. It may be the birthday of someone who is no longer with you, but you continue to celebrate them on that day.  
Some days on your calendar may be remembrances of a less-than-happy time. The day your divorce was final. The day you were told cancer had become part of your life or the day of your last chemotherapy. The day someone you love became an angel in your heart.

If you do know about someone’s special date acknowledge it – if you think it is appropriate. Some personal dates of celebration or sadness are best left private in the hearts of the holder. But if it is one you feel is appropriate to acknowledge, do so with compassion. If it is a date of celebration, tell them that you remember and celebrate with them. If it is a date of sadness quietly acknowledge it with a hug or a thinking-of-you card or text.

All of these very personal markers of life become embedded in our hearts and written on our calendars. Others may not understand them, remember them, or even know about them. But we do.

What holiday is on your calendar that no one else knows about?
                                     ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                                                       Pennie’s Life Lesson:
                    We all have personal dates we remember, celebrate, and grieve. 
                                     ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

#CornerofSpiritandBrave #loveyourlifenomatterwhat #JourneyThrough #PennieHunt  #IAmGoodEnough
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 © 2013-2023 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. ​

​Today I hit 600 days of meditating daily. No missed days. I have been meditating for almost 20 years, but this is the longest consecutive number of days for me. Or maybe I have, but now I track it daily, so I know for sure. Meditating is something I do. Something I make time for. Something I prioritize.

I found a little app that I put on my phone called, Don’t Break the Chain. I’m not promoting this app – there are many to choose from, I just use this one as an example. It gives you the option of making calendars for things you want to track. I have a meditation one and a workout one. It is so simple. Every day that I meditate I mark an “X” on that day. Each added “X” creates a chain. I have not broken the chain for 600 days. (I will disclose that my workout chain seems to be broken often.)

I like the app because it is simple, easy, and quick. It is one click to mark an “X.”  When the chain becomes long, I don’t want to break it. It is a visual that works for me. It is private and no one sees my chains.

Here is why I believe it works – Because I am not competing against anyone else. I am not comparing myself to anyone else. I am just tracking my actions. If I cross 5 workouts this week, that is better than the four I crossed last week. If I only cross 3 on a busy week, I will push to be better the next. And once I see a long stretch of “X’s” I want to keep going. I don’t want to break my chain.

The mistake we often make is comparing our goals, dreams, and accomplishments to an unreasonable standard. If I cut out photos of the top female bodybuilders or models and put them on my vision board with the expectation of reaching the same physical success that they have- I will fail. They are probably 5” taller than me, have trainers, have a different body structure, are younger, have different lifestyles, and have different time commitments. Trying to compare and compete with them is not going to work.

Did you read the first paragraph of this writing and decide that you need to keep up and meditate for the next 600 days like me? You may have a different way of dealing with stress and creating peace in your life. You may not have the time and commitment to meditation that I do. Trying to compare and compete with me and what works for me might not work for you.

Here is something that might work – compare your progress to your past self. How well did you do last month, last week, or even yesterday with your workout program, your meditation, or whatever you want to improve on? If you made progress that is great. If you did a small backslide, try to do better than you did yesterday.

No one should expect to reach a point of perfection. The kind of perfection we see on photoshopped magazine covers and television advertisements is unattainable. Being envious of someone else’s perfect body, perfect habits, and perfect life is a waste of energy.

Use that energy on yourself. Forget pursuing perfection and begin improving a little at a time. Can tomorrow be better than today? Can we mark another “X” on our progress? Can we keep the chain going?

I believe the answer is, YES!  Whether you begin tracking your meditation, your workout, or how much you read, it doesn’t matter. Become a person who makes crossing that “X” important. Make it something you do. Something you make time for. Something you prioritize. With every “X” the chain becomes stronger and so do you. 
                                   ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                                                      Pennie’s Life Lesson:
                                      Don’t try to be perfect, just try to be
​                            a little better than the person you were yesterday. 
​                                               ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Are you bored with your life? Bored with your home, your job, your partner, your car, your - fill in the blank? Do things that you used to love and adore seem mundane, uninteresting, and unfulfilling?

Hmmm, maybe you need a change or maybe you need to think about this differently. Have you heard of the Law of Familiarity? This Gestalt principle suggests that we group things of similar nature together. How does this relate to being bored? Well, you have a home, job, partner, car, etc. You circle these together in a big group and call that your life.

​You get up every day in your home, kiss your partner, get in your car to leave for your job, spend 8-10 there, then get back in your car, return to your home, kiss your partner goodnight and it starts again the next day. It is your life. It is all very familiar.

Familiarity leads to comfort. Comfort leads to complacency and complacency can lead to boredom.

Now step back for a minute.
Remember when you met your partner? The butterflies in your stomach, the dates, the romance, the anticipation of your future together?

Remember when you received your job offer? You were so excited to put those years of schooling to work. Excited to have your own office. Excited to put on that suit every morning and go to your job.

Remember when you purchased your new car? That new car smell. The power of pride you felt when you drove it to show your family and friends.

Remember buying your home? It was perfect! Remember when you and your partner were given the keys and unlocked the door for the first time? Walking into home ownership was a feeling like none other!

