Gratitude, in spite of …

December 1, 2014 / Penny L Howe / 22 Comments

Having an especially bad day? Everything’s going wrong and you feel overwhelmed with things and what’s even worse is nobody seems to care. People are being rude and appear to be indifferent to your problems and concerns. You’re thinking, why bother with anything.

With negative thoughts and emotions, you’re feeling sensitive and abused, hurt, angry (pick an emotion that works for you) NOW, RIGHT NOW is the time to be grateful … as silly and unhelpful as that may sound. The thing is it actually works, because how you’re viewing things changes. You see potentials and possibilities you didn’t see when thinking negatively.

When things seem at their very worst – being grateful for what you do have will be the thing that generates positive change. It’s always worked that way, it’s just that most of us don’t notice it.

So go ahead, give it a try. You’ll be surprised … pleasantly surprised.

~ Take care of you and have a wonderful day and better tomorrow,

Penny

Do You Believe In You … Well you should!

October 15, 2014 / Penny L Howe / 13 Comments

This isn’t about faith or spirituality. It’s about your human spirit buried deep inside, just waiting to be recognized.

In life there are many reasons to keep going, to make a difference, to be successful, to hope and care, but they all pale besides the most obvious reason of all …

… you must believe in “Self” first. Really believe that you have a personal worth, a value in and of itself.

The starting point from which you grow.

Without recognizing your own singular value as a human being, it is guaranteed that the roads you travel will be less smooth, the terrain much rockier, the slopes much steeper.

But, when you believe in you, you become a guide for yourself

you can plan for a better day, a better outcome.
you gain strength, acquiring fortitude to help face life’s hard challenges. It doesn’t give you more capability, but will endow you with added courage when needed.
you hold the fundamental key, the most important belief you can have as an essential, living and functioning human being – that of your own unique value and worth.

It’s not easy. It does seem that too often, we make mistakes, fail, hesitate, choose poorly and so forth. These are life experiences – better known as life’s learning lessons because we do learn through our errors. The thing to remember is to have the courage to get up and keep going.

And …

trust me on this one …

it’s a lot easier to get back up when you believe you can do it!

Take it from one who knows,

“The single most important person to believe in is yourself … always!”

~ Penny L Howe

Where Carcass Lay … Vultures Gather!

August 21, 2014August 21, 2014 / Penny L Howe / 11 Comments

Often … following failure … illumination arrives! An enlightening expanded awareness, emotionalized by the pity of self.

Yes, self pity, frequently seen to be in attendance along with illumination, uncomfortably sharing space with one’s emerging realization of having messed up, lost the game, or the prize … and one does feel quite the fool, perhaps likening onto fallen prey just prior to expiration.

Although, retrospectively, we must assume the last thing on the dying prey’s mind would be illumination, perhaps rather just a single final thought, such as ” …Oh Crap”! That might do, but generally speaking however, those thoughts and feelings are left for those of us who live on after the fall, continuing to skirt the precipice between success and failure.

I will waste only a few words in the contemplation of mundane humans, and there are many, whose walk through life is an unmitigated bore because they come and go determined to make no waves, go with the flow, be among the passive, receptive only of “group mentality” and not interested (perhaps fearful or envious) of the original idea or thought, but with no goal in mind except to blend in, which they do until …

But enough about those, although they number greatly and are oft seen among the vultures sitting in the wait, which is usually viewed as a “safe” place to be, for all except the arriving carrion.

Ah yes, the encroaching vultures, for they do encroach while waiting in the sidelines, certainly not cheering one on, unless it be towards failure. So they wait …

It would certainly be much easier to get up, dust oneself off and get on with things, if not for awareness of the waiting vultures. Their jeering and calling out with scathingly searing voices continually reminding of failures, shortcomings, errors and misfortunes. And they are never far away, are they? Their echoes repeat in memory’s shadowed losses.

And if true, where and when does “positive” illumination break through into the light to lift us up, make us whole again, prepare us to do battle, shore up the weakened places, make us stronger, more determined, if needs be, to achieve our ends. When does inspiration come? How does it come, through the darkness of known failures and ever expanding fears?

Does it peak around corners, wondering if it’s safe to come out, or does it consider alternatives and make carefully planned and strategic moves?

I think not!

“Know this, all you free thinking creative ones – INSPIRATION is born from within where there be no rationale for the negative or wrong, only the mightiest sensation and manifestation of possibilities, the very essence and nature of inspiration is such that it springs into being within a single seed of potential found at the core of our soul’s universe – needing nothing more to come forth but … THE BELIEF THAT IT CAN!”

~ Penny L Howe, 2014

Are You Thinking Asleep?

June 15, 2013June 15, 2013 / Penny L Howe / 28 Comments

When you think, are your thoughts busily reviewing the list of “to do’s” that aren’t done yet? Are you dwelling on things that have already happened or are happening around you now? Are you thinking “awake” or thinking “asleep”?

