negativity

The Sound of Hurtful Silence

/ Penny L Howe / 12 Comments

Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil

It hurts … inside of me. Why has a country I am so proud of become so accepting of rude and crude behavior within both our social and news media?

I understand one can be angry about circumstances and situations. I can relate to the unfairness we see witnessed on many occasions. But the constant unrelenting barrage of rude and crude language and behavior is not needed and it makes of us so much less than what I know us (Americans) to be.

In the past handful of years, I first thought it was an anomaly occurring on social media with just a few indulging in profanity and boorish behavior. And then I began noticing more and more of the same along with intense verbal bullying and the degradation of an individual or a group. With each passing day I am witnessing even more of this same breakdown in what should be common respect and courtesy: Lack of moral fiber, the inability to say something without reducing the subject matter to the most base of terminology. And this is happening in both social and the public news media.

Many of those who do not engage in this behavior act as if it doesn’t exist. There is no moral outrage being expressed, just a pretended ignorance – this is so very sad. It says that we (the people) would rather accept this behavior than be vocal about the wrongness of it, for I am convinced that much of the negative emotions being felt and expressed in our daily lives are directly related to the universal acceptance of completely unacceptable social behavior.

Silence can be a good thing but it can also be a very bad thing when wrong behavior is happening and the majority of people pretend to ignore it, thereby making it acceptable. And whether it’s a popular celebrity or a politician (and an especial shame on them as their behavior is often emulated by those in the private sector) or we private citizens, the results are the same.

Small wonder our current political arena is such a mess. There is almost no dignity, only mud slinging and filthy rhetoric which as we all know is incredibly exhausting to us, leaving many indecisive, confused and fearful.

Public media (both social and news) should be about  people informing each other with information, and or an exchange of thoughts, ideas and feelings being expressed in terminology that is not degrading and disgusting.

My spirit is sad at this continuing painful and negative turn in the daily events of our lives. I am hopeful it changes and that each of us begin to accept a part of the responsibility for allowing this to not only happen but to fester, growing into the nasty beast it has become.

Thank you,

~ Penny

Overwhelming Life and A Temporary Cure

/ Penny L Howe / 16 Comments

Sometimes life does seem overwhelming, doesn’t it? Thank goodness for family and friends both near and far and a special thank goodness for love …. and hugs, lots and lots of hugs.

Hugs are known to be an excellent therapeutic medicine for the temporary relief of life’s difficult trials (with no negative side effects – although has been shown to be addictive). ♡

Have a positive and relaxing weekend. One filled with love and hugs.

With sincere affection,

~ Penny

anotherme

The Exquisite Nature of Nurturing – Try it, you’ll like it!

/ Penny L Howe / 7 Comments
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Photo by Alberto Ghizzi Panizza

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Nurturing (definition): The process of caring for and encouraging the growth or development of someone or something.

This is a very good week to nurture.  Of course so was last week as I imagine next week will be also, there being so much negativity and meanness proliferating everywhere.  However I do believe that by making nurturing a priority in the NOW of our lives, it can make a positive difference for you, myself and everyone involved in this positive process.

One of the outstanding features of nurturing another person(s) – regardless of perceived or real differences – is that both are rewarded. Nurturing (caring for another) soothes and strengthens life and, as previously mentioned, right now we humans need a whole bunch of nurturers and nurturing.

In scientific speak (for those interested),  nurturing or being nurtured creates a mind-body connection during the giving/receiving process because of  the neuropeptide molecules (chemical substances made and released by brain cells) sending soothing messages all over the body.

When receptor sites receive these neuropeptides a positive change occurs. The body fluids are attracted to specific receptors that grow directly off our cell structures or DNA. Protein-like neuropeptides provide our brain cells with a method of communicating with other cells by latching on to these receptor sites at which point our mood states and behaviors are altered in a positive way.

Because these peptides are also found in our immune system, the nurturing process is not only a mental and emotional nourishment but also a physical one. How great is that?

So my hopeful thought for all of us this week is to – nurture on my loving caring friends. Nurture on!

♡

With much love and affection,

~ Penny, ♡

OMG, The Gorilla in the Room

/ Penny L Howe / 4 Comments

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I’m an American. Just one person, but I feel as if the “gorilla in the room” has not only grown to gigantic proportions but has taken over intelligent rational minds, many  of whom I never would have expected to belittle themselves by spreading fear and hate (or passively going along) with the use of vularity and bullying tactics.

I am proud to be an American, but am very worried about the direction we Americans are allowing ourselves to be herded towards.

Whether it is apathy, indifference or some other thing it is horrifying and more than a little scary.

I, for one, am hopeful more Americans wake up from this sick unreal “reality show” that so many are currently living with their guidance (dependence) for how to behave directly related to the deceptive and artificial media and social media world.

Just so scary … I mean really!!!!

Penny L Howe, 2016

Why You Should Hurry up and Slow Down!