And now…
The butterflies have long ago flown away. The dates and romance are memories and the future you hoped for has become a routine. The schedule of jobs and the kid’s school and activities form a familiar pattern – day after day.

The job has become years of deadlines, expectations, evaluations, and responsibilities. The obligations of work have taken over the space that was once filled with romance and dates with your partner. The clocking of time has stretched from 40 hours to a very familiar 50 or 60 hours a week.

You slide into that same car every morning. The seat is positioned in the perfect way that fits your back and legs. The radio stations are set where you like them. It is comfortable. But the new smell is gone.

When you come home at night and walk into your home, you automatically hang up your coat, take your shoes off, and head to your favorite chair. You turn the television on without really watching what is on the screen. You exhale, close your eyes, and rest for a few minutes.

Later, you kiss your partner goodnight, roll over on your side, go to sleep, and it starts again the next day. It is your life. It is all very familiar. It is comfortable. And it becomes a little boring. Why? Because familiarity leads to comfort. Comfort leads to complacency and complacency can lead to boredom.

So how do you change this?  The first step is to become aware of the situation. I believe after reading this you may have gained some awareness. Next, realize that when your life becomes so comfortable you will sink into complacency. You begin taking everything you have for granted. When you take things for granted you stop being grateful.

To regain a feeling of gratitude, step back into that space of remembering how much you wanted what you have now. How much you wanted the future you have now with your partner. How much you wanted the house, the car, and the job. Be grateful for all of it. Until you are grateful for what you have now, you will never have more.

Maybe you do need to change something. For example, maybe your job isn’t fulfilling your desire to advance, so exploring new opportunities could be a good thing. But remember, just because you have grouped everything that is familiar in your life into one package, that doesn’t mean everything needs to change. Not everything is boring. Comfort and familiarity can be wonderful things – never lose gratitude for what you have.  
                               ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                                                  Pennie’s Life Lesson:
                                 Be grateful for everything in your life.
     Until you are grateful for what you have now, you will never have more.
                               ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

#CornerofSpiritandBrave #loveyourlifenomatterwhat #journeythrough #PennieHunt #YouAreGoodEnough #IAmGoodEnough
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 © 2013-2023 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. ​

In the last month we have had our master bedroom painted and new carpeting installed. This was the last room in our home that we needed to refresh since we purchased our home eight years ago. For some reason we kept putting this one off. But it was time.
Synchronizing the furniture moving, the painters, the carpeting and the furniture movers again doesn’t sound difficult, but for us it was a lot. Mostly because of the closets. We have two walk-in closets in our bedroom. His and Hers. They both needed to be emptied, but more than that, they needed to be cleaned out and de-cluttered.
About a month before the project was to begin, we started seriously looking at our closets. The words, “keep – throw away – donate,” became embedded in our minds. We would take out a pair of shoes here and a sweater there. Then my husband decided to take out 10 items a day. I watched him do this for a few days. As his closet began dwindling down, my guilt for not doing it and the fear of not being ready increased.  
Every year I pick a word for the year. This year my word was a phrase. I wanted to, “Release to Find Peace.” I wanted to release many things in my life this year, but mostly I wanted to live in a clutter-free environment that feels peaceful. I wanted to be at peace with my relationships, my health, and my body. From my closets to my heart and mind, I wanted plenty of space for peace.
 
I remembered this phrase as I looked into my closet. I tried to do the 10 items a day. I admit to struggling a bit. Then one day I put 12 pairs of shoes into a garbage bag and tied it up to donate. I was so proud of myself, but it really didn’t seem to make a dent in giving me more peace. The closet still held more shoes than I needed and enough clothes for me to wear something different every day for a couple of years. (Don’t judge.)
 
Every day I took out more and more items. I made more and more trips to donate my filled bags. It seemed to get easier for a while – until it wasn’t. I began feeling like I was purging things just to say I did. Things I might need someday. When those thoughts crept in, I repeated to myself that phrase, “Release to find Peace.”
 
Finally, the process began. Furniture was moved and all the items that were left in the closets were laid over couches and chairs around the house. The painting turned out perfect and the new carpet was soft and cushy to my bare feet. When the furniture was back in place, we began putting our closets back together – adding a few more items to our donation bags as we worked.
 
The bedroom is now a calm and restful space. Just standing in the doorway and looking at it makes me happy. And the closets? All the trips to drop off the donations of clothes were worth it. I think all together I ‘released’ 25 pairs of shoes. (Again, don’t judge, some of them were just flip-flops.) I lost count of how many bags full of clothes we donated, but I did take a photo of the basket of empty hangers so I would remember how much we ‘released.’
 
My husband’s closet looks like a display in a fine men’s clothing store. To be honest, my closet still holds too much, but the improvement is drastic. I can see what I have, and I know where everything is. I am no longer overwhelmed and frustrated with the visual noise of my closet. Now my closet brings me a sense of quiet calmness.
 
When I picked my word for this year, I asked myself a big question. Why? Why is releasing important to me? Why do I want to release these things? The answer was loud and clear - to create peace. I can’t think of one item that I got rid of from my closet that I miss or regret letting go of. But I can think of one thing I am happy to have found space for. My closet now has the space to hold peace.
                               ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                                                 Pennie’s Life Lesson:
                             When you release, you open space for peace.
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