Our thoughts, become words, (whether stated or written) becoming actions. And more and and more of us today are thinking asleep with our actions. We go through life’s daily chores in an almost robotic type of modality where even our emotions are repetitious in nature.

We are thinking asleep. We are mostly in a response mode. We are stuck in a groove. Yes, most especially the “I have too many things to do, so I’m not sure what to do next” groove. The other popular groove that many are caught up in today is the “poor me, I have too many problems to deal with and other people don’t care” or “I’m in a strictly reactionary mode as it refers to me personally, everything else I relate to is at a distance, from a position of security.” Voicing concerns but staying uninvolved at a personal level, because that’s what’s Safe.

Well guess what? Wake up! Life is happening all around you.

When you think awake, you think a thing and then YOU ACT ON IT! Put it into affect. You stop spending time on what’s wrong with yourself and focus on what’s right. The world’s problems begin with you!

No more thinking on what your missing in life (with a myriad of excuses you give to yourself and others each day) because (here’s the biggy)

… YOU DETERMINE WHAT DIRECTION YOU’RE GOING TO HEAD IN. HOW YOU’RE GOING TO FEEL ABOUT THE DAY AND WHAT YOU CAN MAKE OF YOURSELF IN THE PROCESS. THAT’S YOU. IT IS PERSONAL BECAUSE YOU’RE THE ONE STANDING GUARD OVER YOUR LIFE, AND IF YOU AREN’T, WHY NOT?

You belong to you before anything else. You came into the world and breathed in life as a single entity and you’ll depart the same way. This is a simple truth. No one’s going to crawl in the coffin with you, but I guarantee you there are many out there more than happy to help you dig your own grave, but only if … YOU LET THEM.

The Sleeper must awaken! (always wanted to use that line)

Start by thinking awake. Look directly at what you’ve decided you haven’t been doing AND START DOING IT!

No, life isn’t safe, it’s filled with risks (going after most worthy things have risk involved.) No, life won’t suddenly become wonderful, but it will begin to head in the direction you want it to.

Life happens whether you involve yourself in it or not. You decide how much control events will have over you. YOU DO!

When you start thinking awake a whole new world of possibilities awaken. You become energized with renewed feelings of hope and anticipation.

And you’ll be living your life to it’s fullest, not regretting in bitterness or sorrow what you didn’t do, when you could have, because you were thinking asleep !

~ Penny

How to find your own self-worth!

March 12, 2013 / Penny L Howe / 29 Comments

How do we determine our value or self-worth?

There appear to be a wide variety of systems in place today, along with achievement markers for “qualifying” things; grade scores, evaluations etc.

But what measuring tool do we use to decide this for ourselves?

Think carefully here because this is the attitude you bring when deciding whether or not to “go for it” in life, you know … do something new or challenging!

Do you believe in yourself?

Are your feelings about yourself based on someone else’s assessment (someone else’s negative attitude – because of their own failures or jealousy).

Have you been told what you can’t do, so many times, that you’ve decided there is probably no point in trying because you’ll fail anyway, like always … sound familiar?

Okay so here’s the point – when doubting ourselves, regardless of the reason why, we then proceed to worry ourselves into panic attacks, negative attitudes and pretty much live up to what in reality was a false assessment – not a true one at all.

And that’s the Why about this!

The What to do about this follows:

Stop thinking about all the reasons “You” can’t do or be something. That’s just “the worry of things” having it’s way. And it doesn’t accomplish anything positive either.
Reassess your own personal feelings about yourself and your worth. You, not someone else!
Start learning to trust your own instincts more. They’re patiently waiting for you to listen to them.
Go “do” things. You’ll make more mistakes, guaranteed. BUT you will also be learning what to do right in the process. It’s called trial and error, (btw – it’s worked for every single famous person who ever succeeded!)
Remind yourself of your unique way of viewing life. You own personal attitude about the Why About You!

The most important one to believe in is of course yourself.

The famous author, Laurell K Hamilton was told by the head of a creative writing program (that she was kicked out of) in college that she’d never make it as a writer and that she was a corrupting influence on the other students. It crushed Laurell. She didn’t write again for several years.

After a series of successful books, when asked why she didn’t send her books to this teacher to show her what a success she had become Ms. Hamilton replied (these are her words):

“No, because she didn’t believe I couldn’t succeed as a writer, she feared I could! She feared I would go out and do exactly what I have done…”

And that’s that, sums things up nicely I think, have a nice day, take care of you and believe in you too!

~ Penny

“Did you really think it would be easy…

November 25, 2012 / Penny L Howe / 49 Comments

... Growing up, Being successful?”

Because I did, well maybe not that I thought about it exactly in those terms … but I did assume that most things would go the way I had decided they should go – WRONG!