/ Penny L Howe / 19 Comments

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You should try sitting still – for just a few minutes every day – rest your body & mind and while you’re sitting there, try reflecting on the WHY of what you do every day. You may surprise yourself with some of your answers.

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We live in a crazy hurry up world. And its not slowing down. But you can. All that’s needed is a little bit of preplanning to remove from your life whatever isn’t helping right now, be it an activity, certain thought processes, or a person.

1. Activities – Anything you do that is done out of habit, and not necessary or helpful to you, think about letting it go.

You might also consider the amount of time you spend with social media, just sayin’.

If you are constantly called upon to do favors for others, who don’t reciprocate in their turn, regarding your needs, start saying no to them. Doing things for others is nice, but can be very time consuming (this includes family members).

2. Worries – If you spend a fair amount of time worrying about things then it’s time to make a list and see which of those worrisome things you can actually do something about. Effort on your part will be required, but the end result is you’ll have less things to worry about.

3. People – There are people out there with poor attitudes and an overall negative outlook on life. You don’t need these people around you. They’ll go out of their way to tell you what you’re doing wrong or what’s wrong with you or someone, or something you care about.

Dump them. You don’t need them or their negativity. And chances are they’re also one of the items you spend time worrying about so you’ll have removed two things that take away precious time, a person(s) and an item on your worries list (this also includes family members).

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Bottom line here is value yourself highly by BALANCING your needs with time spent. If you aren’t good to yourself, those you do care about will suffer – as will you.

Thank you for stopping by, have a great time saving day!

~ Penny

A Positive Way to balance your life!

/ Penny L Howe / 27 Comments

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The words and mentality of “being negative” are used too much. To feel sorry for ourselves, to think poorly of our “situation”. To play the blame game with others. Looking for the “wrongs” in the world (not the rights) and in general setting us up for a long term negative outlook on our tomorrows. But this is today … so …

Number One – Look out your personal window (view of life) and make a list of everything you currently do have. Start with essentials like a roof over your head, food and clothing, modern plumbing. (the things many of those who do have – take for granted – and just to remind you, those who go without are most of the humans on the planet)!

Number Two – What “Do” you like about you. Anything that comes to mind. Your friendly personality. Your love of animals. The way you can solve puzzles. Your love of reading, or gardening, anything (at all) about who you are and what you do, that you like – about yourself. Don’t go negative here.

Number Three – What you like (love) that is most likely within your view, nearby. Be inclusive. Nature, life, trees, plants (flowers) Water, mountains, people, kids, old folks, food. Make this list as long as you want.

Number Four – Now write, but only about the things you’ve listed! From the heart! You are not allowed to think any negative thoughts, like what’s wrong with you, what you don’t have, what you can’t do, what you don’t like (we tend to do that all day) this exercise is to remind and balance our minds!

Number Five – Be grateful!

Life is Simple

I am

I feel

I exist

I care

I do

I live

I love

I am

.

Have a good day today,

~ Penny

Why there are rude, nasty people out there today!

/ Penny L Howe / 33 Comments

It’s because they have forgotten author Robert Fulghum’s wise words regarding what many of us learned as kids.

“These are the things I learned (in Kindergarten):

1. Share everything.
2. Play fair.
3. Don’t hit people.
4. Put things back where you found them.
5. CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS.
6. Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
7. Say you’re SORRY when you HURT somebody.
8. Wash your hands before you eat.
9. Flush.
10. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
11. Live a balanced life – learn some and drink some and draw some and paint some and sing and dance and play and work everyday some.
12. Take a nap every afternoon.
13. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
14. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Stryrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
15. Goldfish and hamster and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die. So do we.
16. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned – the biggest word of all – LOOK.”
― Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

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I think we’ve got the “Looking” part down pat, but most of the other rules, the ones related to good behavior seem, for many, to have gotten lost. And it feels like the more we stress “social correctness”, the more we see the breakdown of basic, good, everyday manners. Our politicians and other “people in the news” are certainly among some of the worst. But we’re (the private individual) not far behind them. Just go online for any subject, in any social media to find the very worst of how humans can be.

Don’t get me wrong, the very best is out there too, but there are those days when it seems we have to wade through the negative to get to the positive. Come on guys, knock it off. We’re better than that.

When we’re out there making a positive difference and helping others we illuminate the best of who we can be. And sadly there’s not an “app. for that”, so it’s up to us. Let’s be more focused on what’s right and less on what’s wrong.

And let’s be polite and show respect (this includes politicians of all parties). We’re getting darn tired of our politicians behavior, and I believe I speak for most Americans, even though we may individually disagree on a given issue, we all expect better of those we’ve elected to represent us in our government.

So that’s all – just so very weary of negativity. Hopeful for lots more positiveness, which is when things really do happen – for the better.

Have a positive “rest of your week”,

~ Penny